Out & about: Fun Hunt… Top lady on Everest

OUTGUN – An unusual hunting dog event that pits flushers against pointers is being revived by the Spokane Bird Dog Association, all in the name of good times, good-natured competition and another chance to train.

After a several-year hiatus, the Fun Hunt is back, set for June 11 at the club’s Espanola training grounds near Medical Lake.

Most field trials are designed to recognize a dog’s excellence in flushing, pointing or retrieving and sometimes they’re limited to a single breed.

But this hunt for more than three decades has sought to determine which hunter and dog, regardless of breed, will be the fastest to find and shoot two planted chukars in 15-minute rounds.

Dogs with the eight fastest times will be paired for a second round to determine the winner.

Handlers can use check cords, e-collars and even a buddy handler in the first round, but no training aids will be allowed in the finals.

The pairing is random, so a flushing springer could be paired with a pointing setter. A Lab could run with a shorthair.

“The competition used to get pretty serious years ago primarily because we had a cash prize,” said organizer Dan Hoke of Dunfur Kennel near Cheney.

“Weird things would happen,” he said, recalling a hunter who saw a planted bird on the ground and shot it even though the dog was elsewhere.

“That’s not what this is all about,” Hoke said. “The Grand Prize isn’t $400 anymore. It’s a gallon of pickles. Good pickles though – garlic dill pickles.”

How do pointers and flushers stack up against each other?

“Over the years, both have won,” Hoke said. “Honestly, it’s probably a draw.”

Entries for the 30-dog field close on June 8 at 7 p.m. Entry is $45. Call Hoke, (509) 299-5181.

Arnot tops Everest

without bottled oxygen

OUTSTANDING – Professional climber Melissa Arnot, 32, on Monday became the first American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest and survive the descent without supplemental oxygen.

American climber Francys Distefano-Arsentiev reached the summit without oxygen in 1998 but died during the descent.

The native of Whitefish, Montana, ascended the 29,035-foot peak’s northeast ridge from Tibet. It was her sixth time on the top of the world for the former Washington guide who’s summited Mount Rainier 92 times.

Her previous five Everest climbs were made via the more popular South Col route in Nepal.

Although more than 400 climbers have reached the summit of the world’s highest peak – and at least four have died – in this year’s mad dash, accomplishing the feat without supplemental oxygen is a tremendous physical feat.

“Of the 7,001 Everest summits going into this season, according to the Himalayan Database, only 193 – or 2.7 percent – did not involve supplemental oxygen,” reports Outside Magazine Online.

Above 26,000 feet, in what’s known as “the death zone” the human body can no longer acclimatize to the altitude. To function at that elevation, most people need to use tanks of supplemental oxygen to maintain circulation, stay warm, and maintain mental and motor skills.

“Plenty of people talk about doing it, but getting it done is actually quite rare and impressive,” wrote guide and 15-time Everest summiter Dave Hahn in an email to Outside. “It wasn’t accidental that she succeeded. Melissa made the commitment and put in a ton of flat-out hard work over the years to make this happen.”