A weekly wrap-up of adventure news. From the inspiring to the tragic, here’s some of what you missed and a few things to look forward to.
Big changes in Yosemite this week. First, rockfall on the Valley’s iconic El Capitan peak has structurally altered a climbing route. The route in question, ‘Plastic Surgery Disaster,’ is a lesser-known, reportedly spicy multi-pitch line.
Climbers familiar with the route believe that the rockfall wiped out a crucial, surfboard-sized flake on the sixth pitch. The slough was captured and posted to Facebook by climber Scott Eubank.
And Yosemite officials closed three major campgrounds for long-term remedial work: Tuolumne Meadows, Bridalveil Creek, and Crane Flat. It’s unclear how long the restoration will last, but the park estimates Tuolumne Meadows will remain shuttered through 2023 or 2024.
California’s monarch butterfly population is on the rebound in a major way. A recent report by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation indicates that more than 50,000 monarchs have arrived at overwintering sites, up from just 2,000 this time last year.
“This is certainly not a recovery but we’re really optimistic and just really glad that there are monarchs here and that gives us a bit of time to work toward recovery of the Western monarch migration,” Xerces’s endangered species director Sarina Jepsen told AP.
The 2021 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail took off over the weekend. Its course winds up, down, and over 72 miles of the Portugues archipelago and gains 23,000 vertical feet. Both the men’s and women’s divisions saw a 40-minute spread between first and second finishers.
Hannes Namberger broke the tape with a baffling time of 14:00:36. Hillary Allen took her decisive lead just 8.7 miles in, crossing the finish line with 17:18:26 on the clock. Check out iRunFar’s in-depth coverage of this year’s Madeira Island Ultra-Trail, including pre- and post-race interviews with the ultramarathon’s stars.
![Hillary Allen took women's top podium at the 2021 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail on Nov 20 (photo Bryon Powell for iRunFar) Hillary Allen took women's top podium at the 2021 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail on Nov. 20; (photo/Bryon Powell for iRunFar)](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2021/11/Hillary-Allen-took-womens-top-podium-at-the-2021-Madeira-Island-Ultra-Trail-on-Nov-20-photo-Bryon-Powell-for-iRunFar.jpg)
An unseasonably late forest fire claimed the life of an aerial firefighter and thrashed a community near Estes Park this week. The pilot of the single-engine air tanker was dispatched to the area Tuesday evening on a first-of-its-kind nighttime aerial mission.
The Kruger Rock Fire was first reported on Nov. 16 at 6:50 a.m. local time; 12 hours later, the fire had consumed 133 acres and was 15% contained. Later investigations revealed high winds had blown a tree into a nearby powerline, igniting the burn. On Nov. 19, the U.S. Forest Service and Larimer County officials declared the fire 60% contained and had lifted all evacuation orders.
![Firefighters battled the Kruger Rock Fire southeast of Estes Park High winds and a powerline sparked the fire the morning of Nov 16 (photo Larimer County) Larimer County and USFS firefighters battled the Kruger Rock Fire southeast of Estes Park. High winds and a powerline sparked the fire the morning of Nov. 16, 2021; (photo/Larimer County)](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2021/11/Firefighters-battled-the-Kruger-Rock-Fire-southeast-of-Estes-Park-High-winds-and-a-powerline-sparked-the-fire-the-morning-of-Nov-16-photo-Larimer-County.jpg)
![blizzard tecnica ski W2W Scholarship asset (Photo/Stephen Shelesky for Blizzard Tecnica)](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2021/11/blizzard-tecnica-ski-2.jpg)