Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 12/1/2022

Northwest:

--Access to Paradise on Mt. Rainier will only be open on weekends. From Mt. Rainier National Park: "Beginning today, November 29, the park will maintain public vehicle access to Paradise on Saturdays and Sundays, but due to staffing limitations the road will be closed to public access during the week. The Longmire area will continue to be open seven days a week barring any major storm events. Park staff will continue to revisit the Paradise access schedule should staffing levels change during the winter season." To read more, click here.

--Gripped is reporting that, "North of Lillooet is an ice climbing area with routes over 400 metres and up to WI6. The area was only recently discovered and is called Top Gun. On Nov. 26, Tim Nielsen and Josh Zahl climbed a new “fun and varied route in a fantastic setting.” They called it You Can Be My Wingman Anytime and graded the 300-metre WI3. It’s one of the biggest new routes at the grade climbed in a decade in the province." To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--Outside is reporting that, "Palisades Tahoe skiers and boarders have long-known that more than a few of its black diamond runs warranted another diamond due to cliffs and other hazards. The resort finally agreed this year. Palisades Tahoe upgraded nearly 40 of its 245 Alpine Meadows and Olympic Valley runs to double black diamond status–on paper anyway–including Granite Chief Peak, Funnel, Kathmandu, Idiot’s Delight, Tom’s Tumble and Chimney. The extra diamond can be seen on the resort’s 2022/23 map available on its app." To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--The Hill is reporting that, "a popular camping spot in Grand Canyon National Park has been renamed, making it just the latest federally-managed space to undergo rebranding. It isn’t the last, either. After a unanimous vote by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names earlier this month, the Indian Garden campground has been renamed Havasupai Gardens. The vote came after the Havasupai Tribe formally requested the National Park Service change the campground’s name." To read more, click here.

Colorado and Utah:

--A backpacker died in the Zion Narrows, likely due to hypothermia this week. To read more, click here.

--SnowBrains is reporting that "Loveland Pass—home to two Colorado ski areas and an area infamous for avalanche activity—was reportedly closed for four hours on Monday morning after a large avalanche buried a section of highway." To read more, click here.

--Shuttle service in Zion will end on Monday. 

--From the Access Fund: "Following the lead of the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Pueblo of Zuni, Access Fund filed a motion to intervene in a state of Utah lawsuit that attacks President Biden’s decision to restore Bears Ears National Monument. Bears Ears is a sacred landscape to Native American Tribes and home to world class rock climbing visited by climbers from around the world." To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--Gripped is reporting that, "Ed Webster, who pushed the limits of what was possible on Mount Everest in 1988, has died at the age of 66. He was born on March 21, 1956, in Boston and grew up in Massachusetts before moving to Colorado where he earned a degree in anthropology in 1978." To read more, click here.

--Gripped is reporting that, "the climbing community has lost one of the most prolific route developers in the Canadian Rockies and Skaha Bluffs with the passing of Jon Jones. If you’ve cragged in the Rockies or Okanagan Valley, you’ve likely climbed one of his routes. Jones recently died at the Penticton Regional Hospital with his partner Christine Wright by his side." To read more, click here.

--Cocaine Bear is a real movie. It is supposedly inspired by true events (a bear eats cocaine from a downed drug-runner's plane) and the movie is coming out in 2023. Check out the absolutely awesome trailer, here!

--SnowBrains is reporting that, "Vail Resorts today announced the appointment of Angela Korch as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective Dec. 22, 2022. Angela rejoins Vail Resorts from CorePower Yoga, where she served as Chief Financial Officer since May 2020, after previously spending more than a decade in successive leadership roles within Vail Resorts’ finance organization, working closely with the company’s current CFO, Michael Barkin." To read more, click here.

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