A QUEST FOR THE SOUTH POLE…FOILED BY THE MAILMAN

Brit Richard Parks – creator of the 737 Challenge and the first person to climb the seven summits and stand on all three “poles” within seven months had another audacious plan up his 8,000-fill-down-covered sleeve. He wanted to solo ski to the South Pole. Too bad the mailman didn’t get the memo. Parks got to Union Glacier, point of his departure, but his gear didn’t. So instead of setting off, he’s spent the past several days trying to figure out what had gone wrong with the shipment, which was supposed to have gone from London to Chile via Miami. Well, the good news, if you can call it that, is that the gear turned up…still on the loading dock in London. If you think that means Parks has a shot at his expedition though, you could be wrong. The safe-ish weather window for southern expeditions is exceedingly tight and if he can’t set off by this coming Monday (apparently the soonest his gear could arrive) he might have to cancel the 700-mile attempt altogether. Via The Adventure Blog.

WOMAN INJURED BY “PET” BAMBI

There are lots of reasons not to keep wild animals as pets. Start with the “wild” part. But a Montana woman was apparently doing just that with a deer, and not just any deer, but a five-year-old buck that trampled or gored her (details are sketchy) in its pen earlier this week and severely injured her. The woman called 911 from her ranch and was rushed to the hospital. Wildlife authorities later showed up at the property and shot the captive animal and then brought it to a lab for pathology. Not only is it illegal to keep a deer as a pet, but Montana Fish and Wildlife officials correctly noted that male deer go into rut this time of year and become exceedingly aggressive; unfortunately, officials in Montana say, deer can be relatively docile otherwise so folks get the wrong idea that their behavior won’t change. Via Missoulian.

WOLF CREEK UPGRADE PLANS ACCEPTED BY FOREST SERVICE

There are two “buts” to that headline. One is that the part of the plan that would see Wolf Creek add terrain is on hold pending the USFS’s internal assessment of the San Juan National Forest’s land management plan revision. And acceptance doesn’t mean approval. Wolf Creek’s upgrade plans still have to go through environmental assessment. What’s on the table now, without the new terrain Wolf Creek would like to add, includes upgrades to lodges, adding high-speed lifts where slower lifts currently exist, and especially re-engineering the Treasure Lift so that it cuts a new line to intermediate terrain higher on the hill. None of which impacts the skier experience for double-diamond shredders or those seeking gnar in the backcountry…and that may be just as well. Via Pagosa Springs Daily.