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Sitting down with the April issue last night, I came across a host of interesting (to me anyway) bits and pieces of news and marginally useful info...

* A guy named Jamie Pierre clicked into his alpine skis and leaped off a 255-foot cliff at Grand Targhee, Wyoming. Why, oh, why? The jump broke the standing record of 225 feet. Sure makes my hop off a boulder at Spruce Cliffs at Sunday River look pretty timid.

* The Last Season by Eric Blehm looks like a fascinating read. It's about a backcountry ranger at Kings Canyon National Park in California who went missing in late July 1996 and hasn't been seen since. That wigs me out some as I was through that way on the John Muir Trail just weeks later. Huh. The book reviewer gives it an Into the Wild kind of feel. Excellent!

* Speaking of Into the Wild, the movie is due to hit theaters sometime soon (no release date as yet). Can't wait for that. Make sure you read the book first (like always). It's a thrilling read.

* Mountain Hardwear has an ad for their new Exodus backpack system. It appears to be a hybrid internal and external frame pack. I'd like to give it go as I'll bet it carries a heavy load comfortably. Just what I need though, another pack.

* Aron Ralston, the Colorado adventurer who got stuck in a Utah slot canyon and had to extricate himself after six days by cutting off his right arm, has become the first person to complete all 59 Colorado 14,000 foot peaks solo, and in winter. Cool. Very cool.

* Jackson Hole Ski Resort in Wyoming will be celebrating Tram Days from March 18-April 2 with their Jackson Hole Mountain Festival. Should be loads of fun but with a measure of sadness: On April 2 the tram will cease operation after some 40 years of carrying skiers up over 4,000 vertical feet of mountain. That's a good long run, on both accounts.

Dat's all I got. Then I fell asleep. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...