Officials have suspended the search for a hiker who went missing in the Sierra Nevada two weeks ago after an early winter storm. Larry Conn, 53, of Pacific Palisades, California, began what was to be a four-day backpacking trip in Inyo National Forest on October 19, the day before a snowstorm dumped 12 inches in the mountains. The eight-day search, involving some 56 people from multiple government agencies, three dog teams, and five helicopters, was hampered by rugged and wintery conditions. N... Read More
A 31-year-old software engineer will attempt to make history on Sunday by climbing 103 flights of stairs in Chicago’s Willis Tower on his state-of-the-art-prosthetic leg. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, Zac Vawter signed up to become a research subject at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, helping to test a new kind of prosthetic controlled by his thoughts. The climb, called the “SkyRise Chicago,” is a fundraising initiative by the Institute and wil... Read More
The number of inbounds avalanche deaths has increased over the past seven years, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Since 2005, there have been eight inbounds-avalanche fatalities—avalanche deaths that occur in open, patrolled terrain due to non-extenuating circumstances—at resorts in the United States in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, California, and Nevada. While eight may seem a small number, it’s double the historical average for a seven-year period.... Read More
Sixty-nine parks along the eastern seaboard have either been closed or cordoned off in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, according to the National Park Service. New York was particularly hard hit, with extensive flooding on Ellis Island, Liberty Island, and Battery Park. In New Jersey, the Gateway National Recreation Area, which includes Sandy Hook and Breezy Point, was heavily damaged. Morristown National Historical Park, the site of General George Washington and the Continental Army's winter enca... Read More
Photographer: Courtesy of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Sheriff and fire department crews in Malibu rescued two lifeguards from a beachside cliff this weekend after they became stuck while trying to reach a woman who had become stranded high on the rocks. Lifeguards in a boat spotted the woman 50 feet up the cliff at Pirate's Cove and directed the two would-be rescuers to her position, where they, too, became stuck. By the time emergency crews arrived, a group of nearby climbers had already lowered the woman off the cliff. In a press release, offic... Read More
