Alps

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Is This the World&#39;s Scariest Tourist Attraction?


 Is This the 
 World's Scariest 
 Tourist Attraction? 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Is This the World's Scariest Tourist Attraction?

If you're afraid of heights, then yeah, probably

(Newser) - If you have a fear of heights, then "Step Into the Void" is essentially your nightmare come to life. The tourist attraction, which opened yesterday, is essentially a glass cube suspended at the top of the Aiguille du Midi, a 12,605-foot tall peak in the French Alps. What'...

Goats Manage to Escape Avalanche
 Lucky Goats 
 Escape Avalanche 

Lucky Goats Escape Avalanche

As onlookers cheer

(Newser) - Things were not looking good for 10 mountain goats in the French Alps: As concerned onlookers watched (and videotaped), it appeared the Chamois goats would be overtaken by an avalanche. Six of the animals outran the oncoming snow, but four of them appeared to be overcome by it, the Telegraph...

Industrial Revolution Soot Melted Alps' Glaciers

Scientists say it covered the mountains and heated them up

(Newser) - This much isn't in dispute: The glaciers of the European Alps retreated by an average of 0.6 miles between 1860 and 1930. But why, especially when the temperature of the continent itself actually cooled in the same period? Now a team of scientists thinks it has the answer,...

The World's 10 Deadliest Peaks

Eiger tops the list, with the appropriate nickname "murder wall"

(Newser) - Would you be willing to climb a mountain charmingly nicknamed "murder wall"? If the moniker doesn't give you pause, its ranking as the most dangerous mountain in the world might do it. But hey, there are still nine other, slightly-less-dangerous peaks to tackle, in ranges from Pakistan...

Victim's Brother Busted in Alps Massacre

Zaid al-Hilli brought in for questioning

(Newser) - British police have arrested a suspect in the killing of four people in the French Alps last year—and it's reportedly the brother of one of the slain men. Zaid al-Hilli, 54, was arrested near London, according to numerous reports . "We felt there were enough reasons to take...

Diplomatic Mailbag Found in Alps ... 46 Years Later

Bag was amid debris from 1966 Air India crash

(Newser) - A bag of Indian diplomatic mail bound for the US has been found 46 years after the plane transporting it crashed in the Alps, killing all 117 people on board. A mountain rescue worker found the bag and other debris from the doomed Air India plane after tourists reported seeing...

Missing Climbers Alive After Avalanche

2 are rescued in snow; death toll stands at 9

(Newser) - Two people caught in today's avalanche in the French Alps have been found alive in the snow, CNN reports, and four others who had been deemed missing have been located, and are unscathed. Rescuers had broken off the search for the four because of weather conditions, but they eventually...

9 Killed in Mont Blanc Avalanche

Some climbers still missing in French Alps

(Newser) - An avalanche in the French Alps killed nine climbers and left another four or five missing this morning, the Telegraph reports. Two groups comprised of 28 climbers, many of them highly experienced, were trying to climb Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe. The avalanche hit as they were ascending...

Avalanche Wipes Out French Ski Lift

Snow pours over chairs, cables, knocks down pylons

(Newser) - Skiers thought they were safe in their chair-lift perches as they watched a powerful avalanche rumble through a French ski resort near Grenoble—until snow began to bury the tips of their skis. No injuries were reported, but several skiers on higher ground were left dangling from lifts—and had...

Dutch Prince Caught in Avalanche May Not Wake Up

Doctors say Johan Friso was in cardiac arrest for 50 minutes

(Newser) - Sad news for the Netherlands: Dutch Prince Johan Friso, who got snowed under by an avalanche while skiing in the Austrian Alps last Friday, may never wake from his coma. At a press conference today, his doctor explained that Queen Beatrix's middle son suffered severe brain damage after being...

Dutch Prince Survives Ski Avalanche
Dutch Prince
Survives Ski Avalanche

Dutch Prince Survives Ski Avalanche

Johan Friso 'not out of danger,' says government

(Newser) - Dutch Prince Johan Friso got snowed under by an avalanche while skiing and was seriously injured today. The 43-year-old son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands was buried for 15 minutes before being rescued, reports the BBC . An avalanche beeper likely saved his life. The prince was vacationing in the...

French Alpine Glaciers Vanishing

Glaciers down by a quarter over 40 years

(Newser) - France's glaciers have lost more than a quarter of their area in the last 40 years, and the rate of retreat appears to be accelerating, researchers warn. The 600 or so glaciers in the French Alps covered some 145 square miles in the early '70s but that was...

Swiss Fear Vast Glacier Chunk Might Fall

There's a massive crack in the ice

(Newser) - Swiss authorities have blocked off hiking trails near the Giesen glacier in the Bernese Alps and sent a crisis team to monitor it, for fear that it’s about to shed a slab of ice the size of 12 football fields. A huge crevasse has been discovered in the glacier,...

French Fight Erupts Over Marauding Wolves

Shepherds want to hunt sheep killers at will

(Newser) - Call it Yellowstone sur Seine. French shepherds are demanding the surging wolf population be culled following increasing sheep deaths by the growing packs of protected canines. Wolves are now roaming the Vosges Mountains on the Alsace-Lorraine border for the first time in 80 years. Some experts predict the wolves could...

6 Bodies Found in French Alps
 6 Bodies Found in French Alps 

6 Bodies Found in French Alps

No details yet on how climbers died

(Newser) - A hiker discovered the bodies of six mountain climbers in France's Hautes-Alpes region today, the apparent victims of an accident yesterday. Mountain police based in Briancon said the bodies were discovered in a steep corridor at 8,858 feet, a day after the climbers left an overnight Alpine refuge....

Cops Bust Contador... for No Bike Light

... Riding without a bike light

(Newser) - Even the pros can fall victim to a routine traffic stop: Tour de France champion Alberto Contador was pulled over by a French cop today for cycling down the Galibier pass in the Alps without lights. The officer told the three-time Tour champion that he needed to be visible on...

Austria Yanks Alpine Peaks Off Market

Selling Alps is 'selling nation's soul,' say critics

(Newser) - The hills are still alive for the public. Austria has decided to yank prime real estate off the market after residents screamed about the nation's plans to auction off two alpine peaks. "We have suspended the sale to evaluate alternative possibilities," said a spokesman for the agency...

Swiss Finish World's Longest Tunnel

Train will connect Switzerland to Italy

(Newser) - Switzerland is expected to break through the last few inches of rock to complete the world’s largest tunnel today. The 35.4-mile Gotthard Base rail burrows under the Gotthard massif on the route connecting Switzerland to Italy, the AP reports. The trains running through the tunnel will one day...

Trapped Snowboarder Burns Cash to Survive

German tourist is stuck 6 hours on chair lift

(Newser) - A German snowboarder who was trapped on a chair lift for 6 hours says he'd probably be dead now if he hadn't had money to burn. Dominic Podolsky was stuck on the lift in freezing temperatures when it shut down for the day. After darkness fell, he began burning the...

Fugitive Doctor Caught Camping in Italian Alps
Fugitive Doctor Caught Camping in Italian Alps
america's most wanted

Fugitive Doctor Caught Camping in Italian Alps

Mountain guide leads authorities to Mark Weinberger's tent

(Newser) - A fugitive American doctor accused of widespread fraud and malpractice was found and arrested this week on a snowy mountain in Italy after 5 years on the run. Mark Weinberg, an Indiana ear, nose, and throat specialist, was living in a tent in Val Ferret. When police cornered him, Weinberg...

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