|
Sunday, December 31. 2006
It was a tough year for the outdoor community, and as the year wraps up, we'd like to take a few moments to remember and honor the many good people we lost. In addition to the more well known people we've listed below, there are many more names that of course we have not been able to list and we honor those as well:
Thursday, December 28. 2006
They identified Charlie's body today, probably hit by an avalanche while unroped: A snow-covered body found on a remote mountain in China has been identified as U.S. photographer Charlie Fowler, who disappeared several weeks ago during a climbing trip with the owner of a Seattle-based adventure company, friends said Thursday. Fowler and Christine Boskoff were not roped together when they were possibly swept up by an avalanche high on the peak, as friends initially believed they would be, and so the search for Boskoff continued as snow fell Thursday.
More via AP.
Receive updates on the Boskoff/Fowler search via  RSS or  Email Related Posts:
Wednesday, December 27. 2006
Receive updates on the Boskoff/Fowler search via RSS or Email
July 9th, 2007 UPDATE: Christine Boskoff's Body Found A body has been found. Not releasing details yet. From the AP: The body of one U.S. climber missing for more than a month has been found on a remote mountain in southwestern China while a second climber is still missing and presumed dead, a rescue coordinator said Wednesday.
Christine Boskoff, a top female climber, and Charlie Fowler, a well-known climber, guide and photographer, were reported missing after they failed to return to the United States on Dec. 4.
The body discovered is partially buried and has not been identified yet, said Arlene Burns, a friend of both climbers. Rescue workers were to resume the recovery efforts after daybreak. [snip] The body was found at the 17,390-foot level on Genie Mountain, also
known as Genyen Peak, not far from the Sichuan border with Tibet. The
mountain is 20,354 feet high.
UPDATE: From the official search site: On December 27, 2006, a body, mostly buried in the snow, was spotted at 1:30pm (China time) by a Chinese member of one of the Field Search Teams. The location is at an approximate altitude of 5300m (17,388 feet), 3 hours above Lenggu Monastery in the Genyen Region. The body is currently unidentified and is not confirmed to be either Fowler or Boskoff. Details of the sighting include modern climbing equipment, blue gaitors, and grey boots. Dave Hillon, Chief, Consular Section U.S. Consulate General, Chengdu, China has notified both of the families. Hillon also reported that cooperation by the Chinese authorities has helped immensely to maintain an accelerated effort by all parties involved. The plan now is for additional Field Search Teams to return to the same area to confirm the identity of the body and to look for additional climbers and/or evidence.
Related Posts:
Thursday, December 21. 2006
 With all the tragedies in the outdoors lately, here's a story of someone who actually survived by.... hibernating. Seems his core body temperature had dropped to 71 degrees Fahrenheit when he was found in a state of unconscious semi-hibernation. According to the story his organs slowed down and he basically slept the 3 weeks he was "lost" without food or water. So the story goes. We're thinking he just got hammered the first day, stayed in a hotel partying the rest of the time, then found his way back to the forest so he could get "found" 3 weeks later. But that's just us. Everyone else thinks he was "hibernating." Read more on CBC Canada.
 Just a rough few weeks in the outdoor community. The Alpinist reports the bad news about the three-time ice climbing world champion:
Austrian Hari Berger died on December 20 while ice climbing close to his home town near Salzburg. [snip] In addition to pioneering extreme ice routes around the world and
climbing multi-pitch 5.14 alpine routes such as Silbergeier (8b+), Des
Kaisers neue Kleider (8b+) and "The End Of Silence" (8b+) in the
Ratikon, Berger was an expert B.A.S.E jumper. He leaves behind his
girlfriend Kirsten, who is in the ninth month of her pregnancy.
Related Posts:
Wednesday, December 20. 2006
This is our last post on the Hood tragedy. The sheriff announced today that the SAR has moved to "recovery." Condolences to all the families.
Related Entries:
It's no secret that outdoor accidents, like the Mt. Hood tragedy this past week, drive traffic and eyeballs to the media outlets that cover them. Mountaineering accidents, especially, play well to people's morbid fascination with death since they often happen over a few days, and in many cases the victims are alive or thought to be alive as the rescues are attempted. Which adds to the suspense, or in many cases, tragedy. The unfolding events are perfect for sensationalizing, especially on television. I don't have a t.v., but I take it this is the case with the Hood accident. But there are plenty of other examples. Rob Hall's call to his pregnant wife as he lay dying on Everest comes to mind. The Tomaz Humar debacle on Nanga Parbat this year is another example of a drawn out rescue played out in the media. A more tragic accident was Jose Antonio Delgado's death, also on Nanga Parbat this year. He called in to his BC to say he had been caught in a storm and had run out of food and fuel, his last communication as he tried to down climb from Camp 4 to 3. I realize blogs play a role in sensationalizing events. But I make a clear distinction between outdoor bloggers, and the rest of the media which use the event as nothing more than a chance to boost their ratings. Since I don't have a t.v., I’m immune to most of it, but if I had to sit through Fox news calling the climbers "hikers" and their ice axes "ice picks", I might have thrown my t.v. out the window. Just parasites. My distinction may be arbitrary, but it's clear to me. This is our community and when our people get in trouble, we're the ones rallying around them. The SAR folks are busting there asses every day out there on Hood. Fox news could care less about them or us. It's just ratings. I doubt they're giving the Fowler/Boskoff disappearance 1/10 the attention they gave the Hood tragedy, and we're talking about two of America's top climbers. Probably because some remote region in China doesn't play so well on t.v. And it's not just Fox News. Click on the screen shot above of a Google search for updates on the missing climbers on Hood. Check out the sponsored link advertising on the right by the New York Times. The title is "A Body Found On Hood" and invites you to click through to the New York Times to read about the recovery of one of the climber's bodies. The New York times is blatantly trying to capitalize on the tragedy by buying keywords. Cold blooded keyword marketing. Sickening, if you ask me. And you probably won't. That is all. Signing off. Move along. Good night.
Tuesday, December 19. 2006
NOTE: This post is from the Mt. Hood accident in 2006. For news of the Dec. 2009 Mt. Hood accident go here.
Someone on Cascade Climbers highlighted the various routes on Hood. Speculations is that the two remaining climbers may have disappeared in and around the "gullies." Green line is Cooper Spur.
Red line is left NF gully. Yellow line is right NF gully. Broad blue
squiqqle area is the Eliot Glacier. Orangeish squiggle is the Snowdome.
Monday, December 18. 2006
NOTE: This post is from the Mt. Hood accident in 2006. For news of the Dec. 2009 Mt. Hood accident go here. OutdoorsPro has some good thoughts on what might have happened to the two remaining climbers on Hood: I haven't yet heard exactly where they found the two snow caves (one of which contained the body), but from the video i've seen, it looks like they were on the "Hogsback". This is a spot very familiar to most people who've climbed Mt. Hood.
What makes this significant, if indeed that's where the cave was, is that it means they made it to and over the summit. If that is the case, the other two climbers should have easily made it down to Timberline Lodge, especially during the relatively decent weather they had at the time. It's straight down the hill, with no significant glacier issues.
Three possibilities arise:
One, they made the classic mistake of lost climbers on the south side and took the fall line down into Zig Zag Canyon. This can be a long, long hike out to town much lower down the mountain, but is a pretty obvious place that rescuers would have checked.
Two, they veered off to the east and got trapped in the White River Glacier.
Three, they did an amazingly stupid thing and decided to head back up and over to descend the north side. Why anyone would do this when going for help is beyond me to answer.
Related Entries: Latest Articles: Forums Discussing The Accident:
Sunday, December 17. 2006
Unfortunately it looks as if the climbing party lost on Mt. Hood may not make it. A climber has been found dead on the mountain. HOOD RIVER, Ore. - Rescuers looking for three missing climbers on Mount Hood found a body Sunday in the area where one of the climbers made a distress call last week, authorities said.
The dead climber had not yet been identified, said Pete Hughes, a spokesman for the Hood River County Sheriff's Office. The victim was believed to be one of the three missing climbers, authorities said.
The body was found in a second snow cave near another such cave where rescuers found a sleeping bag, ice axes and rope, officials said.
The body has been not been identified, but odds are that it is one of the 3 climbers lost on Cooper Spur. Again, GoBlog will continue to monitor this story. We hope the other 2 climbers will be found safe.
|
About Us |
Privacy Policy |
Contact Us
© Copyright 1999-2010 GetOutdoors, All rights reserved.
|
