The American Alpine Club remembers Bill Atkinson (1925–2026), our oldest known member whose passion for climbing, dedication to mentorship, and commitment to the climbing community left a lasting mark on the Club. A talented climber who got his start in the Shawangunks in the late 1950s, Bill helped strengthen the AAC’s New England community and was recognized for his exemplary service with the 2006 Angelo Heilprin Citation Award. We are grateful for his many contributions and celebrate a life spent in pursuit of adventure and connection.
Bill’s family shares a reflection on his life, climbing adventures, and contributions to the AAC:
Bill Atkinson on his 101st birthday. Image by Mikki Ansin.
Image courtesy of the Atkinson family.
Bill Atkinson stumbled upon climbing at the 'Gunks in the fall of 1956 with the New York Appalachian Mountain Club community. He has been climbing for fifty-five years. Even before the end of his first year he had climbed the East Ridge of the Grand Teton.
A move to Boston in 1963 led him to join the AMC Boston Mountaineers where, in 1972, he became Mountaineering Chair and, subsequently AMC Mountaineering Inter-Chapter Chair. Thus began a period of some forty years of mentoring beginners at the 'Gunks, and at countless New England crags.
He joined the American Alpine Club in 1978 with a tick-list of Moran, Owen, the Grand Teton, Sir Donald, Bugaboo Spire, and summits in the remote Vowell Group of British Columbia.
Fifty years of climbing took Bill wide afield: to North Conway, Acadia National Park, Seneca Rocks, Joshua Tree, City of Rocks, Smith Rocks, Mt. Lemmon, Suicide, Cochise Stronghold, the Cirque of the Towers, and Devil's Tower. Two weeks in Yosemite! And the alps of Chamonix, of Switzerland, and of the French Écrins.
Bill wrote an important historical piece on the Clean Climbing Revolution at the 'Gunks in the seventies, which achieved a wide readership.
Image courtesy of the Atkinson family.
In 1990 Bill revitalized the then moribund AAC New England Chapter with the initiation of some twenty annual black-tie affairs complete with dinner, notable speakers, door prizes, and an exhibition of mountaineering art. For this contribution of having shown exemplary service to the club Bill was awarded the Club's Angelo Heilprin Citation in 2006.
Proficient on ice, at seventy-five, Bill is the oldest known person to have climbed Cannon Cliff's Black Dike.
Bill's last route was at his beloved 'Gunks in 2010. He was eighty-five and, with his partner John Reppy, had a combined age of one-hundred and sixty-four.
For more on Bill and to leave a remembrance for his family, please visit his website.