Gravity, erosion rob Utah park of popular arch - CNN.com

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, Utah (AP) — One of the largest and most photographed arches in Arches National Park has collapsed.

Paul Henderson, the park’s chief of interpretation, said Wall Arch collapsed sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.

The arch is along Devils Garden Trail, one of the most popular in the park. For years, the arch has been a favorite stopping point for photographers.

Henderson said the arch was claimed by forces that will eventually destroy others in the park: gravity and erosion.

“They all let go after a while,” he said Friday.

He said it’s the first collapse of a major arch in the park since nearby Landscape Arch fell in 1991. No one has reported seeing it fall.

I’ve never been a big hiker; primarily because it hurts my knees so much … even when I was fit, I never did well walking any great distances, especially not in the heat.

But knowing that one of Utah’s great natural wonders is no more still kind of hits home, because it means that there is one less thing of beauty in the world that I’ll ever get a chance to see.

When I first say the headline, before clicking through to read the full article, I thought “Oh no! Delicate Arch is gone!” … as anyone who lives in Utah knows, Delicate Arch is one of Utah’s major symbols; featured on one of the two main license plate designs.

There was a great deal of controversy a couple years ago when Dean Potter climbed Delicate Arch, possibly causing irreparable damage to the sandstone formation in the process.

Some day, all of the arches will collapse, as gravity and erosion continue to take their toll, but hopefully no more will go before I get a chance to get out there to see them.

Read more about this story at the Salt Lake Tribune.

Ball signs Sevilla, invites Landis to camp
Rubber has yet to hit the road in ‘08, but second-year continental road team Rock Racing continues to generate considerable attention, this time because of reports that owner Michael Ball has been courting Floyd Landis to fill an unspecified team advisory position.

Word of the deposed 2006 Tour de France champion’s involvement with the team came in the wake of director sportif Frankie Andreu’s departure based on “differences” in philosophy with Ball.

Less than two weeks after Ball signed a scandal-tinged Tyler Hamilton, Landis’s email address was included on an internal team message relaying details of an upcoming January 18-31 training camp in Malibu, California.

But beyond visiting the camp, Landis risks having his two-year doping suspension extended if he violates section 10.9 of the World Anti-Doping Code, which prohibits him from participating in “any capacity,” be it in competition or other activities “authorized or organized by any signatory or signatory’s member organization.”

Never one to avoid controversy, Ball has also signed former Kelme and T-Mobile standout Oscar Sevilla, a rider who, along with Rock Racing recruit Santiago Botero, was implicated in Spain’s Operación Puerto doping investigation.

No wonder Frankie decided to leave the team … one rider I can maybe see using the “let’s give Tyler another chance, he’s an American rider, blah blah blah” rationale, and granted, Frankie isn’t entirely snow-white himself, having admitted to using EPO during Armstrong’s 1999 Tour de France win … but throw in Botero and Sevilla to the mix, and it sounds like Michael Ball is really just going for maximum shock value before the team implodes and he pulls the plug mid-season, putting a lot of good, hard-working riders out of work, just to pimp his overpriced clothing line with a bad-boy image.

Who pays $240 for a pair of jeans?

Hey, Michael Ball-sack … we want sponsors, but we don’t need your kind … kindly fuck right off, okay?