Dear Members,

If you have been climbing anywhere in the Western U.S. this summer, I hope you have found some shade. And if climbing takes you away from your mail for any length of time, please be on the lookout for the Club’s annual funding appeal. We are nearing the end of a year of transitions at the Club, and your support is as important as ever.

Transitions do continue. Erin Byerly, who has served the Club in a multitude of capacities for over three years, will be leaving us to seek an advance degree in education. She has brought stability, hard work and a great attitude to her work and will be missed by all of us. If you happen to be nearby on August 16, please join us for refreshments as we bid Erin a fond farewell (4 to 6 p.m., Tuesday, August 16, at the Clubhouse in Golden, Colorado).

On another front, I am pleased to announce that Nigel Gregory will join the American Alpine Club as our Director of Marketing and Development, beginning September 6. Nigel comes to us after two and half years with Outward Bound as its Development Director in Colorado. Nigel has spent over 15 years in the nonprofit arena. He also owned and operated his own international guiding company—Mountaincraft—and has been climbing for over 20 years, making first ascents from Alaska to New Zealand. I am confident that Nigel’s deep background in the outdoor world and passion for climbing, combined with his experience with nonprofit issues and fund development, will serve the Club exceedingly well as we move forward with ambitious plans. Nigel and his wife, Kath Pyke (also an excellent climber), live here in Golden with their two children.

Nigel will be hard at work here in Golden when we gather in Flagstaff, Arizona, for the next board meeting. Please see below for more information about some of the activities we have planned. We are making an effort to see as many Club members as possible when the board gathers for its meetings three times each year. I hope you will join us for some stories from Conrad Anker, a meal with the board and other Club officers, and most of all, for some climbing.
 

Warmly (literally),

Phil Powers
Executive Director
ppowers@americanalpineclub.org

 

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SAVE THE DATES
Join the Board of Directors of the AAC in beautiful Flagstaff, Arizona, for some fun socializing and climbing. Top mountaineer (and AAC director) Conrad Anker will give a slide show on Friday evening, September 9. The Board will meet all day on September 10, and then will host a barbecue for local and traveling climbers. All events will be at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. On Sunday, join AAC Directors for some climbing on the tough parallel-sided jam cracks of Paradise Forks and the Overlook and the exciting sandstone of Sedona. Stay tuned for more news about this weekend, or email getinfo@americanalpineclub.org.

The 2006 AAC Mountain Fest and annual meeting will be February 10–12 at the Attitash Grand Summit Hotel in New Hampshire. Attitash is a small, friendly ski resort in a classic New England town, just minutes away from the superb ice climbing of Frankenstein, North Conway and Mount Washington. The AAC will have a block of rooms at this hotel (pricey) and other less-expensive locations; if you have a favorite place to stay in the North Conway area you should book early—this is peak ski season in New Hampshire, and the AAC’s Mountain Fest will coincide with the Mount Washington Valley Ice Festival.

HARLIN TO STAR IN IMAX FILM
John Harlin III, editor of The American Alpine Journal, will star in a new IMAX film called The Alps: Giants of Nature. Produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films, makers of the blockbuster Everest IMAX movie, The Alps will be shot on and around the Matterhorn, Mönch, Jungfrau and, of course, the Eiger. The central story line will follow Harlin as he attempts to climb the North Face of the Eiger with Robert and Daniela Jasper, retracing the footsteps of his father, who died on the face in the 1960s. The script is by the British alpinist Stephen Venables, and filming will begin this fall, with release anticipated for 2007.

COBRA PILLAR GETS FREE ASCENT

Coloradans Jared Ogden and Ryan Nelson, who was supported by an AAC Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grant, have free-climbed the East Face of Mount Barrille in the Ruth Gorge of Alaska, via the classic Cobra Pillar. The two men completed the 20-pitch rock route on June 29 in 15 hours, followed by a four-hour descent of the 7,754-foot peak’s northern side. They climbed alpine-style and added no fixed protection.

The Cobra Pillar was first climbed in 1989 by Jim Donini and Jack Tackle, and it has been targeted by numerous free climbers because of its clean lines and relatively solid rock. Only short sections of aid remained, and the climb fell at a relatively modest 5.11. Nelson said the route was “an excellent combination of beautiful and frightening rock conditions—a true adventure climb.”

Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grants are awarded to American climbers age 25 and younger. For more info, see http://www.americanalpineclub.org/knowledge/grants.asp.

GRANT USED TO BAG “IDIOT PEAK”

Twenty-one-year-old Chris Thomas used an AAC Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grant to fly to the Alaska Range with partner Will Mayo, and the two made the first ascent of a 10,700-foot peak that sits just to the right of Mount Huntington’s southwestern face. Thomas and Mayo approached the peak by climbing to 10,000 feet on the Harvard Route on Huntington, then traversed below the Phantom Wall. Their route followed a hazardous gully to a full-pitch ice traverse and then a beautiful ice gully to the top. They called the mountain Idiot Peak, lampooning themselves for taking on an “insignificant” peak with such significant dangers from rockfall.

Meanwhile, on the not-at-all-idiotic Mount Huntington, Jack Tackle and Fabrizio Zangrilli climbed a new line just to the right of the Harvard Route. The two did The Imperfect Apparition alpine-style over athree-day round trip, reaching the top of the face but not the summit due to an oncoming storm.


VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO EXPAND HUT NETWORK
One of the AAC’s big goals for the coming years is to expand its hut network beyond the Grand Teton Climbers’ Ranch and the various hostels and lodges that now offer discounts to AAC members. Greg Sievers, chair of the Huts Committee, is actively seeking interested volunteers to serve on this committee. Greg needs hard-working members from across the United States to help with this initiative. Interested? Contact Phil Powers at ppowers@americanalpineclub.org. To learn about the AAC hut network, visit http://www.americanalpineclub.org/community/ranches-huts.asp.

NEW GUIDE TO MOUNTAIN WEATHER
AAC Director Ralph Tingey tipped us to a great new reference posted online by the Anchorage office of the National Weather Service: Anchorage forecaster Dr. John Papineau is publishing a series of articles called “Practical Mountain Weather: A Guide for Climbers, Hikers and Skiers.” The first couple of chapters analyze fatal storms on Mount Everest and K2 and explain the origins of mountain weather. Future sections will detail the weather concerns in specific mountain regions of North America. Check it out at http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/classroom_practical_mountain.php.

DON’T MISS YOUR AAJ AND ANAM
The 2005 American Alpine Journal and Accidents in North American Mountaineering are about to be shipped to members. To ensure you don't miss your copy of the AAC’s flagship publications, please make sure your membership is current and your address is correct. If you have registered for the Club’s member-only site, you can verify or change your address online at www.americanalpineclub.org. Or you can email address changes to getinfo@americanalpineclub.org or call the office at 303-384-0110.

PHOTO: Loading provisions en route to Mount Logan, 1925. Photo by Andy Taylor.

AAC PHOTO ARCHIVES
Work continues on the AAC photo archives, as Archives Assistant Kath Pyke plows through more than 200 boxes of mixed archival material, pulling photographs and creating records in our museum database. One of the most significant findings has been papers and images from the 1924–25 Mount Logan expedition, including textual and graphic documentation from several of the participants: A. H. MacCarthy, Andy Taylor, Allan Carpe and H. F. Lambart. Albums, photographs and glass slides depict the trip, from loading sleds of provisions all the way to the summit. Correspondence between expedition members and between the team and their suppliers documents state-of-the-art expedition planning in the 1920s.

The Logan materials are just one example of the richness of the AAC's archives. The collection, when fully processed, will be an extraordinary and unique resource for the climbing community, authors and scholars. The library is looking for volunteers interested in working with the archives and photographic collections. Tasks include rehousing the collection to preservation standards, creating inventories, and gathering biographical and historical information about the images and their makers. Contact Bridget Burke at bburke@americanalpineclub.org.

FROST, ROBBINS TO RECALL FIRST ASCENTS
Climbers visiting Yosemite Valley this summer and fall will be treated to regular presentations by big-wall pioneers Tom Frost and Royal Robbins, as part of the AAC-backed Yosemite Climbers Interpretation Program. Frost will speak Aug. 6, Sept. 3 and Oct. 1, and Robbins will talk on July 30 and Aug. 27. All shows are Saturday nights at the Yosemite Lodge Amphitheater at 8 p.m.

AAC GEAR AVAILABLE ONLINE
Brand-new American Alpine Club T-shirts, coffee mugs, and other logo-emblazoned tools for daily living are now available for purchase online, thanks to corporate sponsor Mountain Gear, which also produced these products. A percentage of the proceeds from each sale goes directly to the AAC. Check it out at www.mountaingear.com/AAC.

 

COMING EVENTS
August 12-13
Utah
The Mammut Sendfest will bring a climber's festival and world-caliber competition to Salt Lake City in conjunction with the Outdoor Retailer trade show. Elite bouldering competition, bouldering for climbers of all abilities, films, slackline demo, food, drinks, music and prizes. See www.sendfest.com.

September 16
Colorado
The 4th annual Avalanche Jam, hosted by Backcountry Access, will raise money for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. The Avalanche Jam will bring music, food and a silent auction to the American Mountaineering Center in Golden, from 5 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Info at 303-417-1345 or steve@bcaccess.com.

September 18-19
Utah
The 4th annual Climb for Life in Salt Lake City: Join Katie Brown, Nancy Feagin, Stephanie Forte, Nate Gold, Lisa Gnade, Steve Petro, Alli Rainey, Lisa Rands, Heidi Wirtz and other top climbers to raise funds and awareness for prevention and early detection of ovarian cancer. See www.climb4life.org.

September 24
Massachusetts
ClimbFest, an outdoor climbing competition and festival at the Quincy quarries near Boston. See www.ClimbFest.com.

 

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