Recreation

Y Summer Programs Help Youth Get Outdoors and Learn New Skills

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Campers visit with alpacas during a YMCA field trip. Courtesy/YMCA

iCare about Gardening campers tend their plants. Courtesy/YMCA

YMCA News:

The Family YMCA is encouraging parents to help keep their kids physically active and mentally engaged by signing them up for any of the Y’s summer youth development programs.

Registration opens for summer programs March 1, and the registration fee is waived for parents who sign up from March 1 through April 30. The Y offers financial assistance so that no one is turned away for inability to pay.

Registration is also open for next year’s after-school enrichment Read More

New Mexico’s 13 National Parks = Visitors, Money, Jobs

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New Mexico national parks. Courtesy/NPS

 

NPS News:

DENVER – A new National Park Service report shows that nearly 1.5 million national park visitors in New Mexico in 2011 spent $102 million and supported 1,538jobs in the state.

Nationwide, visitors to the 398 units of the National Park System had a combined $30 billion economic benefit that supported 252,000 jobs.

“The national parks of New Mexico are exceptional and varied places – from the ancient mystery of Chaco Canyon to the wondrous geology of Carlsbad Caverns.

The attraction of these 13 natural and cultural crown jewels as havens Read More

Los Alamos Runner Tackles Marathon Des Sables

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Garth Reader running in the Desert RATS ultra-marathon in Utah. Courtesy photo

By KIRSTEN LASKEY

Marathon Des Sables is not for the faint of heart. The ultra-race typically spans 156 miles across the Sahara Desert and features sweltering temperatures well above 100 degrees.

It gets better. racers not only run through this scorching environment, they also must do so with all their supplies strapped to their backs.

Los Alamos resident Garth Reader was intrigued. He was so intrigued that he will be competing in this year’s event on April 7. Reader, a longtime runner, learned about the Marathon Read More

LA Mountaineers Climbing School Starts March 26

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2012 Climbing School students learning to lead at Gallows Edge near White Rock. Courtesy/LA Mountaineers

2010 Climbing School student starting a rappel at the Playground near White Rock.
Courtesy/LA Mountaineers

 

LA MOUNTAINEERS News:

Many people learn how to rock climb the hard way. If you ask them how they learned to climb, their answers might include “my buddy, Ernie,” “it was a great day, but,” and “the best thing in my life.”

You may also hear phrases like “but I kept at it anyway,” “after that I went back and bought better (shoes, harness, rope),” and “we didn’t really know what we were Read More

Valles Caldera Trust Awarded $545,000 For Solar Powered Shuttle System

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VCT News:

JEMEZ SPRINGS—Valles Caldera Trust has been awarded a $545,000 federal grant that will allow visitors to tour the Valles Caldera National Preserve in the quiet comfort of a solar powered all-electric shuttle bus.

The grant is one of 29 awarded nationally by the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in the Parks Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Authority.

The grant will fund the purchase of an all-electric 26-passenger ADA-compliant shuttle bus to replace two gasoline-powered 12-passenger vans currently in use.

Construction of a solar photovoltaic Read More

Ryan McGarvey Band Plays Skiesta March 2

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Ryan McGarvey

SKIESTA! News:

Come see what’s in the air at Pajarito Mountain March 2 during the 65th annual winter celebration Skiesta!

The event includes snow games for all ages, local craft beer and live music featuring Ryan McGarvey.

In a relatively short amount of time, McGarvey has not only gained a national and international fan base, but also admiration from his personal idols.

McGarvey has shared the bill with such top name act’s as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, B.B. King, Joe Bonamassa, Gov’t Mule, The Fabulous Thunderbirds among many others.

His debut CD release “Forward Read More

Boy Scout Museum Society Meets Feb. 26

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LABSMS News:

There will be a meeting of the Los Alamos Boy Scout Museum Society at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church, 1967 18th St.

The agenda has a short report on the Raton Scout Museum and discussion and appointment of planning, membership and finance committees.

All Cub Masters, Scoutmasters and Explorer Advisors are urged to attend, as well as committee members and all interested citizens.

At the previous meeting the following officers were elected:

  • Vernon Kerr, President
  • Leonard Scheel, Vice-president
  • Kennth Thomas, Secretary
  • Robert Thomsen,
Read More

Senators Reintroduce Measure to Make Valles Caldera a National Park

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U.S. SENATE News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich reintroduced legislation today to transfer the management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service (NPS.).
 
Udall and retired Sen. Jeff Bingaman first introduced this legislation in 2010 in light of inconsistent funding, the need for infrastructure improvements and concerns that the Preserve would not achieve financial self-sustainability by 2015, as directed by the Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2000.
 
“Millions of years in the making, the Valles
Read More