Utah’s Solitude Ski Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon seeks to impinge on the solitude of backcountry users by expanding beyond their current boundaries and adding lift service to Silver Fork Canyon. The 695-acre parcel would turn some of the most popular backcountry powder terrain in the world into lift service. Might be nice if Solitude wants to attract more powder lovers from the East Coast, but locals will likely go Hayduke on the construction project. The good news is that it will take years of bitter feuding among several groups if Solitude wants the expansion, and it will be an uphill battle to get the development approved.

Globetrotting playboy.

55-year-old Indian citizen Kashi Samaddar completed a trip that included a stop in every country in the world. He set a world record by finishing his journey in less than seven years. There are two interesting aspects to this story: 1. He decided to do it after getting hassled for having an Indian passport, and 2. His pictures are terrible. The Guinness Book of World records requires only that you use public transportation and set foot in every country to qualify for the record. That way you get a lot of bus station and airport photos over the course of seven years. I like that he did it while wearing a suit. The guy spent about $700k on the travels, and the hardest country to visit was Moldova, where it took him several years of rejections to get a visa. Emissions! Global warming world record! Raaah! Before everyone freaks out about how this guy’s ruining the world, we should take a moment to consider that he’s likely the only guy in the world who would want to spend 7 years visiting airports and bus stations.

National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen (Canadian) found himself at the receiving end of a little philanthropy from an Antarctica predator. A 12-foot leopard seal took pity on his helplessness as an ocean predator and tried to teach him how to catch penguins. When that failed, the thing dropped dead penguins for him to eat.

via Neatorama

The one-lift operation in southwestern Colorado has added a second, much more expensive lift. Silverton will be selling single rides on their leased helicopter for $160 per run or $320 for a shuttle run to drop you in the backcountry and retrieve you later. If your credit card doesn’t go through I guess they just leave you there. You can also pay $1000 for a day of heli skiing that includes six runs. On top of the exorbitant price, you also have to buy a lift ticket for the day of your heli trip (except for the $1000 trip), which can cost from $50 to $130 depending on the time of year. The really good news for people without tons of cash is that Silverton is also expanding their mid-week ski days to early and late season.

An Arizona Republic columnist makes the case that rescue for hikers lost in the backcountry should continue to be provided for free, as it is in most states in the U.S. He points to a trail runner who hid from hikers so he wouldn’t have to pay a search-and-rescue surcharge, and the kid in New Hampshire who was handed a $25k tab for his rescue. His logic is that people don’t pay the firefighters when they drive to the scene of a car accident and cut you from the wreckage, and it should be the same with mountain rescue. Of course, those people still have to pay for the ambulance and medical bills, so I guess some lost hikers will have to pay for helicopter rides. Most of the searchers are volunteers, and government hasn’t gotten to the point yet that it’s privatized the National Park Service. He makes strong arguments, and I’d like to see it continue for free as long as possible. These guys setting off emergency beacons when their water tastes too salty isn’t helping.

The production company that created Deadliest Catch is making a new reality program that will follow game wardens raiding poacher’s homes and tracking down illegal marijuana farms around Northern California. The show will be made for National Geographic TV and will only run with four 1-hour episodes. They’re filming right now, but if you want to see a preview you can watch this clip from Steven Seagal’s upcoming reality cop show, Lawman. Yeah, that Steven Seagal.

via Outdoor Pressroom

Each year about 23,000 people apply to be one of the 11,500 allowed to backpack overnight in the Grand Canyon. The only way to get a permit is by lining up at the Park office on the day they become available, or by mailing or faxing in a request. People lined up at dawn around the office have the obvious advantage over callers fighting for the one open fax line. They often have to redial for hours at a time because they keep getting busy signals. The only thing worse that waiting in line at dawn in Arizona for a permit would be standing in an office for three hours constantly punching “redial.”

So the bad news is that the new system will only allow for permits by fax or mail. Local guides are upset that they’ll have to compete like everyone else, and the rest of the world is mad that the Grand Canyon can’t upgrade to a 1998-style website and allow online reservations. The new permit system will take effect in February.

Two Swiss mountain guides who lost half of their clients in an avalanche on Jungfrau were acquitted of any fault. They were guiding a group of 12 Swiss soldiers up a 4,158-meter peak in the Bernese Alps when an avalanche they triggered pulled away 6 soldiers and deposited them 1,000 meters down the mountainside. This actually happened back in 2007, and a year later their military lost five soldiers in a rafting accident on the Kander River.

This brings up a lot of heavy ethics questions about how much guides are really responsible for protecting their clients, but what I’m more interested in is the Swiss Military. Climbing Jungfrau? Rafting the Kander? Sounds like a pretty good military outfit to join.

Andrew Skurka, whose previous accomplishments include a 6,875 mile trip around the American West and a 7,778 mile jaunt across the continent, will be attempting a loop through Alaska and the Yukon Territories beginning next year. Besides the sheer distance (4,500 miles), the route is almost entirely off-trail and so remote that Skurka will only cross about 10 roads while on his trek. He’ll employ skis and a pack raft, but mostly he’ll be walking. Sounds like a great way to get in shape! He’s trying to come up with a better name for his trip and seeks your opinion on his blog. Before he leaves, Skurka also has to figure out a couple things, like how to pay for the trip and how to carry enough food.

via The Mountain World