Pete Thomas Outdoors

Rockfall at Yosemite's El Capitan claims at least one life

By Pete Thomas

At least one person was killed Wednesday in a rockfall at El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park.

Another person was injured during the incident, which occurred at 1:55 p.m., according to a news release posted on the park's website. 

Park rangers were trying to transport the injured person to a nearby hospital, while rangers and Yosemite Search and Rescue assessed the situation late Monday.

The release point of the rockfall was near the “Waterfall Route” on the East Butress of El Capitan, a towering granite monolith popular among rock climbers.

Many climbers were on the face of El Capitan, or at its base in Yosemite Valley, at the time of the rockfall.

The NPS did not reveal the size of the rockfall, but stated on its website that an updated news release would be issued Thursday.

–Image showing El Capitan is courtesy of Yosemite National Park

 

 

 

Skiing icon Glen Plake survives deadly Manaslu avalanche

The search for six missing climbers in the aftermath of Sunday's deadly avalanche on the Nepalese peak of Manaslu has been called off.  The bodies of nine climbers were recovered and several injured climbers were treated for injuries and hypothermia.

One of the lucky survivors was Glen Plake, an iconic freeskier from Lake Tahoe.  Two of Plake's ski-mountaineering companions, Greg Costa and Remy Lecluse, are among the missing on the 26,759-foot peak.

Speaking from Manaslu base camp, Plake told Trey Cook of Epic Tv: "I'm OK, a bit beat up; missing some teeth and a bruised eye but write in big capital letters: GLEN PLAKE IS ALIVE AND HE'S COMING HOME."

Plake, who had been sharing a tent with Costa, also described being swept 900 feet down the mountain in the predawn darkness, in his sleeping bag, as the massive slide tore through Camp 3 at about 20,000 feet, destroying as many as 25 tents.

"We all went to sleep with avalanche transceivers on so I punched my way out of the tent and started searching," Plake said. "I searched for 10 minutes before I realized I was barefoot in the snow.

"Greg had been using my down suit for a pillow and I found my suit, I found everything that was in my tent – camera, sleeping bag, ski boots. It was like someone had thrown my gear in the back of a pickup – but there was no sign of Greg. Remy and his tent are nowhere to be found."

The slide, estimated to measure up to 2,000 feet  across, also slammed tents farther down the slope at Camp 2. One of the Camp 2 survivors is Canada's Greg Hill, who in 2010 set a record for climbing and skiing 2 million vertical feet in one calendar year.

Some of the Camp 2 climbers assisted in a Sunday search that became impossible after heavy fog swept over the slope. The search was called off a day later, after it became clear there was no hope of finding any more survivors.

Reports vary but at least 29 people were on the mountain at the time of the avalanche, which Plake estimated to measure about 2,000 feet across.

Eight of the nine climbers who were killed have been identified. Four are French, one is Italian, one Spanish, one German, and one is a Nepali national.

Manaslu, the world's eighth tallest peak, is among the most dangerous to climb, having claimed the lives of dozens of mountaineers in recent years.

--Image showing Glen Plake, Remy Lecluse and Greg Costa (left to right) is courtesy of EpicTv

Mt. Everest death toll reaches four; overcrowding blamed

Mt. Everest's"Death Zone" lived up to its name over the weekend as at least four climbers succumbed to the elements near the 29,035-foot summit of the world's tallest peak.

Overcrowding on the main summit route, leading to prolonged exposure and exhaustion within a low-oxygen zone that begins at 8,000 meters (about 26,000 feet), is being blamed.

The victims were identified as Eberhard Schaaf, 61, a German doctor; Shriya Shah, 33, of Canada; Song Won-bin, 44, of South Korea, and Ha Wenyi, 55, of China.

Still missing is the Chinese climber's Sherpa guide.

A mass summit attempt began Friday and Saturday as climbing teams were taking advantage of the first favorable weather window of of the season. About 150 climbers reached the top of Everest, mostly on Saturday.

But crowding had choked ascent routes, delaying summit bids of some teams by several hours.

"There was a traffic jam on the mountain on Saturday. Climbers were still heading to the summit as late as 2:30 p.m. which is quite dangerous," Gyanendra Shrestha, of Nepal's Mountaineering Department, told the Associated Press.

"With the traffic jam, climbers had a longer wait for their chance to go up the trail and spent too much time at higher altitude. Many of them are believed to be carrying limited amount of oxygen and not anticipating the extra time spent."

The Seoul-based Yonhap news agency is reporting that Song, after collapsing with fatigue, fell at an area known as The Balcony, a small platform area at 27,600 feet.

On average, a handful of climbers perish each year on Mt. Everest. This year, according to Everestnews.com, there have been at least six fatalities, and 198 successful summits.

The most tragic day on Everest, with late summit bids also a contributing factor, was May 10, 1996, when eight people died after becoming trapped in a snow storm.

That season was the most deadly on record, with 15 fatalities.

Yosemite Half Dome cable permits required daily this season

Yosemite National Park officials have announced that day-use permits to climb the Half Dome cables will be required seven days a week for the 2012 summer season.

An interim program that required permits on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays was implemented by the National Park Service in 2010 and switched to a seven-day-per-week system for 2011, to better regulate the number of hikers using the cable system. Safety issues have arisen from crowding, which also has led to long waits on the popular hike.

Some changes to the permiting system were made this year, and permits will now be allocated through a preseason lottery, a two-day-in-advance lottery, and as part of the Wilderness Permit process, with a maximum of 400 hikers allowed each day on the Half Dome Trail beyond the subdome.

Permit fees also have increased, with two separate fees collected for 2012. A non-refundable processing fee of $4.50 will be charged when applications are submitted online ($6.50 if done by phone). An additional $5 per person refundable fee will be charged when permits are received, and helps offset the cost of stationing park rangers at Half Dome to check for permits.

Further details regarding the lotteries and the wilderness process can be found at the park's website at www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdpermits.htm.

The Half Dome cables are generally in place from mid-May through mid-October, depending on snowpack and weather conditions.

Image of Half Dome and climbers using the cable system courtesy of Scott Gediman / National Park Service

Climber Tommy Caldwell recounts epic El Capitan summit bid

Tommy Caldwell was unsuccessful in a recent bid to reach the summit of El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park, but the effort and determination displayed by the professional rock climber was admirable to say the least.

Caldwell, 33, spent 16 days on El Capitan's 3,000-foot face, attempting a seemingly impossible free-climbing route. While 16 days is not a record -- the legendary Warren Harding and Dean Caldwell (no relation to Tommy) once spent 27 nights on El Cap -- it's about five times longer than a typical climbing party spends while trying to advance up simpler routes on the granite monolith.

(*Editor's note: A similar version of this story appears on the GrindTv.com outdoors blog)

Free-climbers use ropes and a belaying partner to secure holds in case of a fall. Caldwell's wife, Becca, was by his side for 10 of the 16 days. They slept on portable ledges and inside hanging tents secured to the granite; they endured freezing wind, rain, snowstorms and cascading sheets of ice while he aspired to complete the "Dawn Wall project."

A more apt title might be "Mission Impossible." Caldwell, for a third consecutive year, was forced to abandon his quest short of the summit. He quit two weeks ago when the climbing season ended, after failing to negotiate the 13th of a series of pitches on a route that remains unconquered by free-climbers.

His odyssey, however, should not be regarded as a failure. This is how elite-level rock climbers ultimately succeed: with stubborn determination.

"The process is so long that you hit walls all the time," said Caldwell, who completed some of the first 12 pitches after as many as 15 attempts, rubbing his fingers raw. "I hit walls dozens of times, and each time you decide whether you want to keep going or not."

Most of conquered routes on El Capitan feature fairly distinct crack systems or other features that allow for handholds or footholds. Much of the Dawn Wall route is virtually featureless. "There's just not a heck of a lot to hold onto, so it makes for incredibly continuous hard climbing," Caldwell said.

Hiker falls to death on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park

A 26-year-old woman fell to her death Sunday while descending from the summit of Half Dome within Yosemite National Park.

Hayley LaFlamme, of San Ramon, Calif., plummeted about 600 feet from the cabled route on the granite monolith. The incident is under investigation but thunderstorms were in the vicinity most of Sunday morning and the incident occurred at about noon.

Stormy weather makes for extremely hazardous conditions. Those planning to climb Half Dome should consult a web page set up by the park to show how to prepare for the endeavor.

The last hiker to have died on Half Dome was Majoj Kumar, also from San Ramon, on June 13, 2009. The most recent fatal accident on Half Dome's cabled route before that was in 2007.

Summit bids continue after fierce wind storm on Mt. Everest

A sudden wind storm blasted the Himalayas on Saturday, wreaking havoc for dozens of mountaineers who had positioned themselves for summit bids on Mt. Everest.

Winds in excess of 50 mph uprooted tents and twisted fixed lines, possibly ending or delaying several expeditions that had been perched high on south-side and north-side routes leading toward the 29,035-foot peak.

(In the aftermath, however, several summit bids were continuing on Monday.)

Bill Burke, a Southern California mountaineer camped on the north slope, issued an audio report stating that an estimated 50 tents were "blown off the mountain" by gale-force winds.

Burke, 69, who is part of a small expedition, said the wind "literally sucked all of the contents" from one of his group's tents, including sleeping bags, clothing and high-mountain gear used by four Sherpa porters.

A statement on the Asian Trekking website said the wind storm "gusted through the upper camps delivering chaos wherever it touched" and added that tents in exposed areas were either "shredded or blown away."

A blog post by RMI Expeditions, which has a team on the south slope, stated: "Our climbing team was hit by huge winds last night at Camp I. In fact, the entire mountain (all the camps) was blasted with extremely high winds and frigid cold. Many tents were lost in the upper camps.

"Our team survived the night by 1) checking and re-checking the tents to make sure they were secure, 2) eating a big freeze-dried meal for dinner, and then 3) diving into their extremely warm sleeping bags."

Though complete information is difficult to obtain because of mountain logistics and the number of expeditions from around the world, there were not believed to have been any fatalities caused by the wind storm.

Burke's expedition will continue with its members sharing what's left of the gear and clothing, but it will be a delayed effort because fixed lines were damaged by the storm and need to be fixed by Sherpas.

Burke, who two years ago became the oldest American to summit Everest and live to tell about the experience, is hoping to reach the world's tallest peak for the first time from the north route, via Tibet.

His itinerary this year calls for a south-side attempt after the north-side expedition for a first-ever double-ascent of Everest. But because of delays caused by the wind storm, the second leg of his journey might have to be scrapped.

So far this season, more than 15 people have reached the top of Everest and two have died on the mountain. A Nepalese climber reportedly died Monday in an ice fall. On May 1, Rick Hitch, who is from Northern California, collapsed and died of unknown causes at Camp 3, at about 23,000 feet.

-- Image of Camp 1 wind damage on the Everest's south slope is courtesy of Asian Trekking. Second image shows Bill Burke, 69, who is attempting to reach the top of Everest for the first time via the northern route

Enzo Oddo, 16, makes difficult sport of bouldering look easy

Bishop, Calif., is a bouldering paradise and attracts climbers from all over the world. A recent visitor was Enzo Oddo, 16, from Nice, France, and as you can see in the video the prodigy is bound for greatness.

While in the Bishop area, the prAna-sponsored athlete negotiated the fourth-ever full ascent of the highball named Ambrosia. That was only one of his impressive accomplishments during an expedition that included travel throughout the majestic Eastern Sierra region.

The video is worth watching if for no other reason than to gain an appreciation for those who are passionate about this obscure and very difficult sport. Enjoy:

Terrorist activity on Russia's Mt. Elbrus leads to tourism ban

Skiers, snowboarders and mountaineers are being cautioned not to travel to Russia's Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe, because of the presence of terrorists who are being blamed for the shooting deaths of three Moscow tourists last Friday at a popular Elbrus ski resort in the North Caucasus region.

The attack reportedly involved masked Islamic separatists who blew up a cable car pylon, causing gondola cars to plummet to the snow. Nobody was hurt in that incident. The slain tourists were shot as they traveled in a small bus.

Since then, deadly clashes between government troops and militants have occurred, and on Wednesday air strikes and mortar bombings were carried out with unknown results, according to the Moscow Times. Also, a large shelter stocked with explosives and firearms was discovered on the slopes of Elbrus.

About 5,000 people visit Elbrus annually. As Europe's highest mountain (18,510 feet), it's popular among climbers during the spring and summer.

A top Russian official reportedly has demanded that tourists be banned from Elbrus until anti-terrorist operations are complete.

All of this has to be unsettling to those planning for the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi, which is not terribly far from the troubled area.

-- Pete Thomas

Climber finding Denali a cold, unforgiving place in January

This has become a long, bone-numbing, wearying and dangerous month for Lonnie Dupre, who is attempting to become the first person to solo-climb Alaska's Mt. McKinley, North America's tallest peak, in January.

Dupre spent the seven of the last eight days holed up in a narrow snow cave at 17,200 feet -- McKinley (commonly referred to as Denali, or the "High One") stands at 20,320 feet -- as 50-mph winds raged across the frozen landscape and temperatures reached 40 below.

On Tuesday afternoon, according to expedition manager Tom Surprenant, the climber took advantage of a brief favorable weather window -- a storm cleared and winds had subsided to 25 mph -- and descended to a larger cave that serves as a makeshift camp at 14,200 feet.

"It'd be suicide for him to continue without first coming down to regroup," Surprenant said, adding that Dupre was weakened and will rest for a day or two, rejuvenate his lungs and pick up a dry sleeping bag before attempting what is hoped will be a two-day push to the summit.

Surprenant, who is headquartered in Talkeetna, Alaska, said during a phone interview that Dupre had been experiencing headaches and was in danger of developing mountain sickness and hypothermia because of prolonged exposure to high altitude and frigid temperatures.

In his latest audio report, posted Monday on his website via satellite phone, Dupre said he was growing weary because the air was so thin, and that he was having trouble keeping warm.

"I'm waiting for a window. I can't climb up, and I can't climb down," said the renowned polar explorer from Grand Marais, Minnesota. "I still have a good attitude and I'm fairly optimistic, but there's no let up in this wind."

Denali is dangerous even in the summer because of unpredictable weather and vast crevasse fields. The danger level increases exponentially once winter sets in. Only nine expeditions have reached the summit during the winter; six deaths occurred during those trips.