By Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times

When his body was discovered, 34-year-old Andres Marin was still sitting on his light blue mountain bike, leaning against the side of a hill in the Cleveland National Forest.

He had his helmet on and his binoculars were around his neck; his hands were on the handlebars and his feet on the pedals.

“He was still trying, he was still fighting,” his wife, Christyna Arista, said. “He froze to death up there.”

On Tuesday, Arista, 33, said she’s not sure what happened to her husband during his birthday bike ride, but she was angry that the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department had suspended its rescue efforts.

Sheriff Lt. Zachary Hall said rescue efforts were suspended because of poor weather conditions, a decision mountain experts backed.

Read the whole story

With the 2014 drought looming, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension is offering workshops across the state this month and next to give Nevada agricultural producers, particularly alfalfa and grass hay producers, information to help them prepare for the drought.

Topics will include water availability, recommended irrigation practices, insurance options and an outlook on prices. The first workshop will be March 20.

The workshops are:

• 6pm March 20 in Fallon at the Churchill County Cooperative Extension Office, 111 Sheckler Road; and in Caliente, via videoconference at the Lincoln County Cooperative Extension Office, 360 Lincoln St. This session can be made available to other communities via videoconference. Call 775.945.3444, ext.12.
• 1pm April 1 in Eureka, in the Commissioners’ Chambers at the Eureka County Courthouse, 10 S. Main St.
• 1pm April 14 in Schurz, in the Walker River Paiute Tribe Learning Center, Hospital Road, off of Highway 95.
• 6pm April 14 in Yerington, at the Lyon County Cooperative Extension Office, 504 S. Main St.
• 6pm April 29 in Minden, at the CVIC Hall, 1604 Esmeralda Ave. Note: This session will discuss irrigation practices only, and is part of the Agriculture Innovation Series Forum, where small-acreage equipment and services will also be discussed.

Those attending are encouraged to preregister by calling 775.945.3444, ext. 12 or emailing kintzj@unce.unr.edu.

The Sugarloaf Stampede is a run that benefits the Sugarloaf Station Foundation.

It’s on the El Dorado Trail at the Jacquier Road trailhead on March 29. It is an out and back course that is part-paved, part-dirt over what was once the Southern Pacific Railway line.

The run consists of three course lengths: a 5K run/walk, a 10K and 10-mile run. The run will be chip timed by J & J Sports Productions.

Registration is online.

In its 53rd year, Sugarloaf brings a unique camp experience to the students of El Dorado County. Sugarloaf is an overnight camp that runs Sunday to Saturday where campers are given the opportunity to expand their fine arts skills and to experiment with new ones.

U.S. Forest Service fuels management crews may continue prescribed fire operations in several locations around the Lake Tahoe Basin on March 10.

Prescribed fire operations may take place on Spooner Summit, off Tahoe Woods Road near Tahoe City, on the west side of Highway 89 near Tahoma, and in the Luther Pass Campground off of Highway 89.

Crews may continue operations through the weekend if weather, staffing, and conditions permit. Locations may vary due to changing conditions.

All prescribed fire projects are conducted in accordance with an approved prescribed fire burn plan. Burn plans describe specific conditions under which operations are conducted including the weather, number of personnel, opportunities to minimize smoke impacts, and available burn days. This information is used to decide when and where to burn.

By USSA

KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia — Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety (Park City) captured a historic giant slalom victory Saturday in Kranjska Gora to become the first man in Audi FIS Alpine World Cup history to have won six times at the same venue.

The stunning 23rd win of his career also moved Ligety within 50 points of Austrian Marcel Hirscher, who finished fourth, for the 2014 World Cup giant slalom title. The title will be decided March 15 at the World Cup Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

The down-to-the-wire World Cup Finals battle will be for the fifth World Cup giant slalom title of Ligety’s career.

Ligety opened a 0.42 second first run lead and then held on to win the race by 0.18 over Austrian Benjamin Raich. Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen was third ahead of Hirscher.

Tim Jitloff (Reno) finished a solid eighth to jump to 19th in the giant slalom standings and qualify for the top 25 World Cup Finals in Lenzerheide.

Bode Miller (Franconia, N.H.) was 24th in the race and can also race the giant slalom at World Cup Finals because he has more than 500 World Cup points.

A slalom will be contested Sunday in Kranjska Gora to close the World Cup regular season.

By USSA

ARE, Sweden — Olympic medalists Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley) finished 20th and Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-VaIL) 24th in the last Audi FIS Alpine World Cup women’s giant slalom prior to the World Cup Finals.

Rain and high winds forced organizers to lower the start for each run, cutting at least 15 seconds off the run times. Austrian Anna Fenninger won for the second straight day to move into the overall World Cup points lead and jump within 14 points of giant slalom leader Jessica Lindell-Vikarby of Sweden. A slalom featuring Shiffrin, the current World Cup leader in the discipline, will be contested Saturday to close competition in Are.

Shiffrin, who has more than 500 World Cup points and is currently sixth in the giant slalom standings, is the only American woman qualified to race giant slalom at Finals.

Austrian Anna Fenninger won for the second straight day to move into the World Cup overall lead and cut Swede Jessica Lindell-Vikarby’s advantage in the giant slalom standings to 14 points.

Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg finshed second, followed by Vikarby.

By USSA

VAIL -– Olympic gold medalist Jamie Anderson (Meyers) landed another major slopestyle victory at the Burton U.S. Open. Anderson clinched the TTR World Snowboard Tour slopestyle title with her win Friday at the snowy Vail Mountain venue.

Canadian Spencer O’Brien took second and Isabel Derungs of Switzerland third in the women’s final.

Canada’s Mark McMorris took the victory for the men with Norwegian Stale Sandbech taking second and Candian Max Parrot third.

Falling snow throughout the day created flat light conditions and delays while the event staff thoroughly cleared new snow from the course.

Anderson’s winning run: gap to boardslide, 50-50 to frontside boardslide, 50-50 to backside 180 tail-tap out, cab 720 nose, switch backside 540 Indy and frontside 720 mute.

“It feels amazing. We definitely were under the winter elements today, which kind of felt good. It’s snowy, the course is a little crazy, but I was so impressed with all the girls’ riding and just happy to be out here in Vail,” Anderson said. “This win is different than the Olympics because I didn’t have all the pressure on me, but I like to do my best all the time and being able to participate in the U.S. Open is huge for me. It mean’s so much.”

Alpenglow Sports’ fifth installment of the 2013-14 Winter Film Series is with world-famous female rock climber and North Face athlete Emily Harrington.

On March 13 at 7pm Harrington will share her tale Big Wall Climbing in Morocco at Squaw Valley’s Olympic Village Lodge.

Harrington is a professional rock climber and adventurer who has been a prominent and leading figure in the climbing community since she was a teenager. She is perhaps best known for her five-time National Championships, two-time North American Championships, and numerous podiums in World Cups.

However, her true passion lies with outdoor climbing and exploring the mountains. She’s excelled at nearly every aspect of the incredibly specialized disciplines of climbing. She’s reached the most elite levels in the gymnastic and physical discipline of sport climbing, free climbed 2500 foot big walls in remote corners of the world, won ice climbing competitions, and summited the world’s tallest peaks in the Himalaya (including Mount Everest in 2012).

While Harrington is known for climbing some of the hardest rock routes in the world and winning sport climbing competitions, she’s always been driven to reach for the next great challenge. Last year, after her successful summit of Mt. Everest, Harrington was off to Morocco’s harsh Atlas Mountains to take on a legendary, 3,000-foot big wall – all part of her quest for endless adventure. On Thursday, 3.13 Harrington will share her story with the Tahoe community.

The show is free. The show begins at 7pm.

For more info, call (530) 583.6917.

By USSA

ARE, Sweden — Olympic slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail) finished 15th Thursday to lead the U.S. Ski Team in the first of two Audi FIS Alpine World Cup giant slalom races in Are.

Austrian Anna Fenninger took the win for her second straight World Cup giant slalom victory, moving her firmly into the chase for overall and giant slalom titles. Fenninger now trails Germany Maria Hoefl-Riesch by a 67 points in the overall chase and Swede Jessica Lindell-Vikarby by 54 points in giant slalom.

A second giant slalom will be staged Friday under the lights in Are with a slalom closing the three race series on Saturday.

Shiffrin finished 13th in the opening run after sliding low on a right boot turn that forced her to ski uphill to stay on course. She skied cleanly in the final, but wasn’t able to make up ground in the soft snow conditions.

Sochi super combined bronze medalist Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley) was 28th and fellow Olympian Megan McJames (Park City) did not qualify for the second run.

By Lydia O’Connor, Huffington Post

It ain’t easy being beautiful — just ask a California redwood tree.

Prized for their beauty, age and size, California’s precious redwood trees have increasingly become the victims of poachers eyeing them for easy profit, forcing park officials to close the gates.

In a press release announcing the nighttime closure of Newton B. Drury Parkway, a scenic route through a redwood forest in Northern California, the National Park Service explained that an alarming increase in wood poaching raids has demanded extra protection for the state’s treasured trees, forcing the service to limit visitor access.

Read the whole story