Northwest:
–The section of the Pacific Crest Trail that goes through Snoqualmie near Interstate 90 may be closed for short periods each day this summer due to blasting for work on a ski lift. To read more, click here.
–KTVZ is reporting that, “the snowcapped peak of Mount Rainier, which towers 4.3 kilometers (2.7 miles) above sea level in Washington state, has not produced a significant volcanic eruption in the past 1,000 years. Yet, more than Hawaii’s bubbling lava fields or Yellowstone’s sprawling supervolcano, it’s Mount Rainier that has many US volcanologists worried. ‘Mount Rainier keeps me up at night because it poses such a great threat to the surrounding communities. Tacoma and South Seattle are built on 100-foot-thick (30.5-meter) ancient mudflows from eruptions of Mount Rainier,’ Jess Phoenix, a volcanologist and ambassador for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said.” To read more, click here.
Sierra:
–The respected big wall climber John Middendorf has died of a stroke. He was 65. Gripped has a good write-up on his legacy, here.
–Climbing is reporting on a new 17-pitch route on Keeler Needle, a 14,260-foot neighbor to Mt. Whitney called Keel Haul (V 5.13c). Read more.
Colorado and Utah:
–Fox News is reporting that, “A skier is safe thanks to the quick thinking of two off-duty ski patrol members who saved him after he fell over 1,000 feet while attempting to descend South Arapaho Peak in Colorado. On Sunday, June 16, shortly after 10:30 a.m., the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a skier who had sustained serious injuries in the area of the Skywalker Couloir on South Arapaho Peak, west of Nederland.” To read more, click here.
