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Buzz - News Briefs 09/05 |
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Never Say Never
82-year-old man summits Mount Rainier
A pair of Washington climbers recently made mountaineering history when they reached the top of 14,411-foot Mount Rainier within minutes of one another. On July 18, William Painter, 82, broke his own record as the oldest climber to reach the top of the mountain while Aidan Gold, 7, neared the summit with his parents. Painter, a retired plutonium worker from the Hanford nuclear reservation, set his previous record approximately a year earlier. The youngest person to ever summit Mount Rainier was just four years old.
For more information, see www.nps.gov/mora/ or www.seattletimes.com.
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Sporty Spice Would be Jealous
New retail stores cater to female athletes
Portland’s Pearl District is home to two new retail stores that cater to the city’s female athletes. Signal Sports, opening in September, will specialize in ski and snowboard gear and apparel as well as tennis, bike and other fitness clothing. Next door, women can already shop at Title Nine, a retail chain that specializes in women’s sports apparel.
The neighboring stores reside on NW Kearney Street, just a block from the city’s newest REI store – which Al Quinn, owner of Signal Sports, sees as a plus.
“I think our stores will compliment one another well,” he said.
According to the National Sporting Goods Association, the number of female snowboarders, skiers, runners and cyclists has steadily increased over the past five years and manufacturers are beginning to design products customized for women.
Al, along with his wife Sig (hence the name, “Sig”n “Al”), have been in the sporting
goods industry for 28 years. They’ve relocated to Portland from Bellevue, Wash., where they co-owned Sturtevant’s sporting goods store.
“Designers are making gear for women, but it takes people who understand it to sell it,” "said Quinn.
See for yourself: Signal Sports, (503) 282-5745, 1327 NW Kearney; Title Nine (503) 243-2220, 1335 NW Kearney. Title Nine will be hosting grand opening festivities Sept. 9-11.
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Chart Your Way with Sea Trails
The days of kayaking with traditional maps is over, now that Seattle-based SeaTrails is creating maps specifically designed for kayakers.
The compact maps are made from waterproof paper and fit on a kayak deck. They include important information for kayakers, such as tide current information, launch sites, campgrounds and small-craft hazards. These features are not found on most traditional maps, said Dennis Blum, founder of SeaTrails.
Kayakers often use land maps, which lack information about the water, he said, or they use marine charts which are intended for maritime vessels and often don’t include very much information about shore areas, where kayakers tend to travel.
“I spent a lot of time going on trips without really good maps,” Blum said. “This is the first map that meets all the kayaker’s needs.”
SeaTrails, which donates one percent of its proceeds to non-profit organizations that support environmental causes, currently sells maps of only the Puget Sound area. But by the end of the summer, Blum plans to launch a map series of the California coast; and within two years, SeaTrails hopes to offer kayaking maps for the entire coastline of the contiguous United States.
SeaTrails maps can be purchased in kayaking retailers in the Puget Sound area and larger stores such as REI.
For more information, see www.SeaTrails.com |
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Tragedy Befalls Climbing Expedition
Accident worst in The Mountaineers history
On July 10, a tragic accident in the North Cascades took the lives of three experienced climbers during their descent of 8,120-foot Sharkfin Tower. The incident occurred during a class led by The Mountaineers, Seattle’s well-known outdoor recreation club. The climbing team’s two instructors, Jo Backus and Mark Harrison, and team member, John Augenstein, were killed by a falling rock the size of a refrigerator, leaving students to tend to the injured and go for help. A fourth party member, Wayne McCourt, was critically injured and airlifted out to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The accident was the worst in the organization’s 99-year history.
For more information, see www.mountaineers.org
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Solv It
Oregon’s publicly-owned beaches take a beating during the long summer tourist season, but in September you can help heal their wounds.
SOLV, a Portland-based non-profit organization which helps unite organizations and volunteers in cleanup, beautification and enhancement projects throughout Oregon, will host the 22nd annual Oregon Coast Fall Beach Clean-Up from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Sept. 17 all along the Oregon Coast.
In 2004, close to 5,000 volunteers cleaned up 21 tons of garbage from Oregon’s coastline.
“It makes the beach more enjoyable for visitors and safe for wildlife,” said Bev Ardueser, coordinator of the Beach Clean-Up event.
Volunteers can meet at any of 42 locations along the Oregon Coast to sign in and pick up trash bags. Coordinators recommend that volunteers dress for the weather and bring their own gloves.
For more information, visit www.solv.org
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Lake Stevens to host new half-Ironman-distance qualifier
Florida-based World Triathlon Corporation, the organization that owns the Ironman brand, recently launched a new series of half-Ironman distance races. For the first time in the organization’s history, athletes who compete in the combined half-Ironman distance (70.3 miles) will be able to qualify for a world championship event.
One of Washington’s best-known triathlons, the Lake Stevens Triathlon, scheduled for July 23, 2006, will be one of 13 qualifying races for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship, to take place in Florida in November 2006.
Each event will include a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run, totaling 70.3 miles. The first race in the series is the U.K. Ironman 70.3 on Sept. 11.
For more information, see http://vnews.ironmanlive.com.
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