Climber injured on Rainier

photo via www.alpinedave.com/mt_rainier/rainier.html

Mitchell Bell was climbing with a party of 5 up the Kautz Glacier route on Rainier when he fell into a crevasse and was injured yesterday afternoon. His group summoned the help of guides from Alpine Ascents International. He was airlifted off the mountain this morning with a Chinook helicopter. He reportedly suffered some broken teeth and broken ribs. Link

Trip Report - Rainier Climb

Greetings.
I've been off the computer and up in Rainier National Park for the past week. A team of climbers that I met on the John Muir Trail last year summited Rainier via the Emmons Glacier Route on Wed, June 25. I was supposed to be with them but got pretty sick during the previous week and had to bail at a the parking lot. It was a smart move as it turned out to be pneumonia!
Feeling *much* better after buying $150 worth of antibiotics.
Here are some pictures of the trip. I'll post some more once the guys post their actual climbing pictures.
I'm going to try again. Either later this year or early next. Stand by...

Special full moon on Wednesday

Tomorrow's full moon is called the solstice moon.

When the full moon rises on the horizon it always looks big but this one will look 'really' big. This is because the moon hugs the horizon longer than at other times of the year. The sun seems higher in the sky and the moon seems lower. Everything is ok. It's summer. The moon isn't actually any larger, nor is it magnified. It's just an optical illusion having to do with our puny brains being unable to distinguish distances under certain conditions. NASA has the whole thing worked out here.
Remember, the Solstice is coming June 20-21 this year, depending on where you're living. (20th in the USA).

Lost in the Cascades - Update - Hiker remembered for his sacrifice

Army Reserve's 159th Aviation Regiment Chinook rescuing the surviving hikers from Camp Muir

There are more details now about the hiker who died on Rainier Monday. His wife and their mutual friend are hailing Eduard Burceag as a hero. They said that he insisted on laying in the snow which provided them some protection from the cold. They begged him to move but he kept saying he was ok and stayed until he lost consciousness.
Daniel Vlad, one of the three was somehow able to summon the strength to head up to Camp Muir before dawn in the storm. He was spotted by a guide from International Mountain Guides struggling up the mountain in what one guide called the worst storm he'd ever seen there.
Three guides met up with him 10 minutes later. Vlad gave the guides precise directions on how to find the other two. One guide, Joe Franklin, brought Vlad back up to Muir. The other guides, Kevin Hammonds and Eben Reckord went down and easily found the pair. Mariana Burceag incoherent but concious. Eduard Burceag was unconcious and had no pulse. They decided to get Mariana Burceag up to Camp first. They bundled her up and began to drag her up the mountain. Eventually more rangers came with a sled and oxygen. It took about an hour to get her to camp, Once they secured her in camp, the went back for Ed. He was later brought back to camp where doctors determined that he had died.
As we reported before, the two survivors were brought down by helicopter on Wed. Ed Burceag's remains were brought down by sled later that afternoon. The county medical examiner confirmed that he died of hypothermia.
RIP Ed Burceag.

Lost in the Sierras - Update - Missing Yosemite hiker found alive

The missing Honduran man we've been reporting about was reportedly found alive yesterday afternoon around 2:15. He was spotted by helicopter near Mt Starr King within in the search area. It's not known what happened but he is apparently ok.
The National Park Service has the story.

Surf - All aboard. Airline baggage costs for board bags

Employees at the airlines handle your board

The folks over at Surfline put together a current and comprehensive list of the prices airlines charge for your board bag. The bewildering rules are all over the place. If you want to take British Airways to your surf destination, they will not let you take your board at all. For any price. Delta wants $150 each way for any size board. Our favorite, United (not) wants $200 each way for your long board, anything under 9 ft is $100 each way.
The good US airlines who don't charge anything are Alaska & Virgin. Woot!. Jet Blue charges a reasonabl 25 each way.
The price of flying is still incredibly cheap, even with the new fuel surcharges. Flying commercial airlines are the only thing we can think of that cost the same in the 50s as it does now. Still, it pays to take into account the extra baggage costs.
For instance, a round trip flight to Puerto Vallarta from San Francisco on United and Alaska costs the same right now $881.
If you take your longboard and fly United, the cost will be an extra $400 ($1281 round trip).

It's a good idea to check with the airline for any changes to these rules before you book. These rules change all the time.

One more thing. Think hard about bringing your board at all. Every time we've brought our board on an airline, our boards have been damaged by the kind people handling the baggage. We've wrapped and padded and tried all kinds of different travel bags. If you're going to a place where it's easy to rent, it's often a much better deal to leave your board at home. This is especially true if you are going to pay someone to repair your board.

Lost in the Sierras - Update on Desolation Wilderness hiker deaths

The LA Times is reporting the cause of death of the hikers found dead in Desolation Wilderness. The first man, Thomas A. Hylton died of a heart attack. He apparently fell ill during dinner at their campsite, just 2 miles from the trail head at highway 89. Unfortunately , Hylton was the more experienced of the two. The other man, Jerome B. Smith apparently left immediately to find help, wearing only a flannel shirt. The moon was just a sliver that night and he fell down a rocky slope, suffering moderate injuries. The night time temperature at that altitude was probably in the 20s and he died of exposure sometime during the night.
There you have it.
RIP Mr. Hylton & Mr. Smith.