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Anchor Replacement Grant Fund Now Accepting Applications
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AAC Showcases Utah's Climbing Resources
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Hueco Rock Ranch Reservations Now Open
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New Season of Craggin' Classics Announced
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2016 AAC Annual Report
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Cornerstone Conservation Grant Applications Open
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AAC's Annual Member Drive Kicks Off for June
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Nick Clinch to be Celebrated at Memorial this June 16
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2017 Live Your Dream Grant Recipients Announced
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2017 Excellence in Climbing Online Auction Now Open!
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Climbers Lobby for Public Lands
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AAC Volunteers Bring New Heights Program to Underserved Kids
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#AACGRAM

Join us in sharing the adventure, joy and passion of climbing.

@TC.Bukowski and @Claire.Bukowski continuing our #aacgram takeover. While choosing a photo for this morning's post, Claire and I had a nice conversation about the mentors and partners that have changed our lives. I'm always grateful to those that take the time to share their knowledge with us, we're forever changed in subtle and profound ways because of it. I'm especially grateful for my friend @willbutt. Looking through old photos I'm struck by the shear number of days we spent on rock together and how it changed me. I learned a lot about rigging for the shot from Will and over our adventures we made some pretty cool photos together. Will pushed me just beyond my comfort zone, which always made for better art. Here's a shot from one of my favorite days ever with @willbutt on The Great Red Roof (5.13b trad), Calico Basin, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada.
@Claire.Bukowski and @TC.Bukowski here with day 4 of our #AACGram takeover! One of the things that I love about climbing is that there are so many different types (sport, boulder, trad, ice climbing, big wall, etc.). A goal of mine is to try every type of climbing, so that I can have a better appreciation of the sport. Earlier this spring I had the wonderful experience of learning how to aid climb from my talented friend @Jenny.Lemonpie. Good mentors are worth their weight in gold. Here I am belaying Jenny up The Bill (5.6, A1) after a spicy top out. Photo by @tc.bukowski.
@tc.bukowski and @claire.bukowski here again for Day 3 of our #AACGram takeover! Just about an hour’s drive north of Tucson you’ll find one of the best winter limestone destinations in the country. The Homestead is a pristine low desert paradise featuring over 250 sport routes ranging from 5.7 to 5.13b. This place is so special, that the @AccessFund purchased this remote piece of land and is working to secure permanent ownership of a critical access point to reach it. In partnership with the Access Fund, local climbing groups such as the  Climbing Association of Southern Arizona (@CasaClimbersHome) have been making dramatic improvements to the road and trails. On this day, isolated rain storms swirled around us, full of empty threats to end our climbing day. @Claire.Bukowski on Tufa Yard Dash (5.11c), Tufa City, The Homestead.
@Claire.Bukowski working through the cryptic sequences on razor thin crimps on Pucker Up (5.13a), The Gallery, Mt. Lemmon. Photo: @tc.bukowski #AACGram
@tc.bukowski and @claire.bukowski here again for Day 2 of the #aacgram takeover! The best thing about living in Tucson is our proximity to the Catalina Mountains, which are collectively referred to as “Mount Lemmon” by locals. Tucson sits at the base of the range and they form our skyline to the north. In less than 30 miles, the winding Catalina Highway takes you up through several ecological communities, from subtropical desert at 2200’ to boreal forest at 9100’. This large elevation change allows us to find decent climbing temperatures at any time of the year, just by moving up or down the mountain and by chasing shade. Established sport and trad routes number in the thousands, as do boulder problems, with more lines going up by the day. Lemmon has something to offer everyone; approaches can be short or very long, some, technical (such as requiring repelling or 3rd and 4th class climbing), leading to concentrations of a wide variety of grades, and often breathtaking exposure. This could be considered, perhaps, one of the most iconic lines on Lemmon, Steve’s Arete (5.11a).
Hey everybody, @claire.bukowski and @tc.bukowski here for day 1 of our #accgram takeover!  We’ll be sharing stories and photos from our climbing adventures at our home crag, Mount Lemmon, and across the Southwest. Todd: We can thank my wife, and Claire’s mom, Robin, for our passion for climbing. Robin began taking Claire to our local climbing gym when she was kid, put her in climbing summer camps and encouraged her to join the local youth rock climbing team. Along the way, I realized that if I didn’t get involved, I’d be left behind. My introduction to climbing came late in life. Claire: When I joined a youth team in 2009, I struggled at first (and I still do). I was fortunate enough to have incredible mentors that took me outside to share their knowledge of outdoor climbing. It was the growing love for outdoor climbing that kept me psyched despite my disappointing competition results. Todd: I got back into photography just over a couple years ago. I was an enthusiast back in the days before digital, but there was a long period where I didn’t pick up a camera. One day Claire asked me to take some photos for her Instagram. I had to ask, “What’s an Instagram?” It seems so long ago now. I feel so privileged to be able hang out and photograph such amazing people living in the moment in such extraordinary circumstances. We hope you enjoy these photographs and stories as much as we did creating them! Photo: @Claire.bukowski on the beautifully colored Knights of the Wrong Tissue, 5.12c, Knights Wall, Mount Lemmon, Tucson, Arizona.
“So far, so stoked...” @edelweissropes_usa athlete @ropeandsummit shown here climbing Interceptor 5.11a, Upper Breadloves, City of Rocks, Idaho. 📷: @pullphoto #aacgram #edelweissropes
@edelweissropes_usa athlete @mason_earle with an #aacgram from Yosemite Valley: "Slab climbing is a bizarre art form. You have to maintain total control and form, while staying relaxed. Like the wolf that can sense fear in it's prey, a hard slab can send you flying at the slightest loss of composure." Photo: tip-toeing up the 5.13a 7th pitch of the Heart Route on El Cap, with @bradgobright 📷: @benjaminbditto #edelweissropes
@edelweissropes_usa athlete @cheynelempe shares an #aacgram from the first ascent of Deconstructing Jenga, Great Cross Pillar in the Sam Ford Fjord of Baffin Island: "I've never poured so much of myself into an expedition and the creation of the most beautiful and terrifying story of my life.” 📷: @daveallfrey #edelweissropes
@edelweissropes_usa athlete @angela_vanwiemeersch on why she climbs: "The way in which the ice and rock has the ability control me has always been a source of fascination. Each move I make with my tool is determined by what the snow or ice is doing. I'm not able to force my desires on a climb, instead I have to cooperate with what I am presented. In Scotland you can only climb Ben Nevis if it’s in 'winter conditions', forcing you to search for each and every tool placement. You must navigate through spindrift and be inventive with your gear placements in some very iced up cracks. This was my first pitch climbing in Scottish style. I cant wait to go back for more. Gargoyle Wall (VI, 6) Number 3 gully buttress." 📷 @jonrfrederick #aacgram
@edelweissropes_usa athlete @angela_vanwiemeersch on one of her favorite days climbing: "This sunny day in Zion was a day I’ll never forget. Scott Adamson, Andrew Burr and I had stomped around the desert for 19 days straight looking for ice. We were exhausted. This day was warm, and we thought even if we found anything it would be detached or have melted out. While walking along the canyon rim we turned a bend and there it was, a wall of 450 foot ice climbs, untouched. I’ve never screamed so loud in my life. Such a discovery with such incredible people. And then Scott and I got to tag the first ascent of what I think is my favorite ice climb to date. As I led out of the belay and all the ice around us melted and crashed to the canyon floor, we called our climb Last Man Standing (400', WI6 PDW)." 📷 @andrewburr #aacgram
@edelweissropes_usa athlete @jackson_marvell shares an #aacgram from his desert towers project: "Shortly after I turned 20, I found myself often returning to the same zones in the desert. I wasn't seeing anything new, so I decided to try and climb 100 desert towers before I turned 21. This is one of the many towers I climbed over the next nine months. It became one of my favorite climbs I did throughout that project. Fortunately I was able to pull it off and now 8 months later, my tower count has continued to grow. I’ve managed to stand on top of 115 amazing sandstone towers.” Here’s Jackson on Maverick 5.13a, Hindu Tower, Moab, Utah. The tower was first climbed free by fellow Edelweiss athlete @StevieHaston. 📷: @_drew_smith_ #nws