nepal update

Photos courtesy of Nicholas Rice

By Guy McCarthy

A 24-year-old climber from Hermosa Beach says he has battled winds approaching 100 mph and endured temperatures 40 below zero Fahrenheit and colder to stock high camps for his solo summit bid on the eighth-highest mountain in the world.

Nicholas Rice called Watershed News early today via satellite phone from his base camp on Manaslu in the Nepalese Himalaya to say he will begin his summit push before dawn Saturday.

Getting to the top may take five days or more. Even if the weather holds he may not make it.

"The biggest challenge right now is the depth of the snow - and the winds," Rice said. "It's waist-deep at times, making progress difficult. Winds at high camps knocked me down a few times. Some tents have been destroyed."

The summit of Manaslu rises to 8,156 meters - more than 26,750 feet above sea level - where jetstream-force gales have blown other climbers to their deaths, according to Himalayan climbing records.

More than 50 climbers have been killed on Manaslu in the past six decades. Record-keepers estimate Manaslu has a fatality rate of 22 percent - meaning for every five climbers who reach the summit, at least one has been killed during ascent or descent. A pair of Japanese climbers made the first ascent of Manaslu in 1956.

Rice is attempting his climb solo, but he is not alone on the mountain.

As many as 50 other climbers were attempting to climb Manaslu this week, Rice said. He arrived in Nepal a month ago today. The journey from Kathmandu to Manaslu included a nine-day trek through rugged backcountry and remote mountain villages.


Rice with Nepalese children on approach to Manaslu

Experience has taught Rice when to go for it, and when to back off.

Nine months ago, Rice was high on K2 in northeast Pakistan's Karakoram Range when 11 climbers died in one of the deadliest episodes in recent mountaineering history.

Rice opted to retreat on the world's second-highest mountain due to a delayed start on summit day, avalanche dangers, and crowding on the treacherous route to the top. News of the missing climbers, rescue efforts and deaths unfolded over several days and made global headlines.

The Nepalese Himalaya is roughly halfway around the world from Los Angeles and Rice's hometown. When it's sundown here, the sun is rising where he is.

For more on Rice's current expedition, visit his Web site here.

For previous reports on Rice's ordeal on K2, click here.


View from Camp 1 on Manaslu

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pakistan concerns

Fiza Shah, center, in Orange County

By Guy McCarthy

GARDEN GROVE - When Fizah Shah helped found an international program to educate disadvantaged children - especially girls - in her native Pakistan, she knew she was starting into something that could take a lifetime.

But she is deeply troubled by recent news from her homeland, where the Taliban have reportedly gained more influence in the Swat Valley area of northwest Pakistan.

Educators and human rights advocates in Pakistan and Afghanistan have reported for years that the Taliban's hard-core, fundamentalist interpretation of Islam leaves little to no room for the rights of girls and women.

"The political situation in Pakistan is only deteriorating, especially in the north," Shah, 49, said in a recent interview in Orange County. She is concerned, she said, "Particularly because we promote education for girls. God knows what the future is. But it's bleak right now.

"That is why we must continue educating the children," Shah said. "It has to be done with pens and books, not guns."

In Washington today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Pakistan's government has "abdicated" to the Taliban by allowing the group's leaders to impose strict Islamic law in the Swat Valley region.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet with the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan on May 6 and 7 in Washington.

In spite of recent reports from her homeland, Shah said she is encouraged by continuing support for her program, Developments in Literacy - in the United States and elsewhere in the world.

Developments in Literacy (DIL) was founded in 1997 by Pakistani ex-patriates here in Southern California and has since helped establish more than 200 schools in rural and urban areas of Pakistan, according to the group's Web site. In the United States, DIL has eleven chapters in cities including Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.

Shah and her peers at Developments in Literacy are looking forward to a visit to the Southland next week by author, mountaineer and philanthropist Greg Mortenson - who climbed K2 in northeast Pakistan's Karakoram Range in 1993, and has since helped start more than 70 schools for girls and boys in rural regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In 2007, Mortenson published a book about his experiences, "Three Cups of Tea." Mortenson is scheduled to appear Friday May 1 at two schools and two bookstores in Malibu. On Saturday May 2 he and his family are hosting a fundraiser at the Hilton Pasadena on South Los Robles Avenue.

Shah said she is encouraged that in spite of heightened security concerns, some climbers and travelers still venture far into remote areas of Pakistan to visit one of the world's most dramatic mountain ranges.

Each year, trekking operators work with government officials to try to ensure air and land tourism continue in the Karakoram when weather permits.

"This is one of the positive things," Shah said. "It is good to know that some people still want to visit."

Click here for more information about Developments in Literacy.

For more information about Mortenson and his schedule next week, click here.

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manaslu

Manaslu
Originally uploaded by e s c h e r

By Guy McCarthy

A 24-year-old climber from Hermosa Beach is in the Nepalese Himalaya right now, attempting a solo ascent of the eighth-highest mountain in the world, according to his family and sponsors.

Nine months ago, Nicholas Rice was high on K2 in northeast Pakistan's Karakoram Range when 11 climbers died in one of the deadliest episodes in recent mountaineering history.

Rice prudently opted to retreat on the world's second-highest mountain due to circumstances that included a delayed start on summit day, avalanche dangers, and crowding on the treacherous route to the top. News of the deaths and dramatic rescue efforts unfolded over several days and made global headlines.



In the latest information available this week, Rice was 30 days into his current expedition and waiting for a suitable weather window to make his summit push on Manaslu, which rises to a wind-raked summit of 8,156 meters -- more than 26,750 feet above sea level.

Manaslu - a Sanskrit name meaning "Mountain of the Spirit" - stands high in the Nepalese Himalaya and northwest of Kathmandu.

For more on Rice's current expedition, visit his Web site here.

For previous reports on Rice's ordeal on K2, click here.

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Image of Nick Rice in Camp 1 on Manaslu courtesy of Rebecca Rice.

September 2005 image of Manaslu courtesy of Richard Shilling.

blasting winds

Between Tramway Road and Racquet Club Road

By Guy McCarthy

PALM SPRINGS - Winds blasting down from alpine high country pushed a heaving, leaping brush fire into desert neighborhoods this afternoon, forcing some residents to flee and others to do what they could with garden hoses.

Gusts approaching 70 mph below the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and Chino Canyon bent firefighters' hose streams at times and hurled embers from block to block, igniting 40-foot palms, awnings, fences and at least one deck behind a home on Milo Drive.

"It was intense in here, all these palm trees burning," Cal Fire-Riverside County Engineer Richard Tovar said, raising his voice above howling winds at sundown. "It was like the whole street was on fire."

Palm Desert Fire Engineer Kevin McNally stood on Racquet Club Road below Vista, near several blackened palms that hung over the roof of a corner home. Darkness was falling, but still the winds roared at times, and firefighters worked from yard to yard with hoses.

"We made some good stops," McNally said. "We did okay."

No serious injuries were reported. Some homes may have been damaged but none burned to the ground, Palm Springs Fire Chief Blake Goetz said later this evening.

"This could have been much worse," Goetz said. "We could have lost a hundred homes."

Winds were clocked at 69 mph in Whitewater and at Palm Springs International Airport, according to the National Weather Service, while gusts of 90 mph were measured near the top of the tramway, said Palm Springs police Chief David Dominguez.

Dominguez said 125 people were temporarily stranded at the top of the tramway when operators shut it down before the fire broke out. Dominguez said he was not sure what time the stranded visitors descended, but once they reached the tram's lower station they were forced to stay there because of the fire danger.

They were finally allowed to drive down Tramway Road in a convoy about 8:30 p.m.

Several hours after sundown, evacuation orders were lifted for neighborhoods near Tramway Road and Racquet Club Road.

The fire was reported contained by 11 p.m. Goetz said he expected fire crews would remain on watch through the night.

An investigation to determine the cause of the fire was underway.

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esperanza report delayed

Crew retreats on Highway 243, Oct. 26 2006

By Guy McCarthy

CABAZON - Release of a federal investigation examining fire command decisions during the Esperanza Fire that killed five Forest Service firefighters has been delayed until at least mid-April, an inspector general's spokesman in the nation's capital said today.

Announcement of the delay comes about two and a half weeks after a top Agriculture official led congressional leaders to expect the report by the end of March.

In congressional testimony on March 11, Department of Agriculture Inspector General Phyllis K. Fong stated, "We expect to issue our investigative report to Congress by the end of this month."

Fong was not available for comment today.

"It will be another two to three weeks," Paul Feeney of the Agriculture Inspector General's Office of Counsel said today. "By the end of April, not March."

Feeney did not provide an explanation for the delay.

On March 6, five days before Fong said the report would be issued by the end of this month, a Riverside jury convicted Raymond Lee Oyler of five counts of first-degree murder for setting the Esperanza Fire on Oct. 26, 2006.

The ensuing firestorm overwhelmed the crew of U.S. Forest Service Engine 57, and fatally injured Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, 43, Jason McKay, 27, Jess McLean, 27, Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, and Pablo Cerda, 24.

On March 18, jurors recommended the death penalty for Oyler. His sentencing is scheduled June 5.

"The fire occured on non-federal land," Fong testified on March 11. The Forest Service "was assisting in the suppression effort as part of a cooperative agreement with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, an entity for which OIG (Office of Inspector General) has no oversight jurisdiction."

Ever since the Agriculture Inspector General's investigation began more than two years ago, firefighter union officials have stressed they hope findings will focus on preventing another tragedy rather than seek to place blame on individuals.


Esperanza Fire from Cabazon, about 7:30 a.m. Oct. 26 2006
Photos by Guy McCarthy

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neighbor honored

Bob Ashburn, 51, at Diamond Valley RV Park

By Guy McCarthy

SAN JACINTO - A man who went into a burning trailer and pulled his neighbor out alive but still in flames will be recognized as "Citizen of the Year" at an American Legion banquet tomorrow in San Jacinto.

"The award is for heroism and bravery above the call of duty," said American Legion spokesman Rod Parr, 51, who is also administrative supervisor for the Hemet Pass Division of American Medical Response.

The award is to be presented Saturday during the annual Law & Order Awards Banquet at American Legion Post 848, 312 E. Main St., Parr said.

The fire was two weeks ago today in San Jacinto.

Bob Ashburn, 51, said he's honored but he doesn't think of himself as a hero.

"I was just doing what had to be done," Ashburn said today. "It's humbling to receive the award. I'm speechless."

The man he rescued, Tom Edwin Hieber, 61, underwent more surgery today at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton and remained stabilized in critical condition, his daughter said.

"He had his third skin graft today," said Lori Linden, 43, of Hemet. "He's still on a ventilator."

Hieber suffered second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body, including his back, upper torso, neck and head, Linden said. He also suffered badly burned lungs from inhaling hot fumes and smoke.

"He was able to blink today," Linden said. "He still can't speak. It's day fourteen, but he's hanging in there."

The fire was reported at 6:11 p.m. March 13 at Diamond Valley RV Park in the 300 block of North State Street, Cal Fire-Riverside County officials said.

"If it hadn't been for Bob, Tom would be dead," said Jerry Castorena, 55, maintenance manager at the RV park.

Ashburn, an unemployed iron and electrical worker with construction experience, is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. Ashburn said today he was returning from Camp Pendleton, where he filled out several job applications.

The awards banquet starts at 5 p.m. Saturday. Dinner seating is sold out but standing room will be available, American Legion officials said. The event is open to the public.

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Tom Hieber and daughter Lori Linden, November 2005.

For previous reports click here and here.

public lands

California Conservation Corps in South Fork area

By Guy McCarthy

RIVERSIDE - Portions of Bautista Creek and the South Fork San Jacinto River in Riverside County are included in a bill passed by Congress this week to provide wilderness protection for 2 million acres of public lands nationwide, officials said today.

The Omnibus Public Lands Act, which affects 190,000 acres in Riverside County and an estimated 700,000 acres in California, requires presidential approval to become law.

The measure has been billed by some advocates as the largest addition to the nation's wilderness system in 15 years.

"Biologists consider Bautista Creek one of the most ecologically important streams in the San Bernardino National Forest, because of the variety of animal and plant species it supports," said Jennifer May, an aide to Rep. Mary Bono Mack of Palm Springs.

Bono Mack was one of two California Republicans to vote for the bill.

The South Fork San Jacinto River area is already popular with visitors who hike in from state Route 74, May said. A California Conservation Corps crew worked on the South Fork trail last week.

Other Riverside County lands affected by the bill include parts of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, as well as areas in and near Joshua Tree National Park.

Elsewhere in California the bill provides wilderness protection for lands in the East Sierras and in the Sequoia-Kings Canyon area.

"Visitors to these areas now have the promise that these lands will be protected in the future," said Sam Goldman, California coordinator for the non-profit Wilderness Society.

Wilderness protection means preservation of lands for future generations, but it can also mean reduced access for those who enjoy the outdoors on mountain bikes, dirtbikes and other off-road vehicles. Wilderness designation can also lead to restrictions on how rock climbers are allowed to place protective bolts in some areas.

Officials in Joshua Tree, Sequoia-Kings Canyon and the East Sierras indicated in phone interviews today that specific land management changes in their respective areas will not be announced until the bill is signed into law.

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