As Outside Magazine recently reported, the American Alpine Club (AAC) has entered into a process to rename the Robert and Miriam Underhill Award for outstanding mountaineering achievement.

The AAC is a nationwide community of climbers spanning age, gender, race, ability, and religion. A shared passion for climbing and a commitment to fostering an inclusive community and protecting the places where we climb unite us all. We firmly commit to a continual process of examining and shining a light on all parts of our history, including and especially the aspects of that history that must evolve. We are accountable to our community and to ourselves to be open, accurate, and transparent in that evolution.

As we work to rename the award, we want to understand the modern purpose of an award dedicated to "the highest level of skill in the mountaineering arts" and seek to connect it genuinely to the better parts of climbing history. Our goal is to do this in a way that ensures we're awarding meaningful contributions rather than simply being generic and performative.

The AAC will complete the renaming process and better define the award's purpose before presenting it again in early 2023. We will not limit the tools we consider in that process and recognize that no effort will be complete without internal and external perspectives. 

Our Climb United program vision states that “Adventurousness and exploration are not only where I went, but also what did I imagine and what perspectives did I consider along the way.” The renaming of this award presents an excellent opportunity for the AAC to illuminate and explore perspectives.