Archive - Jun 29, 2012 - Sports Article

Downhiller Stacey Cook is up in the air

June 29, 2012

It is hard enough to spot downhiller Stacey Cook on a downhill course.

Mammoth’s Olympic downhiller is by you in a whoosh—a split-second of wind and snow, set against an audible backdrop of oohs and aahs.

But last week, she outdid herself.

With a roar of jet engines, Cook and Olympic teammate Kelly Clark buzzed by Mammoth Mountain in a U.S. Navy fighter jet from Fallon, Nev., leaving her and Clark as exhausted as a downhill race or a day in the halfpipe.

Carol at 70

June 29, 2012

Thirty-four years ago, on a hot July day in Idaho Falls, Idaho, my mother grabbed her five kids, ages 6 to 13 years old, her reluctant husband, a long-nosed collie dog, and herded us all into the wilderness backcountry for the first time.

We wore Levis and flannel shirts and giant, five-pound leather boots with thick soles that killed our young and tender feet with gleeful abandon.

We carried awkward, heavy external frame packs that killed our young and tender shoulders and hips with equal abandon.

Waiting for Perseus

June 29, 2012

The Summer Solstice—the longest day and shortest night of the year—occurred last week, heralding the beginning of summer in the Western Hemisphere.

The long days make summer the idyllic time for outdoor pursuits and backyard barbeques. But for stargazers, the short nights present something of a challenge.

“It doesn’t really get totally dark until after midnight and it begins to lighten up by 4 a.m.,” said local, retired astronomer Ron Oriti.