There were no losers at this year's Piolets d'Or, the awards that celebrate excellence in alpinism. Literally. All six climbing teams nominated for this year's prize won, from a Russian team that climbed a new route up Pakistan's Muztagh Tower to a British pair that put up a new line on the Northeast ridge of Shiva in India. The unprecedented tie is the first of its kind since French magazine Montagnes began presenting the Piolets 21 years ago.
"2012 was an exceptional year for groundbreaking... Read More
Walking through green spaces may affect the brain in the same way as meditation, according to a new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Researchers from Heriot-Watt University in the U.K. wired up volunteers with a device to track their brainwaves, then had them walk through an old shopping district, a park, and a busy commercial area. They found that participants entered into a kind of meditative state while walking through the park, experiencing less frustration and engagement.
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Sticky-fingered thieves have been pilfering the sap from Maine’s maple trees. According to the state’s Forest Service rangers, there has been a dramatic rise in sap theft over the past several years. The thieves typically trespass on private property to tap the trees with a spout and bucket, then steal away into the night with gallons of sweet liquid gold. "It could be that landowners are more willing to contact us,” Ranger Thomas Liba told the Associated Press. “But it... Read More
Photographer: Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff's Department
An 18-year-old hiker lost in Trabuco Canyon since Sunday has been found and airlifted to a hospital. Kyndall Jack was found dehydrated and exhausted in Falls Canyon after a hiker heard her yelling for help Thursday. It took a rescue team 90 minutes to hoist her from a steep canyon wall. One rescuer fell 60 feet into the canyon during the process and also required an airlift.
Rescuers found her companion, 19-year-old Nicholas Cendoya, Wednesday night, just half a mile from the pair's car. Both... Read More
Despite the buzz surrounding his return to competitive sports, Lance Armstrong will not compete in a masters swim competition in his hometown of Austin, Texas, this week. Swimming's governing body, FINA, has instructed the organizers of the Masters South Central Zone Swimming Championships to block his participation, citing doping sanctions.
Initially, it seemed that the 41-year-old athlete had been able to work around the World Anti-doping Agency's lifetime ban, which, the organizers said, d... Read More
