A line in the New York Times about Arizona Snowbowl’s plan to use treated wastewater on its slopes this coming winter strikes a decidedly under-informed note: “Half of all alpine ski areas in the United States, including the big names of Vail, Aspen, and Lake Tahoe…are faced with the choice of expanding or going out [ more... ]

When explorers ventured into Lechuguilla Cave at Carlsbad Caverns National Park this summer they found new passages and climbed for days to discover one of the largest rooms in the cave. And on a separate expedition in May, skilled cavers made a five-day climb to the top of a 535-foot dome, now known as the [ more... ]

The Himalayan “death zone” is often assumed one of the biggest dangers of climbing there. But with yet another plane crash carrying treckkers to the world’s tallest peak, the region’s biggest danger may be its rickety transportation infrastructure. This is the sixth such Everest-bound crash in two years; there were seven British tourists, five Chinese, [ more... ]

Timothy Egan writes a powerful editorial in the New York Times about Mitt Romney’s acceptance of the so-called Sagebrush Rebellion in the West — the idea of giving states local control over present federal forest and BLM land. He suggests that there’s no reason to think states would be better stewards, and every reason to [ more... ]

The 2012 wildfire season will likely break the United States record for the most acres burned, set in 2006 when more than 9.8 million acres burned. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, nearly 8.4 million acres have burned across the United States as of September 18, an area larger than the state of Maryland. [ more... ]

The Supreme Court in India has temporarily banned tourism in core areas of the country’s 41 tiger reserves. The unexpected and controversial ruling is aimed at protecting the last of India’s 1,700 tigers. Conservationists say that tourism is actually encroaching on the last refuges of the big cats, turning the areas into something more akin [ more... ]

With a quick sweep of his pen, California Governor Jerry Brown enveloped the Golden State’s parks in bubble wrap for two years, protecting them from the budget shortfalls that threatened to close 72 of them. It’s not that Brown was suddenly feeling generous, but that a scandal within the parks department showed that some were [ more... ]

B.C.’s Red Mountain is about to almost double — the powder magnet is adding another peak to its terrain, Grey, and increasing its acreage by nearly 1,000, to 2,682. This season Red will run a nine-passenger shuttle to the top of Grey, but next winter will have a quad in place, along with 22 runs [ more... ]

Not quite, thankfully, but more than 66 square miles have burned this fire season in a state that’s usually thought of as green and lush. Part of it is lush, but east of the Cascades the climate’s closer to that of the rest of the Rockies — dry. Homes near Mission Ridge ski area remain [ more... ]

News flash: Last year the snow stank. Oh, and the resort real estate market has been in the dumper since 2007. So the National Ski Areas Association says the 2012-13 ski season marks the smallest capital investments in more than a decade. Ski areas will invest a projected $189 million, down from $300 million last [ more... ]