Most athletes at the Olympics know they’re not in medal contention. It’s the trip of a lifetime and one they plan on enjoying even if they don’t have a podium layover. These people are there for the good times. Then there are the athletes who compete and finish on the first day, and they have the next couple weeks to party, celebrate their wins, and hookup with other athletic, testosterone-charged humans staying in the Olympic village. Over 100k condoms were handed out to athletes looking to make an international connection in Beijing this year. The OIC knows this, they just don’t want to see any evidence of it. So American snowboarder Scotty Lago ‘agreed to go home’ after this photo of him and some young lady biting his bronze medal surfaced.  Oh well, I’m sure he’ll be able to sneak back in. Having an Olympic medal around your neck at the Olympics is like carrying a clipboard into a jobsite-you can get access to anything.

via Wend

Since Utah renounced polygamy and became a state, it was illegal for the public to fishing rivers that ran through private property. That changed in 2008 when Utah’s highest court ruled that anyone can fish in any river provided that they can access it via a public bridge or public park. A guy with enough gumption can wade miles deep into private property to find a fishing hole. The Utah leg is currently in session, and will vote on a couple bills, likely today. One of the bills (HB80) sides with fishermen, and another that (HB141) sides with wealthy property owners who don’t want any riffraff on their pristine shores. Contact your local reps and give them an earful.

A Dutch speed skater pulled down a Gold medal and then had to sit through an interview with someone from NBC. It’d be like if a Dutch reporter asked Drew Brees to say his name and what he does right after the Super Bowl.

The Ski Journal’s annual hardcover Photo Book came out this week, and like everything from Ski Journal, the content and quality are superb. They’re coffee-table-quality books stacked with glossy photos of deep snow and steep terrain. If archaeologists from a future civilization find only a hardcover copy of the Ski Journal from our culture, at least they’ll know we were pretty rad.

Teddy Roosevelt was stopped from carrying his shotgun in to Yellowstone, but beginning on Monday Sweaty Uncle Teddy ‘Ted’ Nugent can stand on top of Old Faithful waving a Desert Eagle around if he wants to. The law that will allow guns to be carried into National Parks was a rider on a credit card reform bill that passed last summer. National Parks expect it to be business as usual after the ban lifts. When I lived in Minnesota, everyone was up in arms about a conceal-and-carry law that went into effect, but so far no one’s been shot. Just because someone likes guns doesn’t mean they like shooting people. Besides, I’m sure anyone who really wanted to carry a gun around National Parks was doing so anyway. State laws still supersede the new national law, so make sure your state hasn’t banned guns in parks before you strap on your bullet bandoliers to take in the sights.

The self-appointed “Monkey Man” borrows his climbing style from his namesake. It might not be the most efficient way to get up the wall, but it’s loaded with style. If I were to compare my climbing style to an animal, I would be “Horse Man.”

via Wend

Salt Lake City is hoping that the inversion isn’t in town during next Saturday’s Fight for Air Climb in the Well Fargo Building. Over 400 people have signed up to climb the tower’s 598 stairs. It’s reminiscent of the annual Race to the Top of New York’s Empire State Building, except in the Salt Lake version you climb to the top as many times as you can. Last year a guy made the top-to-bottom trip 42 times. A mountaineer holds the top honor in NY, while a firefighter has the crown for SLC.

A pair of East Coast teachers spent an unplanned evening outside after becoming lost while hiking Owl’s Head Mountain in New York. Oddly enough, this was their 48^th and final hike together that would complete all 4,000-foot peaks in the area. East Coasters don’t get the opportunity to take down many 14ers, so they have to pile up the 4k peaks. Luckily, the two brought sleeping bags and extra clothes, though their matches were too old to light. One’s cell phone failed and the other shot off a few text messages to friends before the battery died. Fish and Wildlife agents found the two during a search the following morning. The teachers are missing a bit of work while recovering, but they’ll be okay on costs. They said that they haven’t heard anything yet, but if the state asks them to pay the costs of the search and rescue, they’ll do so gladly.

A German snowboarder was stranded on a chairlift in the Austrian Alps for six hours after he tried riding the lift down. The crew shut down the lift and the man’s cries for help when unheard. He burnt the contents of his wallet with a cigarette lighter to try to get attention. He started with receipts and business cards then went onto cash. A ski-run cleaning crew spotting him while his last 20 Euro note went up in flames. The worst part is he didn’t even have a cash tip for his rescuers.

Two things: 1. This is almost exactly like the ski movie I haven’t seen, ‘Frozen.’ A person gets stuck on a lift riding it when they’re not supposed to, which is why I think we’ll find out shortly that this was a viral marketing stunt by the people responsible for ‘Frozen.’ 2. What’s a “ski-run cleaning crew,” and why are they skiing 6 hours after the lift closed? If they were checking the runs for lost skiers, it seems they should have passed by this guy, oh, I don’t know, five-and-a-half hours earlier.

via Outside