I’m not an extraordinary metal fan, but I love this new edit for The Art of Flight because you get to see more fantastic footage from the film. If you haven’t seen the first trailer, it’s here.

Some Canadian National Parks are now requiring hikers to carry bear spray. They’ve also banned cycling and dogs during peak bear activity months. The law falls under their National Park Act, and fines could be as much as $25k for not carrying spray, though it’s hard to imagine them actually charging someone that much for not being properly equipped. Hopefully people don’t start buying Halt! and spraying on themselves like mosquito repellent.

Is bear spray required in any U.S. National Parks? I did a quick search online and couldn’t find requirements listed for any parks.

Ski season in Patagonia should be at its peak. Kids are out of school for a while, the snow’s coming down and ski towns built on tourism are setup. Unfortunately a volcano in Chile’s been puking ash on the resorts and neighboring towns keeping the airports and resorts on lock down. People are wandering around town wearing ski goggles, but it’s just to keep the ash out of their eyes. I’m surprised no enterprising skiers are uploading GoPro footage of them floating down the mountain covered in ash, but I suppose it’s tough to skin up an ash-covered mountainside. Plus it’s probably not great to breathe or wash out of your ski jacket.

A couple friends headed to Crater Lake National Park for some camping last winter. The best part? No bugs. The second best part? An amazing starscape.

via Wend

You wouldn’t pay for our crappy, overpriced ski resort homes at Idaho’s Tamarack Resort and Montana’s Yellowstone Club? Well, we want the money anyway. Two resorts that developed the hell out of their property and then didn’t sell anything are seeking to win back some money from Credit Suisse. They’re saying the bank engaged in predatory lending and overinflated the value of these supposed investments.

You can sue for making bad choices now? It’s so nice that no one’s responsible for their own decisions anymore.

Intense snowfall during the day meant that about 250 skiers and snowboarders were told to head to the Mt Lyford lodge and stay put until further notice. Then further notice didn’t arrive until the next morning. Overnight they shared a couple mattresses between snacks and waiting for the power to come back on. After some avalanche control work authorities let people leave in packs of ten cars. Why 10 cars at a time? I suppose they weren’t 100% sure that an avalanche wasn’t going to bury the road, so they’d have fewer cars to dig out if it happened. I hope they also let them drive as fast as they wanted.

This video got my pulse ticking. There’s something about watching the guy walk up and clip the lock, then get setup to pedal away that loads on the suspense. Then this young woman charges out of nowhere and steamrolls him. POW! Nice knockout punch. It’s also notable that she didn’t pick up the bike lock and start pummeling the thief on the ground. Not that I’d have judged her if she had. Almost 200,000 people have watched this video. Think they’ll identify the guy?

A New York pilot on his way to Wisconsin crashed into Lake Huron at 5pm yesterday and spent the next 17 hours swimming, floating and treading water - all without a life jacket. The 42-year-old considered survival an integral part of his manhood. Rescuers said the first thing he said about his ordeal was, “If a 13-year-old girl could swim across the English Channel, I can survive overnight.” Indeed, well done my friend.

The widow of a man who died in an in-bounds avalanche at Jackson Hole is seeking a trial. Her husband had signed a release at Jackson Hole weeks before when he bought a season pass, and Wyoming has a recreational law that releases ski resorts and other recreation providers from liability. The woman is seeking a jury trial on the grounds that this accident is not covered by the release or Wyoming’s recreational law because the resorts decision to open the ski run was so wantonly reckless.

Among other claims, she says that resort management was putting pressure on the ski patrol to open certain sections of the mountain that had been closed for a couple days prior. This is one of the choice quotes from the discovery phase of the trial:

“When asked if he ever felt pressure from his boss (because of the costs and loss of revenue from the runs being closed) to go ahead and open the mountain, Jake Elkins admitted that he did feel this pressure from Jerry Blann,” the brief says. “In fact, the afternoon before Nodine was killed, the president of JHMR, Jerry Blann, asked Mr. Elkins, the head of ski patrol: ‘Can we get that f—— lift open this afternoon?’ Not surprisingly, Mr. Elkins made the decision to open the lift in question the following morning, and David Nodine was killed.”

Read the rest of the article at the Jackson Hole News and Guide.