The American Alpine Club is proud to announce the recipients of its 2026 awards, recognizing outstanding achievements in conservation, climbing and mountaineering, mountain literature, and dedication to the Club. Awardees will be recognized at the American Alpine Club's Annual Gala on October 24 in Golden, Colorado.
President's Gold Medal: Lynn Hill
Honorary Membership (posthumously): Daryl Miller
The Pinnacle Award: Jimmie Dunn
The Angelo Heilprin Citation: Scott Richards
David R. Brower Conservation Award: Alison Criscitiello
H. Adams Carter Literary Award: Geoff Powter
David A. Sowles Memorial Award: Black Canyon Rescue Team
Robert Hicks Bates Award: Dane Steadman
Keep reading to learn more about each awardee.
President's Gold Medal: Lynn Hill
Image by Heinz Zak.
FOR EXTRAORDINARY ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE CLIMBING WORLD
Lynn Hill has spent more than 50 years climbing at the highest levels of the sport, expanding its culture and redefining its limits across the world. Most famously, Hill completed the first free ascent of The Nose in 1993, followed by an all-free ascent of The Nose in one day in 1994—a feat to this day only Hill and Tommy Caldwell have completed.
Throughout her career, Hill repeatedly redefined what was possible in climbing. In 1979 she became the first woman to climb a route rated 5.12d, and in 1991, she became the first woman to climb 5.14. In 1992, Hill became the first woman to onsight 5.13b, and by 1995, she made two first free ascents of 5.12 walls in Kyrgyzstan. In 1999, Hill led an all-women's team to the first ascent of Bravo Les Filles (5.12c/AO or 5.13d) in Madagascar.
In Nina Williams' final year as Board President, she will award Hill the President's Gold Medal, an honor given only seven times since the AAC's founding, recognizing Hill's contributions to climbing.
Honorary Membership: Daryl Miller (posthumously)
Daryl Miller. Image courtesy of Charlie Sassara.
FOR LASTING AND SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON CLIMBING
Honorary Membership is one of the highest awards the AAC offers. As remembered by longtime friend and fellow alpinist Charlie Sassara, the AAC posthumously recognizes Daryl Miller for his lifetime commitment and passion for adventure, outdoor education, mountain rescue, and climbing in all its forms.
“Daryl was deeply committed to the ethos: ‘Go, but bring back a story.’ Along his journey Daryl touched the hearts of climbers, adventurers, and vagabonds across generations with his keen interest in their plans and adventures.
Daryl became a United States Marine in 1961, served during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and completed two tours in Vietnam. He left the military in 1972 and moved to Montana, working in ranching and as a bullfighter—the guy who steps between an angry bull and a downed cowboy.
In 1991 Daryl joined the National Park Service at Denali National Park as a mountaineering ranger. He eventually led the South District office and oversaw the entire mountain program, but what set him apart was his compassion. Though Daryl often said that “your emergency may not be my emergency,” his actions told a different story. When grieving families arrived at Denali searching for answers about a lost loved one, he stayed with them through it, often at considerable cost to himself.
Daryl was also key to the integration of the NPS Mountaineering Ranger Program with the U.S. Air Force 210th Rescue Squadron (PJs) and was later recognized with the International Alpine Solidarity Award by the guides of Pinzolo, Italy. Daryl’s ‘rescue highlight reel’ includes the rescue of Malcolm Daly from the South Face of Thunder Mountain and the 210th Rescue Squadron’s long line rescue of Jack Tackle from the North Face of Mt. Augusta in 2002.
Fundamentally, Daryl believed that a life well lived should be packed with powerful experiences—the type of experiences that require taking risks that challenge and change you as a person. What really set Daryl apart was his enthusiasm for ‘your’ adventure. Those who stepped into his circle will remember a man who inspired, encouraged, and challenged the people around him, and who very often changed the course of their lives.”
Pinnacle Award: Jimmie Dunn
Jimmie Dunn on Zonked Out. Image by Albert Dow.
FOR OUTSTANDING MOUNTAINEERING AND CLIMBING ACHIEVEMENTS
Jimmie Dunn’s nearly sixty-year career includes impressive ascents that have paved the way for climbers across the world. In 1972, Dunn completed the first ascent of Cosmos on El Capitan—the first new route on the wall completed solo. In 1976, Dunn and Earl Wiggins made the first free ascent of The Cruise in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison after a six-hour effort. Other significant climbs include the third ascent of Standing Rock, the first ascent of Castleton Tower's west face, and the fifth ascent of North Six Shooter, all during a one-week trip in 1971 with Billy Westbay and Stuart Green.
Dunn recounts his extensive climbing career, anchored by vivid memories of fellow mountaineers and adventure, “I remember Bob Palais, as a young climber, bringing me homemade brownies from Boston to North Conway, New Hampshire, every weekend all summer in the early 1970s. In 1976, leading Black Magic barefoot on Cathedral Ledge, with Ajax Greene and Ed Webster following barefoot—we were inspired by 'Hot' Henry Barber's tales of climbing in Dresden, Germany. In 1978, I clearly remember Albert Dow yelling up to me for a photograph on Zonked Out, Woodchuck Ledge, a desperate crack I rated 5.10+++. I was wearing only one climbing shoe and had a bloody bandage around my throbbing butt cheek from a giant beaver’s bite. It’s now rated 5.12b.”
Today, Dunn spends his time supporting his son, CharlieJoe (CJ), in his climbing pursuits, working on his partner Hellen's wild environmental art projects, EARTHflows, at Sky Soul Studio, and putting together a book to celebrate the incredible climbs and climbers he has known, hoping to publish A Rope and Rack, the Shirt on Your Back: Life and Friends of Jimmie Dunn, Climber, within the next year. Dunn shares, “The climbs are cool, but what really matters is the people you meet along the way.”
Angelo Heilprin Citation: Scott Richards
Scott Richards taking on the Power of Four skimo race with his daughter. Image by Scott Richards.
FOR EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THE CLUB
The Angelo Heilprin Citation honors AAC members for their long-term dedication to the Club, expressing their passion for climbing, community, and giving back through everyday involvement. Scott Richards is this year’s awardee, honored for his work in maintaining and strengthening the AAC.
Richards grew up in Evergreen, Colorado, and studied at Fort Lewis College before completing graduate work at Colorado State University and a professional certificate at the CU Leeds School of Business. In his twenties, he worked as a mountain guide and outdoor educator around the world, later teaching geography, art, and reading at a Colorado public middle school and then serving as a teacher and principal at the American International School in Gabon, Central Africa. He and his wife returned to the United States when she was pregnant with their second child, and Richards began a career as a financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual.
Richards has been an AAC member for 23 years and serves on both the AAC Development Committee and the Host Committee for the Annual Gala, drawing on his dual background as a financial advisor and former NOLS instructor. He also sits on the board of Locally Haiti, working to improve health, education, and agriculture in the country. Richards’ reach extends into international climbing and ski mountaineering circles; in April, he and two teammates from Louisville completed the 2026 edition of Switzerland's Patrouille des Glaciers ski mountaineering race in 16 hours. When he's not serving the Club, Richards can be found skiing, running ultras, or bird watching.
David R. Brower Conservation Award: Alison Criscitiello
A melt layer in a section of ice core drilled from Snow Dome, Columbia Icefield, BC. Image by Rebecca Haspel.
FOR LEADERSHIP AND COMMITMENT TO CONSERVATION AND THE PRESERVATION OF MOUNTAIN REGIONS WORLDWIDE
Dr. Alison Criscitiello is a world-renowned ice core scientist and high-altitude mountaineer who explores the history of climate and environmental pollutants in polar and high-alpine regions using ice core chemistry. Criscitiello’s work has taken her to ice caps around the world including Antarctica, Greenland, and the Canadian high Arctic, as well as the summit of Canada’s highest peak, Mt. Logan where she drilled an ice core in 2022. Alongside her scientific research, she is an exceptional storyteller whose work has appeared in film projects, television, and print—including her article “Contraindications,” which won a Banff Mountain Book Competition award in 2018.
Her accolades are extensive: Criscitiello was elected to the Royal Canadian Geographic Society's College of Fellows, is a Fellow International with The Explorers Club, and was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee Medal for her significant contributions to Arctic climate research. She has also received three American Alpine Club climbing awards, the Alpine Club of Canada's John Lauchlan Award, and the Mugs Stump Award.
In conjunction with her research, Criscitiello is committed to making science more accessible to young women. As a co-founder of the Girls* on Ice Canada program, she hopes to merge science, art, and adventure to inspire leadership, curiosity, and confidence in the next generation of leaders. Her work has motivated a community of young women to pursue their interests in science and dive into their passions in the outdoors.
H. Adams Carter Literary Award: Geoff Powter
Image by Geoff Powter.
FOR EXCELLENCE IN CLIMBING LITERATURE
Geoff Powter is a climber, writer, and editor, long based in the Canadian Rockies. He is a veteran of 13 Himalayan expeditions, and has been writing about climbing and other risk sports for decades. Geoff was the editor of the Canadian Alpine Journal for 13 years and was the host of the Voices of Adventure interview series at the Banff Mountain Book Festival for 27 years, showcasing his depth of storytelling across media.
Geoff’s magazine writing has earned him nine National Magazine Awards, and his three books (Strange and Dangerous Dreams, Inner Ranges, and Survival is not Assured: The Life of Climber Jim Donini) have won two National Outdoor Book Awards, a Jury Prize and Best Climbing Book Award at the Banff Mountain Book Festival, and a shortlist for the Boardman-Tasker Award.
David A. Sowles Memorial Award: Black Canyon Rescue Team
An Army Black Hawk helicopter lifts the severely injured Becca Steinbrecher out of the Black Canyon on September 11, 2023. Image by Vic Zeilman.
FOR UNSELFISH DEVOTION TO IMPERILED CLIMBERS
The David A. Sowles Memorial Award, powered by Rocky Talkie, recognizes the Black Canyon Rescue Team for their response to a September 2023 climbing accident in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, where a climber suffered a serious leader fall on Great White Wall and remained unconscious for nearly 11 hours before evacuation.
Twenty-eight rescue personnel took part in the response, most of them volunteers with the Black Canyon SAR team, alongside Black Canyon district and park rangers and Army National Guard personnel. The climber’s partner, Skyeler Congdon, secured her at the anchor before rappelling the route and running out to call for help. NPS ranger Philippe Wheelock led the climbing team that descended into the canyon and reached the climber, alongside SAR volunteer and former NPS climbing ranger Vic Zeilman. Ranger Tom Schaefer directed operations from the rim, while district rangers Ryan Rees and Ryan Thrush oversaw incident command. The Army National Guard's High-Altitude Aviation Training Site provided the helicopter that carried out the final evacuation.
Read the full incident account and analysis in the American Alpine Club’s publications.
Robert Hicks Bates Award: Dane Steadman
Dane Steadman on the summit of a previously unclimbed 6,000m tower, later named Sangar Tower, in the Pakistani Karakoram, in 2025. Image by Blake Berghoff.
FOR OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENT BY A YOUNG CLIMBER
The 2026 Robert Hicks Bates Award, powered by La Sportiva, honors Dane Steadman. Steadman is a mountaineer in all senses of the word. At only 28 years old, he’s already made his mark with his 2024 first ascent of Tiger Lily Buttress on Yashkuk Sar I and countless other alpine pursuits which span from ascents in his own backyard like Barely Legal to expeditions in the Alaska Range, Karakoram, Himalaya, and Tian Shan.
Steadman describes his start in alpinism as “an inexplicable draw toward high, cold mountains,” which brought him from the heat of the Arizona desert to the cool landscape of Cody, Wyoming where he resides today as a Patagonia ambassador and climbing guide. Steadman spends his free time developing new rock and mixed climbing routes around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Steadman is a recipient of the 2025 Piolet d’Or and the American Alpine Club’s 2026 Cutting Edge Grant which will fund his next expedition to Pakistan, where he will attempt the north buttress of Gharkun.
The Robert Hicks Bates Award is sponsored by:
American Alpine Club award winners will be honored with bespoke, sustainable, custom-made awards by metal artist Lisa Issenberg. Lisa is the owner and founder of the Ridgway, Colorado studio, Kiitellä, named after a Finnish word meaning to "thank, applaud, or praise." Lisa has been providing custom awards for the American Alpine Club since 2013. Kiitellä's process includes a mix of both handcraft and industrial techniques. To learn more, visit kiitella.com
Join us on October 24 in Golden, Colorado, as we celebrate these remarkable individuals and the many ways they have shaped climbing. The Annual Gala brings together climbers from across the country for an evening of recognition, connection, and community.
