barkernews

Hi everyone! I haven't been on the forum in a while as I've moved to Gunnison, Colorado to work at Western State Colorado University. I'm hiring a Website Manager/developer to manage Western.edu. Gunnison is a free 25 minute bus ride from Crested Butte ski area, 45 minutes from Monarch Mountain, surrounded by 14,000 mountains and just an hour from ice climbing in Lake City. We're 2 hours from Ouray. It's paradise. The ad is on this webpage, you'll need to scroll to the bottom: http://www.western.edu/administration/hr/Applicants/test-iframe-page Here's the text of the ad: Western State Colorado University is seeking a Website Manager with skills in web development, web content management, writing and editing for the web, and site management to manage the university’s web presence. This exciting position oversees Western’s most important communications tool, which is in the process of being completely redesigned. The ideal candidate will possess excellent web developer skills and have an eye for incorporating design elements into a website. The candidate will also be a people person, as Western’s Website Manager will interact with and advise many internal stakeholders about the presence of different university departments on the web. This position reports to the Director of Marketing & Media Relations, but will have a very close working relationship with Information Technology staff and multiple departments. Duties: Develops and executes the university presence on the Web, particularly for top-level pages in terms of design, function, optimization, and technical support. Serves as the manager for the overall web presence; acts as liaison to the University's Web team. Coordinates overall design, planning, development, graphic images, and information architecture. Utilizing all appropriate databases and manual/electronic means to manage and measure progress on tasks, projects and goals, including tracking and analyzing Web traffic, and uses analytics to structure website to optimize traffic. Implements university brand standards and ensures web presence is compliant with standards. Works as directed with the marketing and admissions departments to ensure consistency in presentation and messaging. Maintains expertise in technology trends and Web-related innovation. Coordinates appropriate and consistent content for the University website. Communicates effectively in both oral and written form. Coordinates content preparation by others throughout the campus for the University's website. Trains internal stakeholders in the use of CMS and other web tools. Maintains regular revisions to the University's existing content. Maintains WSCU's presence on social media. Qualifications: Minimum Qualifications Bachelors degree. 3 years of experience in web development. Experience with content management systems. Preferred Qualifications Bachelors degree in computers science, web development, web design, or similar. Experience with Drupal. Experience working in higher education

Hey it's Brian Barker from KATU, your friendly ski patrolling/mountaineering TV reporter. There's another rescue underway on the South Side. Sounds like ice fall again. A check of Timberline and Meadows telemetry on NWAC shows temps in the 40s above 6,000 feet. Friends I've spoken with have encountered severe ice-fall above 9,000 feet. Early reports indicate that today's rescue is at the 10,000 foot level. Good luck to the rescuers and best wishes to those who need the help.

Just talked to S&R ops in Yakima. He's down in the bushes at around 6,000. They'd like to evac him with a helo, but that may not be possible because of all of the brush. Looks like they'll try to wheel him out via stretcher on the Round the Mountain Trail.

Confirmed!

Skiers and riders: Get your tail to West Linn High School on October 11th and 12th for crazy-good deals on new and used skiing and snowboarding gear. If you have old gear lying around in your garage, bring it in on October 10th and we'll sell it for you (no skinny skis, please.) This is Oregon’s best winter sports equipment and clothing event featuring thousands of new and used winter sports items being sold by both individuals and area sports stores. Equipment, clothing and accessories for all winter sports are available, including nordic and alpine skiing & snowboarding. Sports retailers around the northwest will be there to sell thousands of new and demo’d equipment items at incredible swap prices! The Mt. Hood Snowsport Swap benefits the West Linn High School Snowboard Team and the Mount Hood Ski Patrol. The swap works like this: on October 10th, hundreds of people will drop off their used ski and snowboard gear. They set a price and if it sells they make a profit. Proceeds from the ski and snowboard swap will be shared between the West Linn High School Snowboard Team and the Mount Hood Ski Patrol. It will help students afford to participate in West Linn High School’s Snowboard Team, which is beginning its tenth year introducing kids to competitive snowboarding. Proceeds will also help buy medical equipment for the Mount Hood Ski Patrol, which provides mountain rescue services to thousands of skiers and snowboarders every year on Mount Hood. The West Linn High School Snowboard Team will also benefit from the swap and use the profits to help kids afford to participate. The West Linn High School Snowboard Team boasted 61 members last year. This program is not free. Students must pay for all of their own gear, coaching, registration fees, transportation and season passes. The team is a member of the Oregon Interscholastic Snowboard Association and a Venturing Crew. The Mount Hood Ski patrol is one of America's busiest volunteer ski patrols, providing nearly 2,500 days of service to four ski areas on Mount Hood. The patrol is one of the oldest in the country, founded in 1937 by a group of men who wanted to help injured skiers. 70 years later, the patrol boasts more than 200 volunteers who help thousands of injured skiers on Mount Hood every year. The Mount Hood Ski Patrol is a non-profit, volunteer organization. None of our patrollers are paid for their hard work nor are they reimbursed for their expenses. Our patrollers spend countless hours of their free time patrolling Mount Hood's slopes and keeping up to date on some of the best medical training available. To learn more, visit our website at http://mthoodskipatrol.org.

Yeah, dude, I said that before everyone started blasting you. Bad Karma. Nice to meet you guys. Glad you're OK! :brew: See you on the mountain.

Dude, letsroll: give the guys a little slack. They knew what they were doing. They told me they got to 10,000 above the hourglass on the Leuthold route before the wx nuked them and they bailed. Maybe they should have checked the forecast better though... but even they admit that. Glad they're OK. I was dreading another circus up there...

Sounds like an uncomfortable bivy. They're coming out via Glacier Pt. and Enid Lake.

That's too bad. The Skull Hollow situation is a tough one. It's often a fun place to pitch a tent and meet other climbers. My wife and I camped there recently just across the way from one of those semi-permanent setups. We initially joked about the poor conditions, the loud music and the trash. Then we noticed the kids in crappy clothes and the parents coming and going in the middle of the night. The next day we called the county social services. They said they were aware of the families and their location. Their kids were attending school. A church was helping them with food. According to the person with whom we spoke, the family got evicted from an apartment in Redmond because they couldn't afford it anymore. Rising home prices in the area, they said, are causing more and more families to resort to camping. I don't know about the theft. I'm just a wanna-be dirt-bag climber who hangs out at Smith on the weekends. But I feel for those people and hope that, if they got evicted, they found somewhere safe and warm...

Thanks for doing what you do Iain. You guys will find 'em someday. That wx sucked...

Hey, how was the summit around say 10am Sunday? I could see a nasty looking lenticular form from the top of Adams... and an hour later it turned to poo up there too: A windy white out nastiness.

FR 44's closed?!? Bummer.

Hey, anyone been to Mont Blanc or treked around the Via Alpina in June? It's just a shot in the dark, but I'm looking to see if anyone has any idea what the snow conditions will be like this time of the year. I'm also going to hang out in Bilbao, Spain for a while and I'm curious if anyone's done any rock climbing in that area. Thanks in advance!

At 5:35pm on Sunday Febuary 18th I stated that "no climber in his right mind would be on the mountain today. Yesterday's forecast clearly indicated bad weather was moving in." I can't confirm these facts if the climbers won't speak with me... which they won't. It's not my job to "stand up" for anyone. I state the facts. Regarding everything else my station does: I've fought like hell to keep us from sensationalizing this story any more than we already have. It's a daily battle. I don't always win. I have never argued that local TV news is a quality source of information. There's a lot of crap on the news. But I work my ass off to make sure my 2 minutes isn't crap. I do my best to make sure the stories I do about climbing and climbing rescues are fair and accurate. But I won't let my personal interests sway the way I present a story. Period. I'll PM you about the beer.

Nice. Violence. That'll do it. Your generalizations are sickening. Blame the media. Some of us are climbers too.

Reminder: Hey guys, just a reminder that the local press (including my employer, KATU) is familiar with this forum and is monitoring it. Ya'll know we're not all evil... but please keep that in mind in the coming days/hours. Best of luck to everyone on the mountain today.

Dude, I know. Just noticed it. It's 153am and I just got home from the mountain too. Long day. Up at 0430 to ski patrol at meadows. Our website is... well... I'll try to fix it. Best of luck to all the rescuers! I'm astounded every time I cover one of these incidents how professional, selfless and kind hearted the mountain rescue community is here in Oregon. My thoughts are with those three folks tonight. Cold up there...

Anybody have some foot spikes I can borrow?

We'll be streaming it at katu.com. I think kgw.com will stream it as well. God bless, everyone. My thoughts are with the families tonight...

Got this in my inbox... Just passing it along: Brian at KATU For Immediate Release Mt. Hood Closed to Climbing to Assist Search and Rescue Efforts Sandy, OR – Effective today, December 15, 2006, Mt. Hood is closed to all climbing. The area of the mountain above the Pacific Crest Trail and the Timberline Trail is closed to everyone except the search and rescue teams directed by the Hood River County Sheriff. The purpose of the closure is intended to assist efforts to find the three missing climbers. With a forecasted break in the weather, rescuers plan an all out effort to find the missing climbers. By keeping everyone out of the area, the sheriff will be able to eliminate any false clues left by others such as tracks or cell phone signals. The public is asked to abide by this closure. The Timberline and Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Areas remain open. The area immediately outside the ski areas is closed to all public entry. Cooper Spur Ski Area, located at a lower elevation than the closed area also remains open. As provided by state law, the Hood River County Sheriff is the lead for this search and rescue effort. For specific information related to the search and rescue efforts, please contact the sheriff’s information office at 541-387-2290 or 541-387-2291.

Got this: Hood River County Sheriff’s Office COOPER SPUR SEARCH Press Release 12/14/2006 On December 13, 2006 the search mission on Mt. Hood continued for Brian Hall, Jerry “Nikko” Cooke and Kelly James. Again, the three men were not located today. We have not confirmed a report that Kelly James attempted to make a 911 call on Monday morning at 7:20am. If a call was attempted it was not completed. We do know that the phone was turned on at 7:20am. There was enough of a signal at that time to get a GPS reading. Hood River 911 sent a text message to the phone saying “call 911.” The text message was received by the phone, but the message was not opened. It may be possible that text was mistaken as a call, but it is unknown at his time. Several times through the day on 12/11, 12/12 and 12/13 the cell phone was pinged by T-Mobile. On 12/12 at 10:55pm T-Mobile received a signal on the phone indicating it was back on, when it had been off. That was the last signal that was obtained. Every ping since that time has shown that the phone is not on. The phone is pinged every 5 minutes. Today, Hood River 911 asked T-Mobile to send the phone a text message asking that the phone be turned off until 12/14 at 9:00am to save power. The phone has not been on to receive that message. If the phone is turned on we will be notified immediately. Please be aware we are still trying to learn the technological ability relating to the cell phones. The FBI has offered to help us on this front as well as helping to trace signals. Two FBI agents arrived from Portland today and are assisting the search team. ARACAR with owner John Blitch arrived today with UAV equipment and four operators. They have brought 6 UAV’s with them to use in the search operation. They were not able to fly the aircraft because of wind. Although the aircraft have the ability to fly they can not be used accurately in winds above 35-40mph. The ARACAR team will remain in the area and are waiting for the weather to break. Search operations on the mountain continued with ground search crews. Air operations were not possible due to high winds. Winds were gusting to at least 70mph. 1042nd Air National Guard was grounded an not allowed to fly. Five ground search teams comprised of 13 members from Crag Rats, Corvallis Search and Rescue and the 304th Rescue Squadron continued by searching the following areas: 1. Team #1 searched south to Timberline Trail and Gnarl Ridge. The team reported that weather conditions would not allow them above the tree line. They did make it to approximately 6500’. 2. Team #2 searched the Timberline Trail and attempted to cross Eliot Glacier. The team reported icy conditions with strong winds and were forced to turn back. They continued to search toward lower Eliot and E. Langille Glacier. 3. Team #3 searched the area of the Tilly Jane Warming Hut, where the three climbers spent the night on 12/07. A note was found in the log book that was left by the three men. The note read “12/7/06, Thanks for your hard work on this great Shelter. We did not plan on staying, but the warmth of the fire changed our minds. We climb as a group of 3 and we left a $20 bill. We will leave tomorrow for the north face! Wish us luck! Nikko, B Hall, Krazy Kelly” No gear was found at this site. 4. Team #4 searched Pollalie Drainage. 5. Team #5 searched lower Tilly Jane. An operational plan was developed for 12/14/06. We continue to search out resources as well. The weather outlook for the search on Thursday is very poor. We are expecting extreme winds and up to 18 inches of snow. We will not be able to search above 6000’ once again. Search teams will be transported up to the Cloud Cap base camp in the morning. There are several searchers who are staying the night at the base camp. Searchers from Portland Mountain Rescue along with the Crag Rats and 304th will begin search operations. New resources will be heading to the search area on Thursday. The Air Force 304th Rescue squadron will be adding new members to the search. A 10th Special Forces S.A.R. team will be joining the search effort. Eugene Mountain Rescue will be joining the effort late in the day and will be available into the weekend. The 4th Battalion 160th SOAR of the National Guard is attempting to gain authorization to support the search with a Chinook Helicopter. Nevada air National Guard is attempting to gain authorization to assist with a C-130. However, they have been grounded due to extreme winds. Etc., etc, etc.

Nice screen-shot. Our graphics department just approximated that circle... so it may not be perfect. I've been talking with lots of people involved in the search up here and I'm getting conflicting information about where that signal came from. Apparently the last ping came from a tower Southeast of Mt Hood. Also, ABC News is reporting that Kelly made a 911 call at 0745 Monday morning, but the call dropped out... Tough to sleep nights down here when you know how miserable it is up there.

Yup. I'm back at T-Line. Just confirmed they're checking the Zig Zag. It's so easy to fall for that fall-line mistake and miss the lodge, especially if you aren't familiar with the area. The WX down here at 6,000 is 28 degrees, light breeze and no precip. God bless everyone up there...

You're right. It's gotta be a digital thing. Our TV live trucks have both digital and analog phones. When we're at Cooper Spur or T-Line the digital phones don't work at all, but the analog works like a charm. Of course I've never had a problem making a digi call from the summit. There's a WX window today. Lower winds and a little less precip. PMR, AMR and Crag Rats... you guys rock. Best of luck today. It's tough sleeping down here when you know what's going on up there...

As long as they didn't ask for advice at REI.... Please say they didn't ask for beta. My thoughts and prayers are with the climbers and families tonight... wherever they are.