THE HUMBLING, DEATH-DEFYING STRUGGLE TO CLIMB EVEREST

Six-time sport-climbing national champion Emily Harrington previously scoffed at the thought of taking on Everest — until Conrad Anker asked her if it was something she wanted to do last spring. She went for it, summited, and survived. But in this self-effacing blog post Harrington reveals all the fear, disquiet, and conflicted emotion of confronting mortality on Everest. “I’ve never fought so much physically to keep pushing, taking steps, and enduring the exhaustion, extreme heat, and bitter cold. I walked by dead bodies, human souls who’d lived just four days prior and left this world in pursuit of the same goal I was trying to achieve.” Harrington also talks openly about the fear that by climbing Everest she was doing more harm than good; that the risks may outweigh the rewards. It’s a powerful read for anyone who’s ever wondered about going to the top of the world. Via The American Alpine Club.

NEARLY 5,000 APPLY FOR WOLF HUNTING PERMITS IN WISCONSIN

Wolf hunting season in Wisconsin doesn’t begin until October 15 and likely will be short — it officially closes after 201 animals are killed. In case you’re wondering, 201 wolves is estimated to be a quarter of the state’s population, but Native Americans can declare up to 50 percent of that take as their own, so the actual hunting and trapping by non-native Americans will likely be lower. The cost for the permits are $10; considerably less than the $24 to hunt deer, but not as cheap as the mere $6 you have to part with to hunt mountain lions. The wolf hunt was made possible when wolves were delisted from the federal endangered list, and several states in the West quickly enacted hunting and trapping quotas. Wisconsin is just the latest state to allow shooting or capturing the gray wolf. Via Pierce County Herald.

NUCLEAR NATIONAL PARKS? CONGRESS WANTS ‘EM

Luckily the many test sites in Nevada where actual nuclear bombs were blown up aren’t on the list of proposed national parks that Congress wants to create, but in an odd bit of bipartisanship (or to make themselves look busy) as early as next week legislators could make the national laboratories in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Los Alamos, New Mexico, as well as the Hanford Nuclear Reactor in Washington into national parks. What that really means is that citizens will be able to visit labs where the a-bomb was born and go on tours that focus on how we became a nuclear power. Gee. Thanks. Not. Via Gadling.

GARMIN IS MAKING BANK, BUT ITS POWER METER IS DELAYED

Despite the predictions of cynics, who point to smartphones and hoards of free/cheap GPS alternatives as the end of Garmin As We Know It, the brand just reported earnings per share up 70 percent, outdoor division sales up 24 percent, and fitness sales up four percent. Shoot, even the auto market was up for Garmin, notching an eight percent gain. But: The Vector power meter that cycling geeks have been lusting/expecting/foaming after won’t make an appearance until year’s end at the earliest. “It’s a highly sensitive measuring instrument, and so integrating that into the bike and achieving some of the innovations that we’re working on here has been challenging, but something that we’re able to knock off the problems one by one,” said the Garmin prez. Translation: We got our ass kicked by development bugs and might have announced it a wee too soon. Via Bicycle Retailer.