It is time to take a look back at the most viewed stories of the last half of 2008 (we went online July 1, 200). The posts listed below are ranked by the number of pageviews each received. Follow the jump for the complete rundown:
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Foursquare Outerwear has voluntarily recalled 1,300 hooded jackets after it was discovered that they could be dangerous to kids.
The jackets have a drawstring through hood which poses a strangulation hazard to children. In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines (pdf) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled on the neck and waist by drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets and sweatshirts.
No injuries have been reported.
[Link: Consumer Product Safety Commission via Washington Post]
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When 21-year-old snowboarder James William Martin’s abandoned Ford Explorer was found in the Mount Seymour parking lot on Tuesday officials believe he had already been missing on the mountain for four days, according to a story in the Vancouver Sun.
Search efforts were hampered Tuesday by hazardous weather and snow conditions. North Shore Search and Rescue did a sweep of the area from helicopter, but didn’t spot Martin. A foot search was too dangerous Tuesday because of avalanche risks, police say. . . .Police were calling Martin’s friends, family and employers Tuesday to see if he may have made it off the mountain without his vehicle. . . .“There’s a slim chance that he came down the mountain with a friend and left his car there, but we’re getting a dead end everywhere we look,” Rozon said.
Hopefully this story doesn’t end like the one last season at Wolf Creek.
[Link: Vancouver Sun]
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Seven snowmobilers are now confirmed dead and one other man is still missing after two avalanches buried them near the town of Fernie, British Columbia.
The bodies were found late Monday afternoon as searchers plowed through avalanche debris near Fernie in British Columbia’s Elk Valley, about 550 miles east of Vancouver, said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Chris Faulkner. . . . Eleven snowmobilers were hit by back-to-back avalanches on Sunday. Eight were buried but three from the group clawed through the snow and reached safety. . . . The snowmobilers were well-outfitted, dressed warmly and many had the proper safety equipment,” said Faulkner.
The names of the deceased have not yet been released by the RCMP.
[Link: Associated Press]
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He’s been seen sporting 1.20.09 stickers for awhile now so it should be no surprise that Jake Burton Carpenter has anted up a $50,000 donation (the maximum allowable) to help Barack Obama kick off his presidency in style, according to a story in the Times Argus.
Five residents have given more than $150,000 in recent weeks to the Democrat’s Presidential Inauguration Committee, the body that oversees the ceremonies and celebrations surrounding the Jan. 20, swearing-in process. . . . Jake Carpenter of Stowe, the owner of Burton Snowboards, gave $50,000 to support the inauguration as did Bill Stetson of Norwich, a prominent Democratic fundraiser.
Talk about giving back. . . Google CEO Eric Schmidt and cofounder Larry Page only donated $25,000 a piece.
[Link: Times Argus]
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Don’t mess with Seany McDonald’s dad. When someone stole the 21-year-old University of Colorado student’s snowboard from the front porch (where he’d left it out over night) Dad called up The Aspen Times and offered a $1,000 bounty on whomever stole the board.
“I don’t want the snowboard back, necessarily,” said Bob McDonald, who is moving here from Newport Beach, Calif. “I just want the name and photograph of the Grinch who stole our son’s Christmas. … I want to challenge his community, his cronies, to say, hey, that was wrong. I’m hoping someone will turn him in.”
We hate crime and all but maybe Bob should just buy his son another board and remind him that it’s not a good idea to leave $900 laying around out in the front yard. . . even in Aspen, Colorado.
[Link: Aspen Times]
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Samuel Daigle a 17-year-old snowboarder died on Whistler Mountain Monday December 22, 2008 after hitting a large boulder in a closed, in-bounds area, according to a story in Pique News Magazine.
Staff Sergeant Steve Leclair with the Whistler RCMP said the snowboarder, who has not been identified pending approval from his family, was riding near the confluence of the Marmot and Lower Rat Fink runs, about a “three minute skiing time” from the top of the Emerald Chair. . . . “Normally they are within the ski area boundary, however due to the snow conditions they were designated beyond boundary,” he said.
Daigle was “honoured by the provincial government this year for taking part in a cycling fundraiser for the homeless.” This is the fourth recorded death at Whistler Blackcomb since January 1, 2008.
[Link: Pique News Magazine and The Vancouver Sun]
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Ben Stiller must be a little handier at acting than he is at snowboarding. The creator of Tropic Thunder (the funniest movie we saw last year) apparently broke his hand while snowboarding last Sunday.
. . . the star went to New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital Sunday where he was treated for the injury, but released from the facility later that day. . . . “One of the hospital’s top hand specialists was called in to treat him,” the New York Daily News quoted a source as saying.
Hopefully, he doesn’t give it up. We could use a good “Shredding Vacation From Hell meets Zoolander” next year.
[Link: UPI.com]
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A favorite topic of discussion whenever it snows in SoCal is how badly everyone there drives. For five Whittier, California snowboarders who “took a wrong turn” on the way home from Big Bear on Sunday, driving in the snow became an overnight nightmare, according to a story on KABC.
The teenagers were headed back from Big Bear down Highway 18 when they apparently took a wrong turn onto a road that hadn’t been plowed. It was very dangerous, they got stuck, and they had to spend the night in their car freezing. There was no cell phone service so they couldn’t get through to their parents.
Luckily, the next morning with the help of a Sheriff’s deputy and a snow loader they were able to get out and back home. To those who live in the “real snow” this is probably more fuel for the SoCal drivers suck fire. But we’re glad they made it out okay.
[Link: KABC]
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Friends reported Crested Butte snowboarder Michael Bowen, 36, missing on Thursday after he did not return from a snowboard trip in the “Happy Chutes” on the east side of Mount Emmons.
“He frequently and routinely skied in precarious, extreme conditions, hundreds of times,” Smith said. “The . . . area he was in could only be accessed by an expert.”
According to a story in the Denver Post Bowen’s body was found Saturday December 20, 2008 under 3 to 4 feet of snow at the bottom of an avalanche path.” The avalanche was located below the ridge of Trapper’s Way in the backcountry three miles south of the Crested Butte Ski Area. A memorial services will be held in Crested Butte on January 3, 2009.
[Link: Denver Post and 9news.com]
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