Them on Us: GT victims remembered

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

By Jake Nichols

The sole fatality in last week’s Grand Teton climbing disaster was remembered in his hometown. Brandon Oldenkamp, 21, was a senior at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. His body was recovered Thursday morning some 2,000 feet below the “Belly Roll” section of the northwest face of Grand Teton where it is presumed Oldenkamp was knocked off the peak by a lightning strike.

KCAU-TV News 9 talked to Oldenkamp’s classmates at the small Christian college where No. 45 was a standout on the basketball team.

"I noticed that he used the [phrase] ‘mountain top experience’ a couple times talking about the kind of experiences that he looked forward to, in his life he was referring as much to spiritual experiences as he was practical experiences," Business Professor John Vissor told the news station.

Another fatality in the Tetons was nearly overshadowed by Wednesday’s lightning storm on the Grand. A University of Michigan student died Tuesday while hiking the Middle Teton after apparently falling 80 feet. The body of 21-year-old Jillian Drow of Chelsea, Mich. was flown off the mountain Wednesday morning, just hours before rangers scrambled to rescue 17 hikers caught in a lightning storm on the Grand Teton.

Park spokesperson Jackie Skaggs admitted the major rescue operations Wednesday delayed the release of information about Drow’s death. We picked up the story in the Salt Lake Tribune. Drow had reached the summit of the 12,798-foot Middle Teton and was descending on a steep hike, an area that required no special climbing gear to traverse, when she fell an estimated 80 feet. Members of her party located her around 9 p.m. Tuesday night. Ann Arbor papers interviewed Jillian’s father, Mark, who said his daughter was in Jackson Hole taking an upper-level geology course at UM’s Camp Davis Station.

Grand Pass
ESPN picked up on the announcement by Jackson Hole Mountain Resort that they were slashing prices by 25 percent over last year’s season pass. The decrease is one of the few to show up at North American resorts, most of which have not yet posted next season’s pricing.

ESPN called the move unprecedented. Indeed, it is the lowest full-season ticket since the early 1980s for JHMR.

You are what you can’t eat
The Los Angeles Times Business section contained a story that asked the question: Do you have the right to eat anything you want?”

Recent trends suggest an escalation in the war between consumers and government regulators, who are facing off over raw milk and other foods. The story recounted a recent raid on Rawesome Foods, a private food club in Venice, Calif., that was cited for improper retail food licenses.

The piece also mentioned Jackson Hole: “In ... Teton County, concerns over food safety by the public health department have led to a ban on public potlucks. The Jackson Hole Historical Society canceled a fundraising dinner, and Jackson Whole Grocer had to empty its shelves of raw milk purchased from an Idaho farmer.” JHW

Jillian Drow
COURTESY DROW FAMILY

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Them on Us: GT victims remembered | Planet JH News Article: General News

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