Appalachian Trail Reopens, Record Redo: Adventure News of the Week

From the inspiring to the tragic, ‘Adventure News of the Week’ presents a wrap-up of top news in the world of exploration and adventure.

CLIMBING: Olympic Hopeful Dies in Climbing Accident. French climber Luce Douady, 16, died last weekend after falling 492 feet off an exposed section of cliff at Le Luisset near Grenoble, France. She was hiking the approach with a group of friends when she fell off an exposed section of the trail. Read more about the athlete here.

RECORD: Lachlan Morton Sends 2nd Attempt of His Everesting Record. After falling short of an Everesting record by just two laps and a few feet in elevation last week, Morton returned to Rist Canyon in Colorado to set a new record again, with a new official and approved time of 7 hours, 29 minutes, 57 seconds. And he rode an extra lap just to be sure. (An error in data had caused his previous attempt to not count.)

AT: Appalachian Trail Conservancy Works Toward Opening Trail. Last week, the ATC posted updated guidelines on how the COVID-19 pandemic. While many sections of the trail were accessible during the pandemic, the ATC has officially opened the trail — and, more importantly, overnight campsites — to thru-hikers.

The ATC’s criteria required for reopening included ensuring sufficient trail maintenance, following each state’s guidelines, tracking case trends and implementing quarantining periods, and safely opening and maintaining overnight camping. Hikers are still recommended to follow each state’s local guidelines. See which sections of the AT are open here.

RACE: Ukrainian ‘Iron Lady’ Ultrarunner Dies After Race. Beloved Ukrainian runner Kateryna Katiushcheva was running the 42-mile Odessa Ultra-Trial Kuyalnik race in Ukraine when she went missing 6 miles from the finish line. A search party found her alive 8 hours later, but she eventually died in the hospital.

“Kateryna was one of the top ultra athletes on the Ukrainian National Team who never missed an opportunity to proudly represent her country at the IAU Championships. I will miss her ever-present smiling face at our events. Rest in peace,” wrote Nadeem Khan, president of the International Association of Ultrarunners.

‘Python Cowboy,’ 7 Ultramarathons in 7 Days: Adventure News of the Week

From the inspiring to the tragic, ‘Adventure News of the Week’ presents a wrap-up of top news in the world of exploration and adventure. Read more…