Skiers who rode Sunrise Park Resort in Arizona last month reported becoming infected with Norovirus, the normally cruise-ship-related virus that is “often transmitted by fecally-contaminated food or water; by person-to-person contact, and through the air.” The highly contagious virus does well in cruise ships that are closed in spaces with very high densities of people not washing their hands. Ski resorts, which as many of you know are located outdoors, normally don’t have this kind of problem.

Tags: ski resort

Remember that devastating tsunami and ensuing nuclear meltdown in Japan in 2011? At the time scientists said we’d see debris from the event on the shores of the Pacific Northwest. I imagined loads of shopping bags and car tires. Turns out that a huge dock drifted all the way over, and it’s going to cost about $600k to get rid of it. Japan’s government is kindly footing most of the bill through funds they’d sent us to deal with this kind of problem. The 185-ton dock is 65 feet long and made of a foam-type material encased in steel-reinforced concrete. When it arrived park officials worried about invasive species went out and scraped 500lbs of organic material off the dock and then washed it with bleach. Park officials would have been better served if they’d just put a post on Craigslist: “Free Japanese dock.” It would have been gone in an hour.

Does your dream job include watching the sunrise over Mount Rainier before a long, fulfilling day of maintaining high camps, rescuing wayward hikers, and in general being a mountaineering ranger? Sure, you’d have to make some sacrifices, and it’s not the safest job in the world, but it’s all worth it when you rescue those two kids who got lost on the mountain and nearly died. And how much would you expect to make for this kind of work? How about nothing? Well, the NPS is looking for two volunteers to work April 8 – September 1. You’ll get a uniform, housing, and a $20 per day stipend, so plan on hitchhiking home on Sept 1^st since it’ll be impossible to fly or pay for gas.

In January, the New York Times has shut down its environmental desk and on Friday it did the same to its Green environmental blog. In an era of unprecedented financial and circulation pressures, it’s inevitable that something has to give for mainstream media. But what does this say about the perception of environmental issues? At best that they’re a peripheral topic that can be addresses under other beats. At worst, that the most important voice in journalism has thrown in the towel. As NYT environmental voice of conscience Andrew Revkin writes, the Times still has “nine sports blogs; nine spanning fashion, lifestyles, health, dining and the like; four business blogs; four technology blogs (five if you include automobiles as a technology); and a potpourri of other great efforts…” But no green blog. Revkin also cites presidential debate moderator Candy Crowley’s dismissive reference to “all you climate-change people.” When is the mainstream media, not to mention the general public, going to understand that “the environment” isn’t some abstract concept that can be marginalized by a lack of reporting resources or attention? If it isn’t already, it’s about to be the defining issue of our time, and if Hurricane Sandy taught us anything, it’s that we’re all “climate-change people.” Via Dot Earth.

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It’s been a grim winter in the backcountry of Grand Teton National Park, with a second death occurring this past Friday. An avalanche killed Jarad Spackman of Jackson Hole, sweeping him down a steep, narrow chute on Prospectors Mountain. He was with another skier at the time, who was unharmed but also unable to save Spackman. The duo was ascending Apocalypse Couloir, a chute on the mountain’s north face that feeds into Death Canyon, with an eye on descending an adjacent chute. If those names sound ominous, the forecast for avalanches in the area was merely moderate but hardly consoling. Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center director Bob Comey says, “Apocalypse Couloir is extreme terrain, even when the hazard is low. We put out a general avalanche forecast, and it doesn’t apply to terrain like that. Ever. The teeniest little slide could sweep you to your death. It’s been identified as a go-to place for extreme skiers, and you know what — it has consequences,” he said. Via Jackson Hole Daily.

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Tags: avalanche, Skiing

It’s been a decent ski year in the Green Mountains, but Vermont’s ski resort managers are still concerned. They learned not to project too far into the future after last season, which could have finished strong but busted when a record heat wave melted an entire year’s snowmaking in a matter of days. So far, though, Vermont has a good shot at being better off for 2012-13. It’s helped that Northeastern cities have seen enough natural snow to remind folks that the mountains have lots more. Even Mad River Glen, one of very few ski areas left in the region to depend completely on Mother Nature, is doing reasonably well this year, expecting about 80,000 to 85,000 skier visits. One damper on all of Vermont’s resorts was Hurricane Sandy. Students missed a lot of days during that storm, and schools sought to make up ground by shortening holidays, which made for fewer family vacations. Via Times Argus.

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Tags: Skiing

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says her country will move to end traffic in ivory — currently, ivory taken from domesticated elephants can be sold legally in Thailand, but campaign groups and scientific experts say that this law is being used to “launder” ivory taken illegally from Africa. And that’s a big deal, because Thailand is believed to be second only to China as a market for tusks, often brutally removed from elephants across the continent. It’s estimated that between 50 and 100 African elephants a day are killed to meet the demand. Speaking at the opening of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in Bangkok, the Thai PM said that Thailand will reform the present system, but critics are concerned that details such as timing and scope were scant. Via BBC.

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The helmet-maker Giro has launched a new line of road cycling gear that doesn’t make you look like a neon-clad billboard. It’s Rapha-style stuff at a fraction the cost, meaning it’s still very expensive at about $140 for a shirt. That said, the designs look good, and I love anything that gets people onto bikes and makes them into advocates for riding. Getting rid of the Lycra stereotype will go a long way to getting more people into the sport. Plus, in terms of price, let’s face it, you’ll spend the same for a ridiculous race kit loaded with advertisements, and it’s not like those idiots are paying you to wear it.

Tags: Cycling, Gear, giro

Nobody hanging around Teton Pass was waiting for Wyoming to legalize hitchhiking, but at least now you can’t be busted for doing what everyone’s been up to for decades: The state has finally made thumbing legit under the eyes of the law. The rather overblown title given the bill says a lot about how you rally both liberals and conservatives behind an idea: It was called both the “Free Choice for Free People” bill and “Neighbors Helping Neighbors.” How about, “You drive, I’ll ski, and I’ll get you back next week!”? Via Jackson Hole News and Guide.

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On Tuesday New Mexico lawmakers struck down a ban on coyote-killing contests. The contests drew national attention when a gun shop owner collected $50 entry fees and then gave prizes to the team that killed the most coyotes. The House vote was 38-30 with a handful of Democrats joining Republicans in defeating the bill. “We have to be able to maintain our cattle, our ranches, and our livelihoods,” said representative William Gray. Representative Nate Cote, who sponsored the measure, said the contests were bad for the state’s image and that even hunters had denounced them as unsportsmanlike. Cote himself is a hunter, and he said ranchers and homeowners would have still been entitled to protect their livestock and pets, but that competitions whose only purpose was killing coyotes for entertainment would have become illegal. Via Current-Argus.

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Two Salt Lake brothers were arraigned on fraud charges for raising millions of dollars to develop a ski area at a members-only resort. They sold the idea of converting Elk Meadows ski resort to investors, but the conversion failed to materialize and one of the two has been charged with failing to inform the investors of his previous bankruptcy and shady dealings. After the arraignment, he was held in jail for not paying back $4 million to other investors from another one of his great ideas. You have to feel a bit bad for the investors who lost money, but then again they were trying to build a private ski resort.

Tags: ski resort, utah

Did George Mallory and Sandy Irvine summit Everest before dying on the way down in 1924? It’s an age-old mystery and the one shred of evidence that might actually help shed light on it is their camera. Tom Holzel is an Everest historian who has for some time championed the idea that finding the camera will provide decisive photographic evidence either way. While Mallory’s body was discovered back in 1999, the camera wasn’t with him. Holzel believes it’s with the yet undiscovered remains of Irvine, and by examining high-resolution images of Everest he believes he’s located the body of Irvine. The catch is that Holzel needs to raise money to launch an expedition and that money hasn’t been forthcoming. It still might be, someday, but for now the 90-year-old mystery remains just that. Via The Adventure Blog

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Tags: everest, mountaineering