Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

Climber slides 100 feet down mountain

CAERNARFON, Wales, March 11 (UPI) -- A climber in Wales said he suffered injuries to his ankles in a 100-foot slide down a frozen gully on Snowdon, the country's tallest mountain,

Mark Roberts said he was climbing the Parsley Fern Gully in the Gwynedd region when he lost his balance due to a large piece of ice falling, The Mirror reported Monday.

Roberts said he bounced off rocks and put his arms up to shield himself from ice during the plunge -- and ended up with just ankle injuries.

The climber wore a head camera and footage of his fall was posted online.

"I was a little dazed but ... not unconscious," Roberts said.

"The speed at which events took hold meant I knew it was going to go some distance," he said.

"There was no feeling of panic, more a concerted effort to protect my head and neck and be aware of what was below me, where I was heading and what I could do to slow and stop myself before I got to the more serious rocky outcrops.

"Interestingly, I had the foresight to check the cam was still attached and just hoped the vid had recorded that: It wasn't one for repeating!"

Rescuers said Roberts' helmet likely saved his life.

2,160 pounds of rattlesnakes captured

SWEETWATER, Texas, March 11 (UPI) -- Participants in the annual, three-day Sweetwater Rattlesnake RoundUp in Texas caught more than a ton of snakes, organizers said.

More than 30,000 people attended the event, they said, with visitors including people from as far away as China, Israel, Germany, England and Australia..

The roundup paid $13-per-pound for captured rattlers, featured about 2,160 pounds of rattlesnakes being weighed, the most since the 2,168-pound total in 2010, the Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News reported Monday.

"The importance of this is to control the snake population and to inform the public," Texas Game Warden George Pasley said. "You see all these snakes here and you think there can't be many left in the wild, but there's plenty. We see rattlesnakes all the time. I have seen no shortage of rattlesnakes."

Kathleen and Darrell McIntyre of Childress won a $400 prize for capturing the longest snake. It measured 78 inches.

'Spiderman' wants to climb Shard

LONDON, March 11 (UPI) -- The French climber dubbed "Spiderman" for his tendency to climb landmarks without safety equipment said he is hoping to scale London's Shard.

A court injunction barred Alain Robert from attempting to climb the 1,016-foot tower last year but he told Sky News he is hoping to meet with an official in the coming days to get permission to attempt the climb.

London Bridge Quarter, which developed and owns the Shard, said it does not want Robert climbing the building.

"The injunction prohibits Mr. Robert from entering the Shard site or attempting to climb the building," the company said in a statement. "Mr. Robert has been witnessed in the vicinity of the Shard and as LBQ Ltd. takes its responsibility to health and safety extremely seriously we have sought to prevent Mr. Robert from attempting to climb the Shard -- in the interest of his own safety and that of the general public."

Pine marten interrupts soccer game

ZURICH, Switzerland, March 11 (UPI) -- A pine marten, a member of the weasel family, twice interrupted a Swiss soccer game, leading players to chase and capture the small animal.

The pine marten darted onto the field during the Swiss Super League game between Thun and Zurich and initial attempts to catch it with training bibs failed, leading Zurich defender Loris Benito to grab the animal with his hands, Sky News reported Monday.

Benito was treated on the sidelines for a bite to his finger. The animal escaped once more during the game and was finally captured by Zurich goalie David Da and handed over to officials.