JH Underground – news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming

As an increasing number of you who read this site by phone likely are aware, I recently installed a mobile theme for viewing on iPhones and other so-called “smart” devices.

The mobile version is simpler and sometimes loads faster. Readers can turn off the theme on the bottom of the page to view the site normally, which is recommended if you’re looking for links or J-listings, for instance.

Also, on the bottom of this page, below the Knotty Pine ad, I’ve added a Twitter feed to share links. I know, some of you probably are groaning at the mention of Twitter, but it’s useful for steering readers to fun or interesting places — stuff I’m reading but don’t really have time or interest to write about.

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Posted under From the Publisher

Tags: Media

Wister, the canine mountaineer whose exploits in the Wind River Range garnered him widespread fame and a Facebook following, has died following a battle with illness. He was 13 years old.

Adopted as a pup off the streets of Logan, Utah, Wister went on to reach the summit of more than 50 peaks in the Winds and other ranges around Jackson Hole. He was listed among the guides at Exum and was featured in a 2009 profile in the News&Guide. An action shot of him descending Gannett Peak, Wyoming’s highest mountain, graced the cover of Mountain Gazette.

The black and gray mixed breed was particularly fond of the Winds, where he climbed his first peak in 2000, a moonlight ascent of Mount Mitchell with his original dad, Storms Reback. As recently as 2008, he barked encouragement to the slower members of his party on a grueling ski trek to Gros Peak.

Wister largely had retired from mountaineering in recent years. He had been receiving treatment at a veterinary hospital in Fort Collins, Colo., this week. He is survived by his parents, Amy and Forrest McCarthy of Jackson.

Posted under Deaths, Environment, Sports

Tags: climbing, dogs, skiing

After a six-day search, Grand Teton National Park rangers finally located the bodies of two skiers missing in Garnet Canyon.

Rangers detected transceiver signals late yesterday evening and returned to the site today to dig out the bodies, which were buried beneath 13 feet of avalanche debris. The two men — Walker Kuhl of Salt Lake City and Greg Seftick of Columbia Falls, Mont. — were buried in their tent near a large boulder in the avalanche path, according to a park release.

Rangers first picked up one beacon at about 7 p.m. yesterday, then detected another. They dug through five feet of snow before having to leave the canyon because of impending darkness. A team of six rangers returned today and dug for two hours to retrieve the bodies.

For more on the operation, visit the Teton park news blog.

Posted under Deaths, Environment, Sports

Tags: avalanches, grand teton national park, skiing

In another blow to the skiing and climbing community, Jim Kanzler was found dead early Monday after committing suicide.

Kanzler was a longtime ski patroller, avalanche forecaster and Exum mountain guide. He helped make the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center the indispensable institution it is today.

Nicknamed “Rathole,” he carried the weight of a dark family history. His father committed suicide, and his brother was killed by an avalanche on his way to bury the father’s gun in Glacier National Park — an incident chronicled in the book The White Death.

Kanzler notched many impressive climbing feats. An obituary is posted here. Friends and family are organizing a memorial service for early summer; a Facebook page has been created to remember him.

One of Kanzler’s colleagues, Ron Matous, passed along a saying that Jim used to share with clients on the Lower Saddle, to ensure they would not dawdle:

“Motion is life, stasis is death.”

(Photo by David Bowers)

Posted under Deaths, Ski Resorts, Sports

Tags: avalanches, climbing, jackson hole mountain resort, skiing

Watching the scenes of devastation from last month’s tsunami in Japan, it was hard not to think of Wilson, Wyo., if Jackson Lake Dam were to give way.

When the big quake comes, Jackson Hole residents will be better prepared than most to handle the fallout, with elk for food, wood for fuel and just about every piece of camping and outdoor equipment known to man. Best prepared of all might be the Yin-Yang Ranch in Wilson, where proprietors Diane Benefiel, an EMT, and husband Keith are veterans of Search and Rescue.

Diane, who also survived swine flu last year, has organized today’s Disaster Awareness Night at the Old Wilson Schoolhouse. A litany of emergency service providers will be on hand to share tips so that when disaster strikes, residents will be ready. As Diane and co-organizer Rich Ochs, Teton County Emergency Management coordinator, point out, when the big one comes, it won’t be a rescuer giving you a hand up out of the rubble; it will be a neighbor.

Posted under Environment

Tags: earthquakes, snake river

Update 4/21: Park assumes skiers are dead.

Five teams of searchers using skis, dogs and a helicopter probed the high peaks of Grand Teton National Park on Wednesday, but still found no sign of two skiers missing since Monday and feared buried in an avalanche.

Rangers are using “every tool at our disposal,” spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs said.

The park has enlisted Teton County Search and Rescue, Bridger-Teton National Forest and other volunteers, shuttling teams by helicopter from a staging area on the Teton Park Road north of the Taggart Lake parking lot.

A fourth day of searching is planned for Thursday. But with no beacon signals, no trace of a camp and another storm approaching, hope is running out.

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Posted under Environment, Sports

Tags: avalanches, grand teton national park, skiing