National Parks

Diversity, High Country News, Magazines, National Parks, Yosemite / 27.05.2015

Several miles past the west entrance of Yosemite National Park, a wooden sign marks the location of an historic meeting. On May 17, 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt sat by a campfire with naturalist John Muir to discuss the preservation of America’s wild lands. Along the banks of the Merced River, near the steep granite cliffs of Half Dome and El Capitan, they talked about the creation of what would become the National Park System. One hundred and twelve years later to the day, an eclectic group of conservation professionals gathered...

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Africa, Life Out Loud, National Parks, Tanzania, Travel / 30.03.2015

The great writer and environmentalist Wallace Stegner put into perspective a profound notion that has changed the world. “The national park idea, the best idea we ever had,” he once wrote, “was inevitable as soon as Americans learned to confront the wild continent not with fear and cupidity but with delight, wonder, and awe.” In 1903 when President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the opening of the world’s first national park the entry was marked with a monument to the understanding that the natural world is where everyone can find the basic...

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Adventure Media Review, Climbing, Commentary, Film preview, National Parks, Reel Rock Film Tour, Yosemite / 15.01.2015

Just in time to pique the interest of a curious public the Sender Films masterpiece Valley Uprising is now available for online download, DVD and Blu-Ray. Within a day of the first free ascent of the Dawn Wall on Yosemite’s 3000-foot El Capitan this grand epic details the long history of climbing in the granite Mecca of the California Sierra Range over the last 50 years. As Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgenson settle into their place as the latest heroes of mountaineering lore this film will offer the general...

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Adventure Media Review, Diversity, Environmental Justice, Expedition Denali, National Parks / 01.09.2014

Fifty years ago this summer in 1964 Charles Madison Crenchaw became the first African-American to climb to the summit of Mount McKinley, the tallest peak in North America. Also known as Denali this peak represents the highest physical point that anyone can achieve in this country. And as metaphor of freedom, this seminal moment in history beautifully illustrates the references to mountains alluded to in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. "This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to...

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Adventure Media Review, Climbing, Film Review, National Parks, Reel Rock Film Tour, Yosemite / 26.06.2014

It would be pretty much impossible to tell the story of Yosemite rock climbing in a single documentary. So from the outset of his latest project Sender Films producer Nick Rosen didn’t bother to try. Instead his forthcoming movie Valley Uprising will focus on the overriding themes that thread their way through the lives and times of three generations of big wall alpinists who set the pace of vertical ascents that the rest of the world would follow. In a comprehensive view of these pivotal eras that span...

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Adventure Activism, Camping, Diversity, Environmental Justice, Environmental Protection, National Parks, Outdoor Recreation, Special Events, Yosemite / 13.06.2014

In the fading light of a late spring evening, gospel singer Sista Monica Parker sat humming on a bench at the Yellow Pines Campground in Yosemite National Park. There she waited patiently for others to gather. Quiet at first, her melodic voice gained strength as she swayed to the rhythm of a hymn perhaps not heard in the Valley for more than a century. The sound slowly swelled into a powerful chorus that echoed off the granite walls of El Capitan and Half Dome. Even the birds fell...

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