While rising temperatures threaten to melt the glaciers in Glacier National Park and invasive African weed threaten to choke out the saguaros at Saguaro National Park, Bill Briggs points out in this MSNBC article that we’re still a big part of the problem.

The hundreds of millions of visitors to national parks, and their natural use as places to hike and drive are tearing the places down.

“Ultimately, I think one problem is that we expect the national parks to be static museum exhibits, when they are ever-changing dynamic landscapes subject to the same forces that the rest of the world experiences, from erosion to global warming to tectonic activity.”

Environmentalists suggest limiting vehicular traffic or at least limiting helicopter and small plane flights over sites like the Grand Canyon.

This season Vail Resort in Colorado will be outfitting their entire resort with radio frequency towers on almost all 90 lifts. The idea is that iPhone and smartphone developers could create apps that would let skiers check-in across the hill or go online and track their progress up-and-down the resort after skiing all day. I think a lot of people will be disappointed when they find out the “thirty or so” runs they skied that day turns out to be more like 11 runs. Vail expects some apps will let people share their positions in real time, which will help lost families unite on the hill and robbers know which village homes are vacant for them to break into.

A duo of hikers came upon a well-preserved body while walking near Edmonton, Canada. A melting glacier had given up the body, and it’s been ID’d as an American climber who’s been missing for 21 years.

Parks Canada rescue specialist Garth Lemke told The Canadian Press news service that the glacier ice that covered the body had melted, leaving an eerie scene.

“By the time we got there the body was fully exposed. We didn’t have to chip the body out at all,” Lemke told the news service.

The man is William Holland, who disappeared in the icefields while hiking a treacherous route in April 1989.

You move to rural Alaska hoping to escape the random violence associated with gritty inner cities, only get caught in the middle of a bear vs. cop gun battle. Fortunately the guy who caught the bullet wasn’t directly in the line of fire, but was hit by a pellet from a shell that ricocheted off the bear. He was hit in the stomach and received a bruise, and the bullet didn’t break the skin. While we can be happy that the man is okay, the bigger implication here (bears have developed bulletproof skin) is far more troubling.

via Outdoor Pressroom

The latest Protect Our Winters ad is out, and it features some fine skiers, including Backcountry.com Athlete Ingrid Backstrom. The skiers are mobilizing, and halfway through the video, you can even see one of them wearing a suit! You can join POW or find out how to get involved at their site, protectourwinters.org.

Thanks Colin

Three firefighters in Grand Teton National Park had to paddle a boat out to a small island and put out a forest fire that was started by a person’s not-quite-extinguished campfire. It was easy to catch up with the guy who’d left the fire burning since he was fishing on the other side of the island. I’m not sure how the firefighters realized his small island was on fire before he did, but at least it was easy to track him down and give him a fine. Besides, it was an island so the fire wouldn’t get too far. They should have just let it burn until the guy had to swim away to get out of there.

River kayak racing is a lot tougher than it might seem. Brad Pennington was 35 miles into a 340-boat race up the Missouri River when he said he thought someone hit him in the head with a brick. It turned out to be a 30-pound, sideways-leaping silver carp that jumped out of the water at him. He managed to keep his boat upright and continue paddling, but he had to withdraw from the race with a broken rudder. Oddly enough, Pennington said that getting face slapped by a carp wasn’t even the worst thing that’s happened to him during a kayak race. “In Texas,” he said. “We’ve been shot at with BB guns during races.”

I was wondering how they get down from the top of the tree until I saw the last second of this clip. Climbing through those thick branches would be tough. I’d come out strong against this kind of activity in National Parks or federal land we all share, but frankly, I think it’s good to have some people engaged in this kind of activity. You know, cull the herd, clean up the gene pool a bit.

via Wend

Order up the Sender Films boxed set and pencil off six-and-a-half hours to watch some climbing and other death defying stunts. It’s actually six separate hour-long stories that take you from the first ropeless ascent of Half Dome to Dean Potter’s work using a BASE chute instead of a climbing rope.