"Because it's there."

[thør]

Crow Pass Crossing

This race is about 24 miles long and requires a bit of glacier/snowfield travel and river fording. There is NO support along the trail.

http://media.adn.com/smedia/2012/07/21/18/35/bT9JE.St.7.jpeg

Here's the race winner in the woman's division.


http://media.adn.com/smedia/2012/07/21/14/34/11F84Q.St.7.jpeg

Heading downhill after the summit.


http://media.adn.com/smedia/2012/07/21/14/33/9LrMG.St.7.jpeg

Looks like a tasty bagel.

 

[Peregrinator]

Postscript from the ADN.com:

"The family of missing Mount Marathon runner Michael LeMaitre of Anchorage is calling off its search after more than a week of continuously looking for him on the mountain.

KTUU says the Seward Fire department also has suspended its search over the weekend because of depleting resources and poor weather conditions.

The Seward Fire chief says small search teams will resume when conditions improve.

LeMaitre's son-in-law, Curtis Lynn, says the mountain is slick and becoming more dangerous. He says family does not want volunteers to continue risking injury.

Lynn says it was an "extremely hard decision" and the family doesn't have the closure it wanted.

The 66-year-old LeMaitre vanished during the annual Fourth of July race in Seward. "

Just had one of those tonight...I got called out for an hour away, then turned around a half hour down the road. That usually means very good or very bad news; not sure which this was, yet.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m500lfum7i1qhn3zpo1_1280.jpg

Most perfect indeed...

 

[Peregrinator]

This race is about 24 miles long and requires a bit of glacier/snowfield travel and river fording. There is NO support along the trail.

http://media.adn.com/smedia/2012/07/21/18/35/bT9JE.St.7.jpeg

Here's the race winner in the woman's division.


http://media.adn.com/smedia/2012/07/21/14/34/11F84Q.St.7.jpeg

Heading downhill after the summit.


http://media.adn.com/smedia/2012/07/21/14/33/9LrMG.St.7.jpeg

Looks like a tasty bagel.

According to legend, the North Face Extreme Whatever Team pioneered using spiked track shoes to smoke glaciers. Something tells me it's one of those things that maybe a few people were doing before the big press noticed...

 

[thør]

According to legend, the North Face Extreme Whatever Team pioneered using spiked track shoes to smoke glaciers. Something tells me it's one of those things that maybe a few people were doing before the big press noticed...

I don't think that the spiked track shoes would work well on the talus and rock parts of the trail. Prolly dandy on the dirt. So-so on the river crossing.

 

[Peregrinator]

I don't think that the spiked track shoes would work well on the talus and rock parts of the trail. Prolly dandy on the dirt. So-so on the river crossing.

They probably use lugged running shoes, then.

 

[thør]

They probably use lugged running shoes, then.

I know some folk wear some heavy duty shoes on that race so they don't get stone bruised.

 

[stickwork]

I know some folk wear some heavy duty shoe on that race so they don't get stone bruised.

Can't anyone skate uphill anymore?

 

[thør]

Can't anyone skate uphill anymore?

http://media.adn.com/smedia/2012/07/21/17/16/1n8f2E.St.7.jpeg

Not the best terrain for skates.

We used to carry skates up the south Eagle River trail in early winter. If the wind had blown the snow off the lake, you could explore for miles with minimal effort.

Sometimes conditions are great for skating:

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/e/7/9/600_21824665.jpeg

 

[stickwork]

http://media.adn.com/smedia/2012/07/21/17/16/1n8f2E.St.7.jpeg

Not the best terrain for skates.

We used to carry skates up the south Eagle River trail in early winter. If the wind had blown the snow off the lake, you could explore for miles with minimal effort.

Sometimes conditions are great for skating:

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/e/7/9/600_21824665.jpeg

Nice. I cant imagine skating without having to turn around after 100 yards or so.

 

[thør]

Nice. I cant imagine skating without having to turn around after 100 yards or so.

You could prolly go 20 miles on that section of the river before you had to go back. Smart person would skate up the river into the prevailing wind and then glide effortlessly back to the car. I've switched to nordic skates for most of the skating I do. They track straight.

 

[thør]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7jptmUVeC1qj8evso1_500.jpg

 

[thør]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7j015qtRX1qjlvupo1_500.jpg

 

[Peregrinator]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7j015qtRX1qjlvupo1_500.jpg

This is familiar. Birds get blown on to the glacier and then land on anything with color. Fun to watch them, kinda sad that you know they're going to die.

 

[koalabear]

http://img1.catalog.photos.msn.com/Image.aspx?uuid=3876cc5e-47d6-4364-aaef-fb23a73abc14&w=628&h=498&so=2

July 24, 2012: Former US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords & husband Mark Kelly (right) stand on a summit in the French Alps on July 23. Giffords, who was shot in the head in Tucson on Jan. 8, 2011, reached the 12,605-foot peak via two cable cars. (© Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

 

[thør]

Three Denali Climbers Rescued After Avalanche

"Three climbers were rescued by helicopter from Mount McKinley Thursday, two of whom were unable to walk after sustaining leg injuries in an avalanche Sunday.

Denali National Park officials say an A-Star B3 helicopter contracted by the park picked up Michael Pillegaard, 26, Mads Knudsen, 30, and Nicolai Bo Silver, 26, from the mountain’s 17,200-foot high camp."

More, check out the link above.....

 

[thør]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7umqm9gkd1rqeqzno1_500.jpg

 

[thør]

Not mountaineering, but interesting photos of Scott and Shackleton's huts in Antarctica.

Google streetview vid

 

[thør]

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/329316_10151007553289891_2041008163_o.jpg

 

[thør]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m878blNPF81rnosmyo1_500.jpg

 

[thør]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m876g6cR3z1qjukd8o1_500.jpg

Wanda Rutkiewicz (1943 - 1992) - First woman on top of K2 in 1987, died on Kangchenjunga.

 

[thør]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7200/6893963096_0b91b0a88e_o.jpg

Jill Church

 

[thør]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7219/7264686880_5d3e60beec_o.jpg

Christina Pilo

 

[thør]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7244/7250355104_47eb3283d5_b.jpg

Nina Caprez

 

[thør]

http://www.arleneblum.com/chap8_10_comp/images/CH10-01.jpg

First all woman team to the summit.

There is an excellent photo essay of this trip at the following link.

Denali Damsels

 

[thør]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m777fvdSGK1rpwfnjo1_1280.jpg

Alexandra Ladurner