Snowboarder Jeremy Jones on Protect Our Winters

"Jeremy Jones is an alien. He's just inhumanly good at snowboarding." So lives the legend of this pioneering big-mountain rider. We heard this comment this week from an Alaska-based ski/snowboarding operator, but the sentiment is one that rings throughout the snowboarding world.

Once a pro rider hitting a different big-mountain location every week, Jones's ethos have evolved over the years. Instead of heli-assisted first descents, he now prefers to go the old-fashioned way—on foot or splitboard. "The reality with going on foot is that it can take days to go do one run. It’s definitely a quality over quantity deal," he says. His film trilogy Deeper is aimed to show that you can do world-class freeriding without a helicopter. Further, part two due out September 2012, shows some of the best riders exploring the backcountry the slow way, which makes for a more a richer, more personal snowboarding film.

This falls right in line with Protect Our Winters (POW), a foundation Jones started in 2007 to unite the snow-sports industry and fans to fight climate change. With 30,000 members and some of our favorite athletes as ambassadors, Protect Our Winters is taking their message to the classroom and to Congress.

To kick off skiing and snowboarding season, we caught up with Jones to find out the latest on POW, what it's like to talk to Congress about climate change, and his favorite places to ride. —Mary Anne Potts

Become a Protect Our Winters Member:
This year, Alamos Wines is spreading the love by gifting 1,000 people with yearlong POW memberships. The winery is getting involved because it relies heavily on the snowmelt from the Andes to irrigate its vineyards. Simply register on protectourwinters.org. Your fee will be waived by entering the codeword ALAMOS.

Adventure: What’s going on with Protect Our Winters right now?
Jeremy Jones: The foundation continues to strengthen and grow. We're becoming more educated in doing our job better and making sure that each dollar raised goes as far as possible.

This fall we have been busy with a Hot Planet, Cool Athlete tour, where we take professional athletes into high schools with a scientist. We have this really hip, upbeat presentation on the state of the planet and climate change. We break it down for them and explain ways that they can help. The in-school stuff is the most rewarding, uplifting thing we do at Protect Our Winters because it gives us a level of hope to see the next generation really rise to the challenge of climate change. They really want to make a difference—and they are not accepting defeat like some of the older generations.

A: What's it like to talk to Congress about climate change? Are there any skiers or snowboarders among our elected officials?
Jeremy: Well, there aren’t any snowboarders in Congress. But I have met some die-hard skiers...and general mountain climbers and outdoor enthusiasts. When we go to Congress, sometimes we meet with full champions on climate change who are really excited that we are there. They realize that they need our help, really. Although I would say the discussion on climate has gone the wrong way on Capitol Hill over the last couple years. But there’s hope on Capitol Hill that the ship will be righted and we can start feeling positively.

Cash For Clunkers For Bikes?

While the government's program to get less fuel efficient cars off the road ultimately fell victim to its own success, drivers in Portland, Oregon who didn't get in on the deal now have the option of really reducing their emissions: by trading in four wheels for two (see Entrepreneur Rides Bikes for Clunkers).

Joe Bike in southeast Portland offers two options for getting inefficient vehicles off the road (and has expanded the definition of a "clunker" to include bikes in a state of disrepair):

A driver who donates his car (in any condition) to the American Lung Association can bring the receipt to Joe Bike in exchange for a ten percent discount on a new bike, plus a lifetime membership with Zipcar.

A cyclist who brings in her slightly-worse-for-wear (but repairable) bike will get $50 to a hundred dollars off a new one, and the old bike will be fixed up and donated to the local Community Cycling Center.

For more, check out Joe Bike.  

—Jess Holl

Photograph by Joshua Scott

Obama's National Parks Tour, "That's a geyser there" - Which spots did he miss?

President Obama and his family hit up the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks this weekend for a quick adventure break from his health care reform tour. He's obviously not the only one vacationing in the NPs this year, as visits to the National Parks are up 4 percent this year compared to last.
 
Aside from it being just a regular family vacation, Obama aides told The New York Times that the president also hopes his visit will encourage more Americans to visit the national parks. We like that.

The First Family spent Friday night at a wooden lodge in the mountains of Montana, where the president went fly-fishing for the first time (no, he didn't catch any fish) while Michelle and the girls went whitewater rafting. On Saturday, they headed to Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful. After the geyser erupted, the president was overheard saying, "Oh, that's pretty good. Cool. Look at that. That's a geyser there." The family then hoped on a helicopter and went to the Grand Canyon to Hopi Point to check out the 5,000-foot drop to the Colorado River on Sunday.

Although we love that Obama is promoting the NPs, it would have been nice if he spent a bit more time there and visited a few lesser-known places, like the Hoodoo Basin or the Cascade Corner. What places do you think the president missed on his tour?

Plan your own trip with our national parks coverage. —Laura Buckley

Conservation: Road Construction Blocked in National Forests

Text by Alyson Sheppard 

Good news: At least 40 million acres of national forest are now protected from road construction, according to a ruling passed yesterday in a federal court (read more on the New York Times Green Inc. blog). The judges upheld the 2001 "Roadless Rule"—which had been reversed in 2005—to prohibit "commercial logging, mining, and other development" across 38 states and Puerto Rico. 

Read what the timber industry and environmental groups think here.

Can Americans Travel to North Korea?

Text by Alyson Sheppard

With this morning's safe return of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling (sister of former National Geographic Explorer host Lisa Ling) from a prison sentence in North Korea for entering the country illegally, ADVENTURE wants to know: Can Americans get in legally? And why would they want to?

Continue reading this story >>

Photograph by Alan Hay

New Ruling Allows Oregon's Forests to Stay Wild

Text by Alyson Sheppard

In a surprise reversal of a Bush administration land management plan, the Interior Department is abandoning the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR), which would have allowed extensive logging of western Oregon.  The controversial plan left 2.6 million acres of property surrounding the Rogue River susceptible to commercial clear-cutting. Conservation groups have been fighting to safeguard this old-growth forest, carbon sink, wildlife haven, and outdoor sport sanctuary since the plan was solidified late last year. (The debate surrounding management of the Rogue is chronicled in the upcoming August/September issue of ADVENTURE.)

Read why Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called the plan "indefensible" here. Read how this will affect the struggling Oregon economy here.

In the News: Tragic Plane Crash in Iran Raises Questions

Text by Annie Hay 

An Iranian Caspian Airlines plane bound for Yerevan, Armenia, crashed today at 11:30 a.m. local time in the Iranian Qazvin province, about 75 miles outside of Tehran. The plane, a 1987 Tupolev 154, was reported by witnesses as seeming to suddenly drop from the air and plunge to the ground, exploding upon impact with the ground. Witnesses interviewed by Iran's INSA news agency reported seeing flames while the plane was still in flight, but sources could not be confirmed. Iranian television and rescue personnel have announced that all 168 passengers and crew members have been confirmed dead.

Founded in 1992, Caspian Airlines has a spotty safety record, including a high number of crashes involving aging Soviet-era planes. The recent crash brings up old questions about the effectiveness of Western sanctioning targeting the government of Iran. Without an infrastructure for plane-building, Iran has had to import its airline fleet, and since Western sanctions against the country were created after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, has been heavily reliant on older Soviet-designed planes. Read more in this New York Times article.

A Look at Schwarzenegger's Plan to Terminate State Parks

Text by Christian Camerota

Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger has a plan to help remedy California's budget debacle: terminate state parks.

With the state in dire financial straits--partially as a result of private and commercial property values run amok and a slew of bad mortgages--it seems only fair to focus on shutting down what little public land remains. A report in the San Jose Mercury News in May indicated that Schwarzenegger's initial proposal was to close 80 percent of California's state parks (220 out of 279), with an estimated savings of about $143 million, or far less than 1 percent of the state's $24 billion budget shortfall (mercurynews.com).

If you're looking for irony here, there's plenty of it. Just consider the fact, as an LA Times article points out, that keeping an eye on unmanned wilderness is actually pretty pricey. When parks close, they become havens for criminal activity that must be closely monitored. Because their verdure is unmaintained, it also means that wildfire potential skyrockets. The cost of fighting and extinguishing one large-scale fire could potentially wipe out all the money saved by closing the parks.

So, it turns out that this is as bad an idea as, say, putting an Austrian-born bodybuilding action movie star in charge of one of the largest states in the union.

No, we jest. Kind of.

But it is testament to the idea's absurdity that Schwarzenegger sees fit to peel funds off an agency with a total budget of only $387 million. It's hard to believe that there's not more wiggle room in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's $10 billion dollar spending, or maybe the Department of Business, Transportation & Housing's $12 billion in expenditures. Heck, how about lopping some limbs off the $40 billion dollar K-12 Education expense tree and telling the kids to just go out and play in the park, instead?

The good news, if that's what you want to call it, is that the federal government has vowed to step in and seize six of the parks, should they be closed, according to an AP report released yesterday. And we all know how effective the federal government is at managing things (see: economic stimulus plan). So, that's good. Maybe there's hope in some of the parks being "too big to fail."

For more information on efforts to save the parks, you can visit this website, which is updated frequently with related news: savestateparks.org

South Carolina Governor Disappears to Hike the AT, Detours to Argentina

Text by Christian Camerota

South Carolina governor and part-time adventurer Mark Sanford is embroiled in controversy as a result of his disappearance last Thursday.

The jet-setting public official, and possible 2012 presidential candidate, apparently needed a break after an intense legislative session last week. It turns out the destination of his miny vacay was an even tougher decision for Sanford, as he initially informed his staff he'd be hiking the Appalachian Trail and then subsequently took a short, 5000-mile detour to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Sanford's had little to say about his jaunt south, other than that he took some time to drive along the coastline while he was there. As a few other papers have said, like South Carolina's The State, who initially reported the story, it would be tough to imagine Sanford spending his whole trip enjoying the waterfront since there's only about two miles of it close to the city and it's usually jam-packed with traffic.

But, who knows? Sanford's an unconventional guy. For proof, look no farther than the fact that he chose Father's Day weekend to go all Bobby-Fisher on his staff and family.

Further adding to the mystery of this tale of guile and deception is the fact that Sanford allegedly parked a car with a bunch of hiking equipment at the South Carolina airport, but then had another car in Atlanta upon his return. That's just speculation, though. Maybe the man has cars with hiking equipment strategically placed at all the nation's airports?

Hopefully, Sanford's 2:00 p.m. press conference today will clear things up (or add to the intrigue with vague legalese and avoidance tactics). Check back for updates throughout the day.

UPDATES

Here's a great timeline for the Sanford events:

tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com

Great live blogging of it going on here:

blogs.wsj.com

Follow National Geographic ADVENTURE on Facebook and Twitter!

Three Cups of Trouble: Climber Greg Mortenson’s Taliban Problem

Text by Cliff Ransom 

This summer Greg Mortenson’s book, Three Cups of Tea, will hit 125 weeks on the best seller list. The tale of a K2 climber who started building schools in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and its message that only education can combat the ignorance that fosters religious extremism, has inspired more than three million readers. But in recent months, Taliban insurgents have battled feverishly with the Pakistani government in a bid to overrun a sizable portion of the country. This begs the inevitable question: What happens when these same gun-toting extremists show up at Mortenson’s schools? 

The answer, as with most things in Pakistan, is complex. Most of Mortenson’s 50 or so Pakistani schools are located in the remote valleys of the Karakoram mountains, areas traditionally free from militant Islam. The recent battles against the Taliban in the Swat Valley are more than 150 very rough miles to the west. So his schools are safe—for now. 

But a storm is gathering. In recent years, Islamic schools, or madrassas, run by anti-Western Sunni extremists have multiplied at an alarming rate. “In 2001 there were about 12,000 madrassas,” says Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, one of the foremost authorities on the Taliban. “In 2008 there were about 18,000.” These schools often operate as recruiting tools for militant groups, and they have expanded into every corner of the country. According to David Oliver Relin, the coauthor of Three Cups of Tea, “When I was last in Pakistan five years ago, extremist madrassas were popping up in the same area as Greg’s schools. Even in Skardu [the closest town to K2], which used to be a laid-back climbing outpost, there’s now a big, ultraconservative mosque.” 

For Mortenson, the situation is so sensitive that he politely declined to be interviewed, citing security concerns. Yet his influence remains as strong as ever. Recently he was awarded the Star of Pakistan, the nation’s highest civil honor, and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. And Pakistanis are taking note. “Before Greg, there were very few local organizations willing to set up schools,” Rashid says. “But he shamed them into it.” Newly formed Pakistani NGOs have started to tackle the immense task of reviving the state school system, a significant step in beating back extremist madrassas. For now, Mortenson continues his work undaunted, taking comfort in the words of the Prophet Muhammad: “The ink of a scholar is holier than the blood of a martyr.”