SierraDescents.com

The Market & Me

My apologies for the lack of new content this week.

I’ve been busy watching my personal fortune evaporate in the stock market.

While I would never argue that what has been happening at the NYSE is in any way good, it has been most educational.

The financial crisis has motivated me to learn more about our economy, the equities market, and finance in general—subjects about which I have long been ignorant.

But the most valuable education I’ve received over the past week has been what I’ve learned about myself. And this new personal insight has taken me completely by surprise (more…)

Posted in News | 2 Comments

REI Snow Camping Clinic

REI Santa Monica has a monthly offering of free courses and clinics (and some fee-based programs as well).

On 11/12 there’s a free Snow Camping clinic which sounds interesting.

I haven’t attended one of these myself, but I’d bet you’d get at least a few useful tidbits of info.

Posted in Camping, News | 0 Comments

TGR Film ‘Influence’ — SoCal Dates

What better way is there to remind yourself you’re a year older than to go check out the latest Teton Gravity Research Film?

Under the Influence features this season’s crop of attractive young hipsters doing all those crazy things on skis and snowboards you used to imagine you could do—set, of course, to a rousing rebellious soundtrack.

Influence has a gaggle of California tour dates, with SoCal showings including Pasadena – 10/29 (yes, that’s tonight); Mammoth – 11/14; Claremont -11/21; and Big Bear Lakes – 11/29.

Keep an eye out for a TBA Los Angeles date—hopefully somewhere near the Westside.

Posted in News, Skiing | 0 Comments

Fossett’s Plane Found

The Los Angeles Times is reporting Steve Fossett’s plane has been found in the mountains near Mammoth Lakes, California.

Billionaire Adventurer Steve Fossett disappeared back in September 2007 while flying solo. The subsequent search for Fossett was among the largest and most expensive in U.S. history. When the search turned up empty, speculation began that Fossett had faked his disappearance. Some people argued it was impossible for a plane to simply disappear—despite the fact that Fossett hadn’t left a flight plan, leaving authorities with a nearly unlimited area to search.

The discovery of Fossett’s plane was precipitated by a Mammoth ski shop owner, Preston Morrow, who found Fossett’s wallet while hiking in Red’s Meadow in the Inyo National Forest.

That find soon led searchers to the wreckage of the plane, as well as human remains, which have been sent to a lab for forensic identification.

According to the AP, there were large storm clouds over the Mammoth Area on the day Fossett disappeared, suggesting the possibility that foul weather may have been responsible for the crash.

Posted in News | 1 Comment

More Ski Hut Fun

The Mt. San Antonio Ski Hut crew are back to work this weekend and coming weeks, and still looking for volunteers to assist in carrying loads up to the hut, as well as extra hands while they’re repairing the hut.

I believe people who help out earn credits toward host usage, which means you get to stay in the hut in winter and use it as a backcountry skiing basecamp, so if you’ve got some free time and energy, RSVP to Gil and get your hands dirty.

Posted in News, Skiing | 1 Comment

AAC Changes to Global Rescue ‘Service’

The American Alpine Club has posted more information on its website about the organization’s shift from offering rescue insurance as a member benefit to a rescue ‘service’ managed by Global Rescue Worldwide.

While AAC’s original rescue insurance was hardly a perfect solution, it was one of a very few affordable insurance options—especially for climbers who live in the U.S. The original benefit was automatic for AAC members, and provided (I believe) up to $5000 in rescue insurance to pay for S&R costs associated with climbing accidents. For some climbers, myself included, AAC’s insurance benefit made the otherwise pricey $75.00 per year member dues look attractive.

Among the shortcomings of the AAC insurance was its lack of options. You couldn’t upgrade to more expansive plans, for example. Additionally, the total payout each year was capped at a specific limit member-wide, meaning if AAC paid out its limit to other members prior to your mishap in any given year, you were out of luck.

This year, AAC has dropped its rescue insurance plan. The replacement is a Global Rescue Service much like the American Auto Club. At least at first, AAC seemed a little overly enthusiastic about Global Rescue, given that it really isn’t a true replacement for insurance (more…)

Posted in Climbing, News | 0 Comments

Lost Bay Area Skiers Found

The San Francisco Chronicle reports two missing skiers have been found after they became lost in the backcountry near Alpine Meadows ski resort.

Both men are described as experienced adventure skiers, though according to the article, they did not intend to leave the resort on the day they became lost. Weather conditions were particularly foul that day, with high winds, a sustained blizzard, and white-out conditions. They apparently were unfamiliar with the resort and surrounding geography, and passed unaware beyond the boundary while skiing expert terrain in the blizzard.

What followed was a two day and two night ordeal in which they dug snow caves and slept on pine boughs, melted snow for water in plastic baggies, and followed a river downstream through heavy snow until a rescue helicopter spotted them. Aside from typical alpine ski gear and clothing, they had no backcountry equipment with them. The skiers certainly deserve credit for their survival skills, which kept them alive in life-threatening circumstances (more…)

Posted in News, Skiing | 0 Comments

Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008)

Few goals captured the imagination like the first ascent of Mount Everest, at 29,035′ the highest point on Earth. Early attempts to climb Everest were turned back with a vehemence than soon had many believing the mountain could not be climbed. And then, in May of 1953, a New Zealander named Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay became the first to stand atop Everest’s summit.

Hillary’s accomplishment brought worldwide fame and recognition of the sort rarely experienced by mountaineers. Like all of History’s greatest adventurers, Hillary and Norgay expanded the limits of the possible on that day in the Himalayas. After Everest, Hillary remained active as a climber, though he did not summit the world’s highest peak again. He also established the Himalayan Trust, dedicated to helping the Sherpa of Nepal.

Hillary died on January 11, 2008, in Auckland. He was 88.

Posted in 8000m Peaks, News | 0 Comments

$100 Oil and the Stupid Monkeys

The funny thing is, initially this didn’t even strike me as that big of a milestone. I mean, oil has been hovering around the $70-80 per barrel price for so long (relatively speaking), that I’d gotten used to the idea.

But wait a minute—only a few years ago, I believe the OPEC nations were saying that the ideal price would be in the $30 per barrel range, and that they would adjust production as needed to keep the price there.

In case you’re wondering why OPEC would want to keep prices down, the thinking at that time was that higher prices would lead to unwanted consequences, such as conservation, people driving less, buying more efficient vehicles, and turning to other energy sources. So OPEC wanted to keep the price of oil in that sweet spot where they charged as much as possible without damaging consumption—those old ‘maximize the function’ problems that you hated so much in college math class.

So why are oil prices now some three times higher? A big part of the answer has to be growth in the developing world… (more…)

Posted in News, Politics | 1 Comment

Hey…What’s Going on, Here?

Yes, the winds of change are blowing. SierraDescents.com has moved its blog to a brand new folder, managed by the ubiquitous content management software solution, WordPress.

I’ve been mulling this over for a while, now. It’s been a long time coming. Trying to manage a blog by hand (as I had been doing it) was an ever-growing exercise in futility. With WP doing most of the work, I’ll be free to post as I please, which is sure to guarantee a prodigious rise in both my output and inanity.

Also of note, with a dedicated blog section, I think I’ll relax my normally-merciless standards of professionalism, making the blog a more casual endeavor filled with all those off-the-cuff posts I thought about making but never actually got around to.

For my one dedicated critic, yes, you may now comment to your heart’s desire. So can the rest of you, if you care to. SierraDescents has officially gone 2.0, with RSS and all those other goodies. Whatever they are. Get jiggy with it, as they say.

I’m also going back in time and digging up all the old SierraDescents posts from the past two years that have been languishing in the ether of my hard drive. Want to know what I was up to in July 2006? Now it’s just a click away…though, seriously, is anyone really curious about that?

So, enough with the introductions. Here’s to a New Year of blogging, and hopefully a big year of climbing and skiing! Let’s get started…

Posted in News | 1 Comment

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