Climber's body found on St. Helens

The body of climber Joseph Bohling has been recovered from Mount St. Helens.

Apparently Bohling fell into the crater of St. Helens while posing for a photo near the edge. The snow he was standing on gave way and he plummeted 1,500 feet into the crater.

Rescue teams were immediately called into the area but high winds and increasingly bad weather conditions forced them to delay the search until today.

According to the news site, his body was found on a ledge of the south crater, nearly covered in snow.

This is a tragedy on many levels. I feel for the climber's family and my heart goes out to the them.

This is another warning that cornices (snow overhangs) are not stable and at no time should be approached. All over the Mount St. Helens climbing site there are warning after warning about not approaching the crater of the mountain.

Cornices are unstable and prone to sudden failure. Extreme caution is advised! Do not approach the crater rim unless you can find a wind-scoured area where the surface of the rim is visible. The crater rim is unstable and is subject to frequent rockfall and collapse. Stay back from the crater edge, it is potentially hazardous at any time of year (especially during the period of elevated avalanche danger and rockfall during the spring thaw).

Especially during avalanche and spring thaw.

While it may only be mid-February right now, the weather outside is like mid-spring. It was almost 60 today just outside of Seattle. Not your typical winter weather.

That means the snow is becoming less stable and the spring melt isn't far away.

It is truly sad that the search ended the way it did.

(This is from Just Northwest)

Why Canada is so much better than America.

Since the Olympics are in Canada... shall we?

1. Hockey fans are way better than football fans - Because if you run into a hockey fan, they'll be able to name the first line on their favorite team, meanwhile most "hardcore" NFL fans are struggling to figure out whether Big Ben is their favorite quarterback or that Jerry Brees quarterback for their new favorite team... what is it, San Antonio?

2. Their money is cool - And if you run out of money, you can just take the play money from Monopoly.

3. Maple Syrup is a gift from the gods - And don't you ever forget that. Ever....

4. It's okay to be drunk in Canada because it's cold up there - giving me the perfect excuse. This might be the college student version of the promised land. And now I can get drunk during a hockey game? A-MaY-Zing.

5. Better Comedians and funny people - Conan O'Brian, Jim Carrey, Dan Akroyd ... all from Canada. From America? Jeff Foxworthy. Well crap.

Fat movie director gets reminded by the airlines that he's fat

Fat Hollywood Director. An airlines that makes large people buy two seats if they're too big. Throw in the Fat Hollywood Director's ego and you have a big fat mess.

Film director Kevin Smith has reignited a heated debate about airlines’ treatment of overweight passengers after being thrown off a flight for being too large to fit in one seat. An angry tirade posted on his Twitter page about the way he was treated by Southwest Airlines last weekend has fueled a wave of protests from some angry passengers while other travelers have stood by the airline’s decision. “If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air,” wrote Smith, posting a photograph of himself on the plane, puffing out his cheeks..

Sorry Kevin Smith, but people really don't want you oozing over into the seat that they paid for. Enough said.

Heavyset people can make it onto planes all the time, the seats aren't that small. It's the people that have completely let themselves go and are obese. That's the issue here. Don't blame the airlines because you can't control yourself at the dinner table. This isn't like some sort of disease or condition he couldn't control. He has only himself to blame.

And with that said, I'm going to have some breakfast.

 Want seconds Kevin Smith?

Drew Brees is apparently a greek goddess or something

Actually I have no idea what kind of gettup Drew Brees is in. Although this should probably be posted in NFL locker rooms around the country just for kicks and giggles. Where is Sebastian and Ariel from The Little Mermaid? (Found this on Deadspin)

Giveaway

Ok, who doesn't like free stuff?

I know I sure do. Whether it's samples at Costco or those one use ponchos at sporting events, free stuff is great.

Well, if you're a runner (or even if you're not) I'd like to direct you're attention to the blog My Running Buddies.

The site is ran (haha, it's funny because its about running) by my sister and she's doing a great job with it.

Anyway, on to the free stuff. She's giving away a $20 gift card to Footlocker.

And it's really simple to enter. Just go to her blog and leave a comment about the best excuse that you use for not working out.

I know that Brandon's reason is because Jersey Shore is on. But what's yours?

Oh, and please mention that you saw this on Just South of North.

Epic Video: White Style 2010

It was another beautiful day in Washington today. And I was wishing I was outside mountain biking.

Yet, for as lovely as a winter as we've had in the Northwest, a lot of the country has been having snow. So they are still thinking about snowboarding season at the moment.

But what if you combined the snow and mountain biking? Well, then you'd get this:



(This is from Just Northwest)

Is Danica Patrick hot?

If you watched the Super Bowl (which you did) you saw roughly 2,345 GoDaddy.com commercials featuring Danica Patrick - the open wheel racer phenom turned NASCAR rookie - who probably is racing's most famous name.

She crashed during the Daytona 500, but that wasn't really an indictment on her skill. She's been a consistent top finisher in the IRL points standings - something that has more bearing than just winning a race or two. But do guys like her? Or are we going to get sick seeing her face on TV more often than Ronald McDonald.

Maybe. She's certainly attractive, nobody is arguing that but sometimes her demanding attitude can get real old quickly. I'll say that sometimes I don't like her comments to the media, the come across kind of spoiled/way too cocky and there's been much to do about her blows up sometimes in the pits. However, that could also be a sign of our society's sexism. A man is demanding and leaves his emotions on his sleeve and people praise him for his competitiveness, when a woman does it, it's apparently annoying? There's definitely a double standard.

NASCAR needs Patrick though. They've been hurting and been flat as a sport as of late. The economic crises hasn't helped things. A phenom like her could revitalize interest in NASCAR because frankly, a Daytona 500 stopped because of potholes isn't going to drive fans to the race tracks.

Epic Video: Christopher Walken does Poker Face

What's the opposite of Lady Gaga? Christopher Walken!

Question to NASCAR... what the hell?!?!

You may have heard about the pothole problem that NASCAR had this weekend, cause a huge delay during it's Super Bowl of races, the Daytona 500.

Question though... how the hell does a pothole of this size slide under the radar before the race starts. If that's on Division St. in Spokane, guaranteed the city is going to get 400 complaints from people (mostly elderly, with nothing to do but complain)... but somehow nobody notices this black hole on the Daytona Speedway.

Here is an idea... have an intern walk the track and check for potholes the week before. That way you don't have to patch these things up DURING the race. Just a small dose of common sense. Either way, NASCAR sure does look stupid.

Reasons why you're single... this is how you spend Valentines Day

Wait, you're telling me that the DAY-TAY-NONA 500 is going on during Valentines Day? Sorry honey, gotta go with the guys to see some razin!

Good mid-day winter olympics watchers!

Having watched the Winter Olympics a fair amount, I have to say that it's certainly better than the summer olympics. Still bloated and overhyped but at least we get to see guys ski around and shoot guns.

I mean what's so exciting about track events (unless something on the right of this article happens)? All they do is run around in circles. In the Winter Olympics, people ski down a bumpy hill and fling themselves off a jump at the end. There's a slightly more exciting factor to the latter.

But what's with the French being good at a lot of events? It kills me I cant make any WWII references when they're winning gold instead of surrendering.

Is that a cell phone or are you just happy to see me?

Oh those Chinese and their inability to realize their cartoon characters have boners...

Your Gonzaga hangover: give the WCC title to the Zags

I'm not going to try and break down these games anymore to try and come up with faults in GU's team. After dismantling Portland and San Diego, it would be a pretty safe bet to say that the Zags will be rolling to the WCC Championship. That earlier loss to San Francisco was a wake up call and now they're pulling off the patented "FU Game" on the rest of the conference.

The Zags got out to a 19-0 lead over San Diego last night. 19-0!! And at one point during the game, head coach Mark Few told one of his players not to dunk on a wide open attempt, possibly to not show up San Diego (the team is coached by former Gonzaga assistant Bill Grier). In other words, it was one of those games that was over before it really started.

So sorry Zag fans, this team is legit and nobody in the WCC should be able to touch them for the rest of the season. I shouldn't have doubted that - although I do think that some of the top tier teams in the conference will play Gonzaga tougher in the WCC tournament than what they've been doing during the regular season.

Now with that said, I now have to figure out if the opposing team is going to cover the double digit spreads for the reason of the season.

Outdoor Photo of the Week: February sunset

Today's Outdoor Photo of the Week is from Brian Stern. Here's what he had to say about this shot:

I am an amatuer photograpner that has been slowly building to go professional. I have had a blog for a little over a year now at http://awatchfulwanderer.blogspot.com and do things in the Seattle and Western Washington Area. This, was a picture taken on the shore at Edmonds, Wa, with a nice February sunset behind the Olympic Mountains.

Brian has some great work on his site. You can also become a fan of A Watchful Wanderer on facebook.

Think you've got a great outdoor photo? Want to see it hosted on Just South of North? Send your submissions to justsouthofnorth@gmail.com.

Please include your name, a short caption about the photo (date, location, and what makes it special) and your location.

Check back each Sunday for a new Outdoor Photo of the Week.

Epic Video: Doctor Who

Tonight I was flipping through the channels and came across PBS.

The reason I stopped on this channel was because there was a giant talking slug on the TV. Yeah, who wouldn't want to watch that.

Come to find out it was Doctor Who and an episode called "The Twin Dilemma." And yes, it was a giant slug. Who happened to be named Mestor. Oh, and low budget television graphics where HILARIOUS in 1984. Check it out. Go slugman!

Summit on the Summit

A few months ago I heard about how a number of celebrities would be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, to raise money for the global clean water crisis. Their expedition, called Summit on the Summit, was successful as the group reached the summit in January.

The list of celebrities was very diverse with different levels of outdoor knowledge. The celebrities included:

• Jessica Biel, actress
• Emile Hirsch, actor
• Lupe Fiasco, musician
• Alexandria Cousteau, adventurer (oh, and the granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau)

And a number of other celebrities.

Well, their trek to the summit of the mountain was filmed for a 90 minute documentary that will be airing on MTV on March 14 at 9 P.M.

Here's the trailer for the show. Looks pretty good to me. I don't have extended cable, so I'll have to see if they post it online.



(This is from Just Northwest)

Good morning non-sports fans

So I really wished I had more sports stuff to through you ways, but it's kind of the dead-time before March Madness starts. Granted things are still going on, but do you really want me to break down the Daytona 500?

Outside of the world of sports, things are hopping, let me point out some things that are currently ruling my life.

24- I know it's not as good as previous seasons but it's still 24 and already we've had a severed thumb, Jack Bauer's been stabbed (but he shook it off like a flesh wound) and some guy got stabbed in the throat with a pen (? or knife). I'd say it's still entertaining.

Following the cast of Jersey Shore on Twitter - Okay, perhaps I'm stalking them, but I swear Snooki gets drunk every single night.

Running - And running a freakin' lot, close to everyday. My calves are starting to look like Mark McGuire during the mid-90s.

Eagerly awaiting soccer season to start - Okay, this is sports related but... Go Sounders!!!

As you can see, I need more friends.

Regardless of your standards, this is something you don't want to wake up next to

Dumpster diving?

Another reason I would prefer to stay out of the ocean

All I can say is AHHHHHH! Look at that freakin' thing. It makes the facehuggers off of Alien look like a big wuss and it's 100 percent REAL.

With its enormous legs and lethal claws, this monster of the deep is already the biggest crab ever seen in Britain.

But astonishingly, the arthropod - which measures a staggering 10ft from claw to claw - is still growing, and could live until it is 100.

Nicknamed 'Crabzilla' after the fictional giant monster, the Japanese Spider Crab has a body the size of a basketball and its legs can straddle a car. They will eventually measure a massive 15ft.

Okay so it lives like 2,500 feet under water but still, I'm not really thrilled with all the things that swim around in the ocean. I mean you don't see gigantic killer squirrels on land or something like that. We've got shut-ins like Bears and Cougars, but they prefer to just hang out near their caves. These crabs probably cruise around the ocean floor like they own the place... because they do.

Northwest Photographer of the Week: Ted Evans

We're really blessed to be able to highlight the photography of Ted Evans this week. Check out these images from Mt. Rainer.

The last one is of Ted Evans himself, obviously, he's got a bit of snow on himself. That happens when you hike up mountains. Here's what he sent us.

My name is Ted Evans and have lived in Seattle for 4 years and cant get enough of what the area has to offer. Adventure is awaiting behind every corner out here and I feel people dont take advantage enough! I have recently been laid off which has allowed to to get out and play and really make a push on photography. I bring my camera everywhere. I put a photo site together with my girlfriend, so please check out our pictures. Most were taken last week up at Rainier.

You can check out his photography site at http://www.birchhillstudio.com/.

Do you have a great outdoor photo? Want to see it hosted on Just South of North? Send your submissions to justsouthofnorth@gmail.com.