Lisa Kessler, Author at Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine

Brad McMillan waits in the staging eddy to take his run in the C1 class at last year's ICF Canoe Freestyle World Cup Final. Photo by Steven McBride. Your outdoor news bulletin for May 1, the day James Whittaker became the first American to summit Everest: Speaking of Everest... That fight that broke out between a group of climbers and a group of Sherpas appears to be more insidious than first reported. Initial word from the Everest conflict predictably placed most of the blame on the Sherpas, but as more eyewitness accounts began to roll in it seems the western climbers should shoulder at least some, if not all, of the blame for what happened. Of course in the high altitude, in a stressful, dangerous situation with both a language and culture barrier to bridge - not to mention the basic highs and lows of mountaineering - anything can and will happen. A full report can be found on the Adventure-Journal. Local Paddlers Earn Spots on U.S. Team Taking full advantage of their home turf of the Nantahala River, three western North Carolina paddlers earned spots on the U.S. National Freestyle Kayak Team during the Team Trials held over the past weekend in Bryson City. Brad McMillan, of Bryson City conveniently, former Asheville resident Adriene Levknecht, and 16-year-old Rowan Stuart of Stecoah all punched their ticket to this fall's Worlds at the same venue. McMillan took third in the OC-1 class, Levknecht finished second to Haley Mills in the K1W class, and Stuart also took second in the K1W Junior class. Despite the weather - a torrential downpour - the action was hot at the trials as boaters from around the country were trying to earn their spot on the U.S. team. Full results can be viewed here (PDF). Colonial Cannibalism File this one under "Ick." Anthropologists claim to have found the first evidence of cannibalism at the Jamestown colony during the epic winter of 1609-10. They found the skeleton of a girl in a cellar with evenly spaced knife or clever markings on her bones, indicating that there was no struggle when she was being cut. The take-away is that she was apparently deceased when being portioned out. There are many firsthand accounts of cannibalism during this period of history in Jamestown, but this is the first evidence that it actually happened. The Washington Post has the (gross) story.

Lisa Kessler

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Lisa Kessler

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