Study finds ibuprofen aids altitude ills
PALO ALTO, Calif. – A study has found that ibuprofen can reduce the incidence of acute mountain sickness, which occurs in more than 25 percent of people who travel to higher altitudes.

Grant Lipman, the Stanford University researcher who led the study, told the Washington Post that altitude sickness is like a “really nasty hangover.”

Symptoms include headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and poor appetite.

In the study of 58 men and 28 women, ibuprofen reduced attitude sickness symptoms by 26 percent.

The volunteers needed to be healthy enough to hike at high elevations, but were not elite climbers. In summer of 2010, they were taken from near sea level to the White Mountains, northeast of Bishop, Calif., where they spent the night at 4,100 feet.

In the morning, they were given 600 milligrams of ibuprofen or a placebo before heading up the mountain to a staging area at 11,700. They were given a second dose at 2 p.m. before hiking up 3 more miles to an elevation of 12,570 feet, where they received a third dose before spending the night on the mountain.

According to study results published in the March issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine, 43 percent of those who took ibuprofen developed acute mountain sickness, compared to 69 percent of those who were given the placebo. The severity of symptoms was also higher for those who received placebos.

Two drugs, acetazolamide and dexamethasone, are currently approved to prevent and treat the condition. But they are prescription only and carry a risk of side effects. Dr. Robert Roach, director of the Altitude Research Center at the University of Colorado-Denver School of Medicine, said many doctors are reluctant to prescribe the two drugs unless a person has experienced altitude sickness before.

Ibuprofen appears to be nearly as effective as acetazolamide and dexamethasone, so it may be an option for people traveling to high altitude who don’t yet know if they’re susceptible, Roach told the Washington Post.

He said that 20 to 30 percent of people will experience sickness at 7,000 feet, and up to 50 percent will get sick at 10,000 feet.

Whitefish warns riders to mind manners
WHITEFISH, Mont. – Ski area representatives at Whitefish Mountain are using the word “irritated” and promising to seize season passes, at the very least, if they find people violating closures.

Their ire was precipitated by several close calls of people skiing in areas where avalanche control work was being done or on slopes where winch cats were being used.

“With a winch cat, there is a cable out there that could kill a person, said resort spokeswoman Riley Polumbus. “When it’s dark, skiers don’t know where these cables are, and our groomers don’t expect to see a skier or hiker out there.”

Whitefish two years ago instituted a policy that allowed uphill climbers at the resort but restricted them to certain locations. The intent, explains the Whitefish Pilot, was to create a buffer between skiers, and groomers and patrollers.

Ski tracks were also found going into a steep, double-black diamond slope where patrollers were getting ready to do avalanche control. Another morning, nearly 80 skiers had entered an area where patrollers were still using avalanche explosives.

“There are closures for a reason. Respect them,” said Polumbus. “We have 3,000 acres up there. Go ski something that is open.”

Aspen to track greenhouse emissions
ASPEN – Continuing on the path on which it embarked in 2005, Aspen is getting ready to inventory the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the municipality, its residents and its visitors.

The Canary Initiative, created to address climate change, seeks to cut emissions 30 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. The baseline is 2004.

From 2004-07, Aspen succeeded in knocking down its greenhouse gas emissions by 8.25 percent. Most of this gain was achieved by the city utility purchasing wind-generated electricity instead of electricity created by burning coal. But actual consumption of electricity rose 9.8 percent.

That first period was a boom. This last period will reflect changes during the recession.

The 2007 study found that aviation is responsible for 36 percent of  Aspen’s emissions and ground transportation 27 percent. However, unlike those at Park City and elsewhere, Aspen chose to include both the comings and goings of travelers.

Breck home weighs in at 15,000 sq. ft.
BRECKENRIDGE– Work has begun in Breckenridge on a 15,000-square-foot house, the town’s largest ever. The Summit Daily News explains that the project will employ 100 to 150 construction workers and will include a two-lane bowling alley and separate rooms devoted to Alpine and Nordic skiing gear. The owner chose Breckenridge over other resort communities in Colorado because of its proximity to Denver and access to the cross-country ski trails adjacent to the house.

Whistler has record visitor numbers
WHISTLER, B.C. – Whatever Whistler is doing, they hope to keep doing it. February in Whistler was the scene of the most visitors ever other than during the Olympics in 2010.

Breton Murphy, communications manager for Tourism Whistler, the reservations and tourism agency, said that Whistler’s bounty can be attributed to several causes: prices, promotions planned in the off-season, spin-off from the resort’s exposure during the Olympics, or the plentiful snow as compared to the parched conditions at other resorts.

As before, all of Whistler’s key markets showed growth: the U.S., the U.K., Germany and Australia all had double-digit growth. The number of Brazilians increased more than 100 percent.

But the growth in visitors did not translate into an increase in profits. Room rates remain low, and profit margins for hotels are lower than before the financial crisis, reports Pique Newsmagazine.

Cougars on the mind in Canada
CANMORE, Alberta – Mountain lions have been on the mind of those in the Canadian Rockies this March.

A mountain lion attacked a man’s dog as he was out walking it one evening early in March in Canmore. Later, a cougar was killed by a Canadian Pacific train. Tracks were also reported in the towns.

On the west side of the Continental Divide, visitors to the Radium Hot Springs had a first-hand glimpse of prey and predator. A mountain lion attacked a yearling bighorn sheep on the cliffs above the hot springs. Both fell about 35 feet. The cougar fled, and the bighorn sheep, suffering a broken leg in the fall and other injuries in the attack, was killed by a wildlife officer.

Wolves kill dogs in Jackson Hole
JACKSON, Wyo. – Wolves have killed or injured four dogs in Teton County. The dogs were missing from the Blackrock Ranger Station, located about a half-hour north of Jackson.

The killings came even as residents and wildlife managers worked to come to grips with the predators expanding their territory and moving closer to humans, reported the Jackson Hole News&Guide. In another recent incident, wolves close to Jackson attacked a dog, and other wolves have been seen in a local suburb.

The News&Guide also talked with a variety of people, who had different thoughts. Chris Colligan, from the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said residents need to adapt to wolves, the same way they have grizzly bears. Possible solutions are to keep dogs on a leash, to keep them contained and to secure pet foods.

But the owner of the dogs that were recently killed said he believes some things need to change. “You have to let people protect their personal property,” he said.

Walter Isaacson helps create digital school
ASPEN – Walter Isaacson, who wrote the biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and at one time was editor of Time magazine, has teamed up with Colorado Mountain College to offer a program to teach digital media and production skills. It is to be called the Isaacson School for New Media at Colorado Mountain College.

Classes will be offered at Aspen, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs, although not at the college’s campuses in the Vail, Breckenridge and Leadville areas.

The Aspen Daily News says that the intent is to make the Roaring Fork Valley a leader in digital and mobile technology, what one official called a “digital valley.”

“We want to be on the cutting edge,” said Stan Jensen, president of the college.

Steamboat has record temperature in March
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – Steamboat was short on powder and long on heat in March. The temperature hit 69 degrees last week, breaking the old record of 63.

The Steamboat Pilot & Today chatted with two local skiers who were wearing tank tops. “We’ve been doing this for two weeks now,” said Kristi Richardson.

The newspaper also reported that grooming crews have been moving snow around on the ski hill to cover bare spots, but without complete success. One run had been closed because of exposed rocks.

“It’s been a challenging winter,” said Doug Allen, the vice president of mountain operations.

Joe Ramey, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, agreed that the weather was extreme, but said he’d come to learn that every year is extreme in its own way.

Jackson officials to nudge on plastic bags
JACKSON, Wyo. – With some dissent, Jackson town officials have chosen to try the soft path of persuasion in regards to plastic bags.

At least one councilor wanted an all-out ban, and another councilor favored moving toward a nickel-a-bag fee. But majority opinion on the council, reports the Jackson Hole News&Guide, will be to use promotional materials to encourage recycling bags or conversion to reusable bags. That’s the same approach taken in an effort to limit idling of vehicles.

The council, says the newspaper, heard from only two residents. One of them objected to “people from California coming in and telling us what to do.” Further, said the speaker, plastic bags are like a gun. “They never killed anybody. It’s the people handling them.”

Less fluoride added to drinking water
ASPEN – After decades of supplementing the fluoride in domestic drinking water, Aspen city officials have decided to cut back to new federal recommendations. The former level was 1.0 parts per million, and the new standard is 0.7 percent per million, explains The Aspen Times.

Moose cutouts latest ruse to slow drivers
JACKSON, Wyo. – After a half-dozen moose have been killed this winter on the highway between Jackson and the hamlet of Wilson, about 9 miles away, local residents are resorting to new tricks.

Speed limit signs alone aren’t enough, and so one resident paid for a mobile sign that alerted motorists to the danger with blinking lights and text.

Now come plywood silhouettes that stand 5 feet tall at the shoulder that have been posted along the shoulders of roads. The goal: cause drivers to slow down to the speed limit or, at dusk and at night, even slower.

The idea of silhouettes is not new, explains the Jackson Hole News&Guide. In 2006, a couple of mule deer silhouettes were posted along Jackson’s busiest street at a well-known wildlife crossing. The carnage continues there, however, as during one recent week, three deer were hit and killed again.

Beetles at Sun Valley relent attack on trees
KETCHUM, Idaho – Finally, a story about humans triumphing over beetles in the forests of the West. This story comes from Bald Mountain, better known to the outside world as Sun Valley, where wildfires in 2006 scorched and weakened many Douglas fir, the dominant tree species. The trees, already stressed by drought, were vulnerable to beetles.

Foresters, seeking to protect the trees, rode to the rescue with buckets of pheromones, the chemical scent that bark beetles use to send messages to one another. Foresters recently reported that the stratagem worked. Plus, the trees are healthier, because of increased precipitation in recent years.

Laura Lazarus, the Boise-based forest entomologist for the U.S. Forest Service, said the ski area operator has been advised to thin the stands of trees on Bald Mountain, to ensure that the survivors remain healthy. Sun Valley, with plans to install more mountain bike trails as well as gladed ski areas, already had good reason to get out the chain saws.

– Allen Best