Self-rescue.

In spite of record breaking snowfall that the National Park Service believes will result in a high-water for the renowned rapids of Cataract Canyon on the Colorado River, the NPS will not have a rescue camp there this year. For years they’ve maintained a base camp where they could offer motorized-assist rescue, but this year they’ll leave it to the guides to self-rescue. They say it has nothing to do with staffing or budget problems, it’s just that they “don’t want to get tied down to one place.”

Bode Miller’s back in his odd training program. He’ll be driving in the Gumball 3000 Rally from London to Istanbul with skier Jon Olsson. This stage race across year began in 1999. If you’ve ever seen the film Cannon Ball Run or watched the Tour de France, you get the idea of how it works. I wonder if he knows it’s not safe to race cars when you’re drunk?

Technology just made being able to identify trees by looking at their leaves another useless skill - thanks guys. Leaf Snap is a mobile app that uses visual recognition technology to tell you if the tree you’re looking at is safe to eat or not. Or, maybe not exactly. The idea is more that using your phone’s GPS you’d be able to tag the tree after identifying its leaf, and then a massive database could be created of the trees across the U.S. It could be used to determine forest health and the way they change as the Earth slowly warms.

via Up Northica

Just when you think it’s safe to declare ski season over, the mountains get a dusting of 14 inches and everyone runs out to play with their latest wakeboard-turned-snowboard creation. It’s nearly Memorial Day, so I think we can finally call it on the sweet part of the season. This video, for me, encapsulates all the joy of a massive snowfall season. Enjoy.

It would be easy to hate Sweetgrass Productions for putting out a 12-part web series and making us head back each month for another installment of the promo for their project, Solitaire. But it’s hard to hate them since each of the episodes is so damn good. This episode finds them in Las Lenas, Argentina waiting for decent weather.  I know that sounds lame, but have any of these little webisodes let you down yet?

A duo of climbers summited Mount Everest over the weekend and instead of climbing down took a shortcut. They paraglided off the summit, flying over 20 kilometers to land at Namche Bazaar. Two other flight attempts were scratched this season. After they finish throwing high fives on their decision to take the elevator down instead of the stairs, the pair will continue hiking on their way down to sea level. The Everest summit was only one leg of their summit-to-sea journey that will eventually finish in Bangladesh.

via Outside

Just in from climber, filmmaker (and Backcountry.com Athlete) Renan Ozturk in Lhotse. The Camp 4 Collective has sent back their third dispatch from the Lhotse Ski Expedition, as the crew gets closer to their final push.

A Colorado hiker lost his way in the woods while on a backcountry jaunt with his dog and girlfriend. They had intermittent cell phone service, and contacted local authorities to tell them they were lost. Rescuers advised them on a path, but the group was eventually cliffed-out and trapped. Luckily they had cell service and were able to guide in searchers. The local sheriff station ran the names of the stranded hikers and found out that one of them had two felony warrants. He was rescued, and then immediately afterwards arrested. Must have been an emotional rollercoaster.

We can agree that sloths are the weirdest looking creatures around. How a slow moving tasty create could evolve is beyond me. The things always look so terrified, and they look incredibly weird trying to cross the street.

via GetOutdoors