The American Alpine Club Announces 2025 McNeill-Nott Winners

March 2025

The American Alpine Club (AAC) and Mountain Hardwear are excited to announce the 2025 McNeill-Nott recipients. With the untimely death of Sue Nott and her climbing partner Karen McNeill on Sultana (Mt. Foraker) in 2006, the AAC partnered with Mountain Hardwear to establish the McNeill-Nott Award in their memory. This award seeks to preserve the spirit of these two talented and courageous climbers by giving grants to amateur female climbers exploring new routes or unclimbed peaks with small teams.

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Heather Smallpage

Heather Smallpage will receive $2,000 to attempt big wall and alpine-style first ascents in a little-climbed region of Baffin Island: Arviqtujuq Kangiqtua (formerly Eglinton Fjord). Natalie Afonina, Shira Biner, Char Tomlinson, and Kaylan Worsnop will all join the expedition, which will be almost entirely human-powered. The expedition team will travel over 250 km by skiing, climbing, packrafting, and walking. The team hopes that this expedition will not only inspire people to see what is possible for female and nonbinary alpinism but also emphasize how increasingly essential and joyous these spaces are in this sport and will tell a story that includes voices that are often quieted or left out of the climbing media.

Char Tomlinson

Shira Biner

Natalie Afonina

Kaylan Worsnop

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Allie Oaks (left) and Angela VanWiemeersch (right).

Angela VanWiemeersch will receive $4,000 to attempt to establish a technical line in alpine style on a 5,000-meter peak in the Pamir Alai mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Allie Oaks will join VanWiemeersch on this expedition. Oaks and VanWiemeersch have been growing a long-distance partnership over the last four years and will be doing a training trip in the Canadian Rockies this April. This will be their first big expedition together. 

PC: Robert Taylor

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Brooke Maushund will receive $1,000 to attempt to climb and ski unclimbed peaks on the Southern Patagonian Icefield (Hielo Continental) with a primarily female team. Since avalanche forecasting in the U.S. during austral summers, Maushund was driven to extend her winters in the Southern Hemisphere. After spending close to four months skiing in Patagonia last year, starting to learn terrain, snowpacks, and weather patterns, she is excited to continue learning through exploratory skiing in this dynamic, wild environment. 

Brooke skiing outside of El Chaltén, Argentina.

Brooke enjoying the full experience of the mountains near the Cerro Chaltén Massif, Argentina. PC: Matthew Tufts

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Applications for the McNeill-Nott Award are accepted each year from October 1 through November 30.

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Contact:

Berkeley Anderson, Foundation and Grants Coordinator: [email protected]

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About Mountain Hardwear

Mountain Hardwear, Inc., was founded in 1993 and is based in Richmond, CA. We exist to encourage and equip people to seek a wilder path in life. For 30 years, we’ve built essential equipment for climbers, mountaineers, and outdoor athletes and have supported expeditions on the world’s highest peaks. Relentless precision continues to inspire everything we do — our designers sweat every stitch and detail to continuously improve function, durability, and comfort. Mountain Hardwear is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Columbia Sportswear Company that distributes its products through specialty outdoor retailers in the United States and 34 countries worldwide. www.mountainhardwear.com

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The American Alpine Club Announces 2025 Cutting Edge Grant Winners

PC: Nelson Neirinck

March 2025

The American Alpine Club and Black Diamond Equipment are pleased to announce the 2025 Cutting Edge Grant recipients. The Cutting Edge Grant continues the Club's 120-year tradition by funding individuals planning expeditions to remote areas featuring unexplored mountain ranges, unclimbed peaks, difficult new routes, first-free ascents, or similar world-class pursuits. Five teams have been awarded a total of $25,000 for this cycle, with objectives featuring a low-impact style and leave-no-trace mentality looked upon with favor. Black Diamond Equipment is a proud sponsor of the Cutting Edge Grant and a key partner in supporting cutting-edge alpinism.

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Kishtwar Shivling. 2023. PC: Vitaliy Musiyenko

Vitaliy Musiyenko will be awarded $6,000 to attempt a new route on the southwest aspect of Kishtwar Shivling (6,000m), located in the Indian Himalayas. The mountain's main summit has only been reached once; the east summit was climbed in 2014, and the east pillar was climbed in 2015. Vitaliy Musiyenko will be attempting the route with Sean McLane. If they have enough time and energy in the tank, they hope to attempt another, unclimbed mountain with a similar altitude in the area.

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Michael Hutchins

Michael Hutchins will be awarded $6,000 to attempt the southwest face of Rimo lll (7233m), an unclimbed 1600m face in the eastern Karakoram of India. Hutchins and Chris Wright discovered this objective because Wright caught a glimpse of the Rimo peaks after an expedition in 2012. Stefano Ragazzo will join them on their expedition. The team of three are all mountain guides with extensive climbing experience: Ragazzo recently rope-soloed Eternal Flame on Nameless Tower in Pakistan; Wright received the Piolet d'Or in 2020 for his team's ascent of Link Sar; and Hutchins has climbed six of seven major peaks in the Fitz Roy massif.

Stefano Ragazzo

Chris Wright

 The SW Face of Rimo III

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Tad McCrea. PC: Tad McCrea

Tad McCrea will be awarded $4,000 to attempt the southeast pillar of Latok lll (6,949 meters) from the Choktoi Glacier. Latok III has never been climbed from the Choktoi glacier but was summited from the west face in 2011. The expedition team will include Jon Giffin and Thomas Huber. The three climbers attempted the proposed route in 2024 but had to descend before bad weather moved in.

The Team: Thomas Huber, Tad McCrea, and Jon Griffin atop Cerro Chalten (Fitz Roy) 2024. PC: Tad McCrea

Thomas Huber. PC: Tad McCrea

Jon Griffin. PC: Tad McCrea

Latok III from Choktoi. PC: Tad McCrea

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Zach Lovell. PC: Carrie Mueller

Zach Lovell will be awarded $4,000 to attempt a new route on Dorje Lhakpa (6966m), located in the Jugal Himal, about 55 kilometers northeast of Kathmandu. Japhy Dhungana and Joseph Hobby will join Lovell on this expedition, which will involve over 1,000 meters of technical climbing from 5900 to 6900 meters. Dhungana and Lovell did their first new route in the alpine together in Nepal several years ago and are looking forward to another adventure in Dhungana's home country. Hobby and Lovell have also spent countless days climbing and skiing together, from the contiguous U.S. to Alaska. Lovell is honored to call both of them some of his closest friends and looks forward to spending time together as a team of three.

Japhy Dhungana. PC: Cary Jobe

Joseph Hobby. PC: Pierre Desmottes

Dorje Lhakpa overview. PC: Nikonphotog

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Ethan Berman negotiating a short mixed step low down on Ultar Sar in 2024. PC: Maarten van Haeren

Ethan Berman will be awarded $5,000 to attempt the southeast "hidden" pillar of Ultar Sar (7388 m), located in the Karakoram Range of Pakistan. The route is a striking 3000m line, with the lower half of the route consisting of 1500m of steep snow and ice climbing with a couple of mixed steps, and the upper half consisting of a 1500m stunning rock pillar that cuts a line through the sky all the way to the summit. Maarten van Haeren, Sebastian Pelletti, and Berman attempted the route in the spring of 2024, reaching a hanging glacier at 6000m before turning around due to dangerous snow conditions. They made three attempts total, each time climbing a bit higher while learning how to move safely through the complexities of the route. They are fired up to return to Pakistan with the support of the Cutting Edge Grant and hope to apply all that they learned last year to increase their chances of success.

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Sebastian Pelletti stops to admire Ultar Sar (7388m) while approaching the base of the mountain. PC: Ethan Berman

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Maarten van Haeren (left) and Sebastian Pelletti in a snow couloir on Ultar Sar during their attempt in 2024. PC: Ethan Berman

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Ethan Berman swinging his legs to keep blood flowing to the toes while at a crevasse bivy while acclimatizing in Pakistan in 2024. PC: Maarten van Haeren

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Back to front: Ethan, Maarten, and Sebastian test their custom 3-man sleeping bag made by Grade VII Equipment. PC: Nathan Kukathas

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Applications for the Cutting Edge Grant are accepted each year from October 1 through November 30.

Contact:

Berkeley Anderson, Foundation and Grants Coordinator: [email protected]

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Presented by:

CLIMB: Behind the Scenes of the Cutting Edge Grant, with Jack Tackle

In this episode, we sit down with legend Jack Tackle to discuss all things cutting edge. We begin by diving into the many first ascents of Jack’s own alpinism career, his progress as a climber, and his deep history with the AAC. We cover the evolution of adventure grants in climbing, how the AAC’s Cutting Edge Grant got started, and why it’s the premiere climbing grant in today’s climbing scene. We also cover the last few years of successes that have come out of Cutting Edge Grant expeditions, a behind the scenes look at some of the considerations these alpinists face when pursuing such high-end objectives, and how Jack’s experience can shed light on the significance of these ascents. Plus, we cover some of the other AAC grants and how they meet the needs of climbers at all levels. 

We don’t cover the exact details of the expedition planning process, or how important it is for these expeditions to be respectful and cognizant of both local cultures and environmental issues, or what happens when things go disastrously wrong. That’s for another episode!

If you love following the cutting edge of climbing, or are considering applying to the Cutting Edge Grant yourself this year, or want to soak up Jack’s wisdom, this dive into the history and present of adventure grants is a fascinating look at the logistics it takes to pursue the cutting edge! 

You still have time to apply to the 2024 Cutting Edge Grant, presented by Black Diamond! Apply before midnight on Dec 31, 2024.

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Resources:

Apply to the Cutting Edge Grant

Learn More About Jack Tackle’s Legendary Alpine Climbing Career

Apply to Other AAC Grants

Guidebook XII—Grant Spotlight

The Emperor Face of Mt. Robson in water color and ink. AAC member Craig Muderlak

Mountain Sense

By Sierra McGivney

Usually, when Balin Miller encounters spindrift ice climbing, he puts his head down, waits for 10 to 20 seconds, and continues climbing. Halfway up the face of the Andromeda Strain, a line on the northeast face of Mount Andromeda in Alberta, Canada, Miller and his climbing partner Adrien Costa encountered an intense spindrift funnel. Thirty seconds passed, then one minute, two. After five minutes, he thought, f*** this, and downclimbed.

Miller was persistent, but the spindrift was relentless. They wasted a couple of hours trying to go around.

“You couldn’t see anything, even if you wanted to push through,” said Miller.

Miller and Costa peered around to where the climbing turned into a chimney. A wall of white snow poured down it. They turned back a pitch before the Hockey Stick Crack, disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to live the lore embedded in that pitch. This wouldn’t be the last time they tested their judgment in the mountains and turned away from an objective.

“I think what gets me most stoked for routes isn’t really how good they are, per se, but a lot of the history involved in it—the route that has some old trip report of people getting really scared on it,” said Miller.

This might be why Miller chose the Andromeda Strain as one of his objectives for this 2023 Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grant (MFFG) trip. Apart from being one of the most popular yet serious alpine climbs in the Canadian Rockies, it has an epic story. An unsuccessful earlier group tried to ascend the off-width and found it too wide to take anything but one-foot lengths of hewn-off hockey sticks (an eerie, early rendition of the Trango Big Bro). Having no hockey sticks handy in 1983, Barry Blanchard, Dave Cheesmond, and Tim Friesen traversed beneath the off-width and around the corner to a steep snow-choked chimney that became the Hockey Stick Crack.

Miller originally applied for the MFFG from the American Alpine Club to support an expedition to the Alaska Range. He was awarded the grant but had to change his trip to the Canadian Rockies due to financial constraints. This grant funds climbers 25 years or younger seeking challenging climbs in remote places. One of Miller’s partners, Adrien Costa, has previously leveraged other AAC grants, including the Tincup Partner in Adventure Grant in 2021 and the Catalyst Grant in 2021 and 2023. The AAC grants can be a great jumping-off point for climbers looking to dream big.

Miller is an ice climber who spends his summers in Alaska and his winters in Bozeman. He got into climbing at the age of 12 and was versed in both ice and rock climbing growing up in Alaska. He is stalwart when it comes to ice climbing, but he has a goofy aura. You can deduce from photos of his trip that he doesn’t take himself too seriously, even on big alpine climbs.

After getting turned around on the Andromeda Strain, Miller and Costa climbed Dreambed (5.11 PG-13) on Mount Yamnuska and enjoyed a sunny day on rock. The two saw a weather window coming up and turned their gaze to Mount Robson or Yuh-hai- haskun (“The Mountain of the Spiral Road”), the highest peak in Canada. Infinite Patience (2200m, VI 5.9 WI5 M5) climbs the north side of the Emperor Face of Mount Robson until it merges with the Emperor Ridge (2500m, V 5.6). This was another big objective for Miller. Despite a solid weather window and the season being in their favor, new challenges awaited the group.

Aidan Whitelaw, six feet, four inches tall with a high-pitched voice, is one of Miller’s best friends. Despite being a student at Montana State University in Bozeman, he’s almost always down to skip class if it means going climbing.

With Whitelaw newly arrived, they set off on their adventure with only one rope, trying to go as light as possible. One rope between three climbers is OK if they don’t need to bail, but just in case, the team brought a Beal Escaper.

Miller wrote in his trip report: “Leaving the parking lot on October 5, Aidan Whitelaw, Adrien, and I hiked into Berg Lake, camping at the base of the face. [We] started up the face at 2 a.m. on the 6th. We soon realized that the direct start was out of condition. It’s usually [three pitches of WI 4 or 5] but turned out to be steep, wet melting snice. We opted to traverse right to gain Bubba’s Couloir. Unfortunately, there was no alpine ice left in the couloir. But the snow climbing was moderate but unprotectable. We eventually decided to bail after the House Traverse, which is roughly halfway up the Emperor Face to the ridge on Infinite Patience.”

Deciding to bail had become extremely obvious to the group. They encountered compact limestone with no cracks and nothing to sling. The group was fine leaving cams or pins but couldn’t find good placements to make anchors. They decided to deadman their ice tools, burying them to create a snow anchor to rappel off.

“It was the worst rock imaginable,” said Miller.

Eventually, they reached a bivy spot and got cozy, fitting three people into a two-person tent and Whitelaw and Miller into one sleeping bag. At noon the next day, they started their descent, which consisted of rappelling off V-threads and lousy rock anchors.

Balin Miller, Adrien Costa, and Aiden Whitelaw at the bivy spot on Infinite Patience getting cozy in a two-person tent. Land of the Mountain Metis, Stoney, Cree and Secwepemc peoples. AAC member Balin Miller

The Beal Escaper is a detachable rappelling device that allows you to descend on a single strand without permanently fixing the rappel and sacrificing the rope. To retrieve the rope, the climber tugs the rope ten to twenty times, causing the rope to inch through the Escaper and retrieve the rope.

The group was on 80-degree melting snow. No one had counted how many times they had pulled the rope to disengage the Escaper, but something was wrong. Everyone got quiet. They pulled as much rope through as they could, but ultimately, the rope refused to release. Unable to jug back up the rope out of fear that movement could release the device, and unable to solo back up because of 80 feet of steep bad snow and friable rock, they pulled out as much rope as they could and cut it. Only eight meters of rope were in their hands, the rest of it lost to the mountain. It was dark, and they didn’t know how far they were above the Mist Glacier.

They tied slings together as a pull cord, allowing them to do increments of full eight-meter rappels. Luckily, they were only 100 feet from the bottom.

Twenty-four hours later, Whitelaw was in class in Bozeman, Montana; no one was aware of the epic in the mountains he had just returned from.

Balin Miller questing off to lead a mixed pitch on Infinite Patience (VI5.9M5WI5).Land of the Mountain Metis, Stoney, Cree, and Secwepemc peoples. AAC member Adrian Costa

After several days off, Miller and Costa hiked into the Lloyd McKay Hut to attempt the north face of Alberta. However, they didn’t get the chance due to a storm and nine inches of wet snow. Miller wasn’t too bummed. Conditions weren’t in their favor, and there was always next year. Both Miller and Costa left after that, and Miller headed to Yosemite.

In November, Miller returned ready to ice climb. He climbed Suffer Machine (200m, WI5+ M7); Virtual Reality (100m, WI6+); Kittyhawk (150m, WI5), solo; and Nemesis (150m, WI6), solo.

He took a short break to visit his mom in Spokane, Washington. Ethan Berkeland flew out to meet him, and the pair drove about 430 miles back up to Canada with Slipstream in sight. Slipstream (900m, IV WI4+) climbs the east face of Snow Dome. It is infamous for it’s exposure to dangerous seracs, avalanches, and cornices, as evidenced by five reports in the Accidents in North American Climbing archive. Jim Elzinga and John Lauchlan first climbed it in 1979, and Mark Twight simul-soloed it in 1988 with Randy Rackliff.

“Anything Mark Twight does is awesome,” said Miller.

The previous fall, Miller had bailed after the approach when it had taken longer than expected, and “it just didn’t feel right.” Both Miller and Berkeland are solid ice climbers. They brought a full rope, a tagline, 14 screws, and a handful of draws, planning to solo the easier parts and pitch out the harder ones. They ended up simul-soloing the entire east face of Snow Dome on November 29 in four hours. In total, the day was thirteen hours from car to car.

After getting turned around on his previous alpine objectives, this was a great achievement for Miller.

Despite the epics on some of his original objectives, Miller found success. Each “failure” in the mountains is a lesson learned for the next climb, maybe even a cutting-edge ascent. The spindrift turned him around on Andromeda Strain, and Infinite Patience was out of condition, but Slipstream proved to be an amazing climb. Sometimes, infinite patience pays off in the mountains.

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Your contribution will significantly impact climbers—whether they are learning how to avoid accidents through our updated database, using research funding to analyze melting ice caps and the changing heights of iconic mountains, or pursuing first ascents around the world. Your gift makes these things possible.

Pay What You Can (PWYC) Toolkit

At the AAC, we believe that addressing equity issues in climbing is not mutually exclusive from best business practices. That is why, in partnership with The North Face, we designed a Pay What You Can (PWYC) toolkit, a free resource for gyms who want to offer alternative payment models alongside—or in place of—traditional membership structures. Although much of our work at the AAC is outdoor-centric, we recognize that many climbers are introduced to the sport through a gym, and therefore a holistic approach to climbing access requires us to consider challenges across the climbing spectrum, including indoor climbing. Our hope is that with our toolkit, gyms can implement sustainable PWYC models that offer a product that is attainable for those in under-represented income brackets, with the added benefit of increasing these gyms’s memberships and maintaining a profitable business.

We examined 47 existing Pay What You Can (PWYC) programs within the climbing gym industry, interviewing 16 program leaders for further study, in order to analyze the viability and best practices of PWYC programs. While PWYC programs take on many forms, they all share an essential goal: to provide financial options for individuals and families who are otherwise unable to afford a gym’s day pass or membership at “standard” rates.

In this toolkit you will find:

• Analysis of the nine (9) components that comprise PWYC programs

• Two (2) case studies based on the experience and outcomes of real gyms

• Insights and Best Practices

• FAQs

• Resources, including a grant to support the one-time cost of implementing a PWYC program, a peer-to-peer directory of gyms implementing PWYC programs, and an example application (if the model you are considering utilizes a “proof of need” application).

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In the climbing gym industry and looking to start your own PWYC program at your gym? Explore the PWYC grant to get started!

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The American Alpine Club Announces 2024 Cutting Edge Grant Winners

PC: Nelson Neirinck

May 2024

The American Alpine Club and Black Diamond Equipment are pleased to announce the 2024 Cutting Edge Grant recipients. The Cutting Edge Grant continues the Club's 120-year tradition by funding individuals planning expeditions to remote areas featuring unexplored mountain ranges, unclimbed peaks, difficult new routes, first-free ascents, or similar world-class pursuits. Five recipients have been awarded a total of $20,000 for this cycle, with objectives featuring a low-impact style and leave-no-trace mentality looked upon with favor. Black Diamond Equipment is a proud sponsor of the Cutting Edge Grant and a key partner in supporting cutting-edge alpinism.

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PC: Fanny Schmutz

Chantel Astorga will receive $4,000 to attempt the Direct East Face of Mount Shivling (6543m), located in the Gangotri Valley of the Garhwal Himalayas of India. Astorga and her team had attempted the route in 2023. Astorga has previously received the Cutting Edge Grant and McNeill-Nott Grant, and has put up the first ascent of the southwest face of Nilkanth, also in the Central Garhwal. She is known for her first ski descent of the Seattle Ramp variation to the West Rib of Denali, and her first female solo of the Cassin Ridge. 

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Dane Steadman, PC: Fletch Peterson

Dane Steadman will receive $3,000 to attempt the first ascent of Yashkuk Sar, in the northern Karakoram, from its north side. The objective was the product of a strong desire to climb in the Karakoram, especially a technical route on a mid-elevation peak in the less traveled regions, coupled with Google Earth wanderings and internet scouring. The team, which evolved over time due to injuries, now consists of Steadman, his primary climbing partner, Cody Winckler, who also lives in northern Wyoming with Steadman and shares his passion for winter climbing, and August Franzen, a resident of Valdez, Alaska, who Steadman has yet to share a rope with but whom Steadman and Winckler have been wanting to climb with for a while. In 2023, Steadman was part of a Cutting Edge Grant team that put up a new route on the northeast face of Pik Alpinist, Kyrgyzstan.

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Pc: Gardner and Hennessey, living large

Sam Hennessey will receive $4,500 to attempt the north face of Jannu East, an alpine big wall rising 2400m from schrund to summit. It has only been attempted twice (by Hennessey’s team), and the peak is unclimbed by any route. In 2022, Hennessey was part of an astonishing record-breaking speed ascent of Denali’s Slovak Direct in 17 hours and 10 min. 

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PC: Mathilde Sjostedt.

Ethan Berman will receive $4,000 to attempt the Southeast Pillar of Ultar Sar (7388m), located in the Batura Muztagh Karakoram, Pakistan, and often referred to as the "Walker Spur" of the Karakoram. As Colin Haley put it after his 2007 attempt, "With the route proper more than 3100m tall, it makes the North Ridge of Latok 1 look small by comparison, and while not as technical it is still sustained real climbing—very little simple slogging." It has been attempted by several strong parties since 1992, with a high point of ~6500m by the Giri-Giri Boys in 2011. Besides the sheer scale of the route, the main difficulties will be sustained mixed climbing from 6500-6900m. Berman has previously received an AAC Live Your Dream Grant. In late 2022, Berman and Maarten Van Haeren put up the first ascent of the northeast face of Khang Karpo (6,646 meters) in Nepal.

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Chris Wright will receive $4,500 to attempt the north face of Chiling II, which Wright calls “one of the most handsome unclimbed north faces on the planet.” Wright met his climbing partner Stian Bruvoll while guiding in Norway’s Lofoten Islands, where they quickly connected over an enthusiasm for the particular style of Arctic alpinism, which is nothing if not an acquired taste. They started dreaming up bigger things, and are excited for Chiling II, which should offer almost five thousand feet of exceptional, hard climbing in lightweight, alpine style. In 2019, Chris Wright, alongside Graham Zimmerman, Steve Swenson, and Mark Richey, accomplished the Piolet D’Or winning first ascent of Link Sar, a 7,041-meter peak buried deep in the Pakistani Karakoram and long considered one of the world's greatest unclimbed mountains. 

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Applications for the Cutting Edge Grant are accepted each year from October 1 through November 30.

Contact:

Shane Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer: [email protected]

Eddie Espinosa, Community Programs Director: [email protected]

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Presented by:

The American Alpine Club Announces 2024 McNeill-Nott Winners

May 2024 

The American Alpine Club (AAC) and Mountain Hardwear are excited to announce the 2024 McNeill-Nott recipients. With the untimely death of Sue Nott and her climbing partner Karen McNeill on Sultana (Mt. Foraker) in 2006, the AAC partnered with Mountain Hardwear to establish the McNeill-Nott Award in their memory. This award seeks to preserve the spirit of these two talented and courageous climbers by giving grants to amateur female climbers exploring new routes or unclimbed peaks with small teams.

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Michelle Dvorak On Murchison Falls, Alberta, Canada. PC: llia Slobodov

Michelle Dvorak will receive $4,000 to attempt a 7000m peak in the Uttarakhand with an all-female team, including Fay Manners. Manners and Dvorak are close friends and experienced climbing partners. They have put up first ascents on steep rock faces in Greenland and did an all-female ascent of Denali's Cassin Ridge. Sue Nott and Karen McNeill completed the first female ascent of Denali’s Cassin Ridge in 2004. 

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Khan’s planned objective in the Karakoram Range.

Amber Khan will receive $3,500 to attempt to complete a loop from Shimshal village—summiting numerous climbed and unclimbed peaks, ranging from 5,900 to 7,440 meters, during her expedition with Nafeesa Andrabi. Khan and Andrabi are two Pakistani-American climbers seeking to establish a moderate, attainable training loop for aspiring Pakistani and female alpinists in the Karakoram. Their proposed climb provides them the opportunity to develop as budding alpinists while climbing in their homeland. For Khan and Andrabi, this trip is just the beginning of a larger goal to expand mountaineering access to communities in Pakistan, especially for women.

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Applications for the McNeill-Nott Award are accepted each year from October 1 through November 30.

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Contact:

Shane Johnson, VP of Marketing and Comms: [email protected] 

Eddie Espinosa, Community Programs Director: [email protected]

Berkeley Anderson, Foundation and Grants Coordinator: [email protected]

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About Mountain Hardwear

Mountain Hardwear, Inc., was founded in 1993 and is based in Richmond, CA. We exist to encourage and equip people to seek a wilder path in life. For 30 years, we’ve built essential equipment for climbers, mountaineers, and outdoor athletes and have supported expeditions on the world’s highest peaks. Relentless precision continues to inspire everything we do — our designers sweat every stitch and detail to continuously improve function, durability, and comfort. Mountain Hardwear is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Columbia Sportswear Company that distributes its products through specialty outdoor retailers in the United States and 34 countries worldwide. www.mountainhardwear.com

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Crag Development During Deployment: A Story from the Live Your Dream Grant

PC: Joseph Stuart

Joseph Stuart received a 2023 Live Your Dream grant from the American Alpine Club to help start a mountaineering club and develop a crag while deployed in Iraq.

*This article was originally published in the Blah, Blah, Black Sheep newsletter and is lightly edited for clarity.

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How have the 250th FRSD (Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment), who call themselves the "Blacksheep," been spending their downtime in Iraq, you might ask? We started a mountaineering club! It all began when our fearless orthopedic surgeon and climbing extraordinaire, MAJ Griff Biedron, discovered a uniquely shaped rock crag formation about two miles away from our living quarters. It's located in an infrequently trafficked corner of the base, just off the road. The rock face is about 90 feet wide and 25 feet tall, with steep overhanging sections. The crag is sandwiched between sloping hills, so it is easy to hike or scramble to the top if approaching from the side. On top of the ridge, MAJ Biedron discovered some massive boulders and imagined the mountaineering possibilities. He quickly requested that his family back home ship his modest collection of climbing gear including climbing shoes, ropes, carabiners, and harnesses. When the gear arrived, MAJ Biedron started training his teammates to climb cracks between T-walls to familiarize themselves with the equipment and belay techniques. 

Pc: Joseph Stuart

The Club was officially founded when MAJ Biedron and co-founders CPT Armstrong (veterinarian), SGT Johnson (medic), and 1LT McCarthy (ER nurse) returned to the crag for their first outing. SGT Stewart (preventive medicine tech) joined shortly after and became the Club's deputy. We anchored ratchet straps around boulders at the top of the ridge to serve as a static rope. Then, we harnessed up and sunk our full body weight into the rope to test the holding capacity of the boulders, and the static line was solid to a fault. Next, we tested the hand/footholds on the rock face and discovered that "rock" is a generous way to describe this formation—maybe siltstone is more accurate, like a ragged chunk of sedimentary silt and clay. Many seemingly solid holds broke right off in our hands. Climbers who wore T-shirts or shorts quickly regretted their attire as the jagged surface repeatedly abraded their exposed skin. Nonetheless, the climbers put up several routes on their first excursion and were motivated to keep climbing!  

During the early days of the AAAB Mountaineering Club, the crag was laden with trash and debris. We made quick haste of the mess by organizing a work party. In one day, our crew picked up 50 pounds of trash. Since then, we have made numerous improvements to the site. We carved out a trail leading from the base of the crag to the top of the ridge and installed some flat rocks as steps. We dug a fire pit and lined it artfully with rocks. We positioned larger boulders around the fire pit for resting and spectating. We installed several bolts in the rock to practice lead climbing. We scrupulously cleaned and dusted the rock face so climbers don't get peppered with dirt as they ascend. 

We have since dubbed the rock "Canine Crag" because the area is close to a dog den, and we often see Iraqi dogs passing by, traveling in packs of six. In addition to naming the crag, we have also named all eight of our routes. In the tradition of mountaineering, the person who is the first to "on-site," the route gets to name it. The names and naming members are as follows: 

PC: Joseph Stuart

Pelvic Binder - Karen McGrane 

Northeast Face - Griff Biedron 

Bridget Midget - Ryan Johnson 

Dog Leg - Gordon Armstrong 

Bird Sh## Traverse - Joseph Stewart 

Allagash White - Brandon Barnes 

GH - Griff Biedron  

Rabid Otter Ridge - Karen McGrane 

Our club quickly gained popularity through word of mouth and a flyer posted at the gym. Now, our club has garnered a base-wide following! Member participation ebbs and flows, but right now, we have 27 members in the active club and 23 members in our fan club. In addition to climbing on the weekends, we host weekly movie nights on Fridays, where we watch a climbing movie. So far, we have watched Free Solo, The Alpinist, Touching the Void, and The Dawn Wall, among others. We have many goals to keep growing and improving! 

We received the American Alpine Club Live Your Dream Grant. With this grant funding, we hope to purchase more equipment to develop sport lead climbing and install better top roping anchors. We hope to provide a safe and supportive environment for other soldiers to learn the art of climbing and route establishment.

 An Excerpt From a Subsequent Newsletter That Provides a Further Update on this Club's Climbing Activities: 

PC: Joseph Stuart

The AAAB Mountaineering Club has grown in terms of membership and scope of activities. Currently, there are 51 members in the active club and 28 members in the fan club. We advanced from climbing the siltstone rock formation we call "Canine Crag" to climbing a vertical sedimental wall with ice axes. This crazy idea was the brainchild of MAJ Biedron, an avid ice climber, who figured he could keep his ice-climbing skills sharp by training on the tall sediment walls in Iraq. 

Unfortunately, MAJ Biedron already departed Iraq by this time, but MAJ Armstrong and SGT Neiffer spearheaded the creation of an ice axe climbing route on a 50-foot-tall sediment wall.  

For members who had never climbed with ice axes before (most of us), picking up the skill was pretty simple compared to rock climbing. Actually, it was a lot more approachable because although it required some technical skills and endurance, it involved much less strength than negotiating the overhanging cliffs at the rock crag. 

The first few climbers that ascended the route used the adze of the axe (the butt end) to chip out some good foot holds, so it became easier and easier for all the subsequent climbers. Despite the sturdy foot holds and the wall's gentle downward slope, climbers still got to feel the wrist burn that quickly ensued from clinging onto the axe shafts, with the weight of their body suspended on its narrow picks. Climbers ascended slowly and methodically, tapping their picks into the sediment wall until they found secure cracks in the rock. When climbers finally reached the top, they dangled the ice axes from their harnesses and relaxed into the rope as the belayer lowered them 50 feet to the ground. It was an exhilarating experience, for sure! 

An Ultraneering Challenge in the Cordillera Blanca: A Story From the Live Your Dream Grant

Out for a glacier stroll the day before Alpamayo. PC: Nick Nasca

Adapted from the 2023 trip report by Nick Nasca

Mike in a meadow with the Husacaran Massif in the background on our first day in the range. PC: Nick Nasca

In the Summer of 2023, I went to the Cordillera Blanca with my friend and climbing Partner Mike Buyaskas. We were supported by the AAC's Live Your Dream Grant and the Loa Fund. We intended to complete an ultra mountaineering link-up. I spent countless hours researching the terrain via satellite imagery and corresponding internet photos, messaging with Peruvian guides via social media, and reading obscure trip reports I'd found from buried corners of the internet. We planned to pre-stock four camps and make a three-week push, summiting eight mountains along the way. In addition to the mental and logistical prep, Mike and I followed a training program for the six months before our expedition.  

On June 18, we landed in Lima with a ridiculous amount of luggage. One bus ride later, we were in Huaraz packing the bags that would be used for our restocked camps. We hung out around the Andean Kingdom and the Casa de Guias to learn about recent mountain conditions. We soon met Manuel Bernuy Ponte, a young Peruvian guide and owner of Peruvian Climbs. He was our most helpful connection in Huaraz. Manuel made himself and his experience in the range incredibly accessible, giving us an accurate picture of what to expect in the stretches where our route departed from the usual trodden paths of the Blanca. He also helped us secure a driver, safely stash our gear in multiple locations, and find fair prices on bulk supplies we needed.

Chopicalqui

We prepared nonstop for two days, then launched into the range with a plan of acclimatizing and stashing resupplies. We were scouting terrain between Huascaran and Chopicalqui five days later when we decided to adjust plans. A snow bridge had collapsed on Huascaran, killing a guide in the process. The prospect of equipping a ladder crossing was on the table, but there was no telling if or when that would occur. Furthermore, our on-the-ground appraisal found that linking Huascaran and Chopicalqui would require traversing extremely dangerous and highly technical terrain. The conditions that would have allowed for a more reasonable attempt simply no longer exist due to the rapid melt-out in this range. Here, we conceded our first route change, deciding to drop the first leg of our ultraneering challenge and to ration our food to stay longer and make an attempt on Chopicalqui's summit while we were at the moraine camp. 

Nick posing for a sunset picture at Chopicalqui base camp. PC: Mike Buyaskas

Knowing how slowly we moved in our barely acclimatized state, we started from moraine camp at 10 p.m. We plugged along the most extensive glacier we had ever walked on all night until we found ourselves 400 feet short of the summit by sunrise. We had fought the effects of altitude for the entire push when they finally caught up to us in the form of a costly miscommunication, which ended in our rappelling. We broke down our camp that afternoon and hitchhiked back to town by night.  

Quitaraju and Alpamayo

Nick revelling in the sunset and stoke underneath Alpamayos West face. PC: Mike Buyaskas

After a day and a half of rest, we packed enough supplies for a week, intending to climb Quitaraju and Alpamayo. The climb from Moraine camp to the Alpamayo Quitaraju col was strenuous. We climbed two pitches of low-grade alpine ice with heavy packs, which made for a more challenging day than expected. Before we could drop our packs at Col camp that afternoon, a giant ice mushroom cleaved, sending an avalanche careening directly down the runnel that contained our intended climb. These factors combined to make Alpamayo loom in my heart the same way its western face would loom over our tent for the next few days. Unfortunately, the next morning, Mike woke up altitude sick, and we decided to rest instead of attempting Quitaraju. The day after, we climbed Alpamayo. The climbing in the upper runnel was fantastic, and it felt like the whole world rotated on the axis of single moments between swings and kicks. I topped out on the summit ridge, and due to time constraints, we rappelled from there, despite the ridgeline traverse posing no more difficult climbing. 

Rest days

The next day, we got into town, and the day after that, we went for a trail run to celebrate Mike's birthday and take a break from the expedition. We reveled in our further acclimatization and returned to the base of Huandoy and the Pisco refugio, where friends were looking after the bag filled with our first stocked camp. Our ultraneering traverse received the final nail in the coffin when we observed our route up Huandoy's East Face nearly melted out, exposing bands of heinous chossy mixed climbing that otherwise would have been ice and snow. Our route would be too dry when we were poised for a summit attempt. We had yet to make a true summit but now believed ourselves to be acclimatized, so we set our sights on doing Tocllarajus W Face Direct (D+) in a faster and lighter style. 

Tocllarajus

Nick roping up for the hike back from Tocullaraju high camp, The line Nick and Mike attempted on Tocullaraju's W face climbs the icey path directly through the rocky pinch high on the climber's right side of the face.

We approached the base camp in one speedy push the night we returned from our trail run. The next day, we reached glacier camp directly underneath the face. We watched our route for a day and planned a detour from the original line to thread a safer needle between seracs high on the face. We heard the route had just yielded its first successful summit days before, after turning around many this season. We started at midnight this time, and after delicately climbing the giant icey flower petals of the upper bergschrund, we suffered excruciatingly cold and exposed belays up the sheer ice face. About two pitches from the summit ridgeline, as the sun rose, Mike began to feel too altitude sick to continue. Using zero threads, we were able to bail down the face relatively quickly. 

Expedition Changes

Mike had to leave Peru early due to a personal situation developing at home, which greatly limited our options for the remainder of the trip. We now had ten more days, and due to Mike's altitude issues, we eventually settled on a smaller, more technical route. We decided to try what we thought may be an unclimbed line on the south face of Vallunaraju's south summit. It involved 300 feet of 70-80 degree mixed climbing, which gave way to 3-400 more feet of easier mixed terrain. 

Vallunaraju

Nick finding the start of the potential new line we attempted to climb on Vallanaraju Sur. PC: Mike Buyasakas

We attempted the peak in true alpine style, starting from the gate for the national park at the mouth of the approach canyon and going gate to gate. I led an awesome M4- pitch at the start of the technicalities on beautifully striated granite. Still, we again bailed due to dangerous deep-faceted snow lurking underneath trapdoors of semi-firm crust on the upper face. Over the summer, we found that the south-facing slopes were the most likely to have that terrifying, completely unstable Peruvian snow.  

Huamashraju

We had time for one more climb before Mike's departure, and we chose to switch things up and try the classic Sins-Hanning route on Huamashraju. It is a five-pitch 5.9 on a splitter granite wall that finishes up a moderate snow ridge to the summit. We approached in the evening and bivied in a boulder cave at the very base of the route. The rapidly melting glaciers in the Blanca have formed a small pool at the base of the wall, allowing us to advance past basecamp and skip out on melting snow. The following day, we led in blocks, with Mike tackling the delicate slabby corner crux of the lower wall while I got the pleasure of pulling a fantastic roof and bumping our only #4 up the back of the offwidth squeeze pitch. We started simuling when we got up high, and once atop the ridge, we found nothing but smooth low-angle granite for another three rope lengths. These 3 pitches are apparently a new development even compared to just two years ago when it was reported that snow was reached at the beginning of the ridge. We transitioned into our crampons and soloed to the summit. Unfortunately due to a crampon malfunction Mike decided to stay behind and set up our first rappel. The final snow ridge included a 100 foot long steep airy traverse across calf high penitiente.  The Penitiente gave way to a final rope length of easy mixed climbing requiring a couple of easy blocky mantles on rock.  At the top I admired Nevado Huantsan for a moment before turning around to start the descent: a snowy down-climb proceeded by 4 rope stretching double rope 70 meter rappels. One very long hike later, we were back at the trailhead around 11 p.m., where the onset of giardia rocked me the minute I sat down on the side of the road.

Leaving the Andes…

Our driver Freddy, a cousin of our host in Caraz. Freddy enjoys Mountain Biking through the canyons of the blanca, and his company was much appreciated during the few down days we had in Caraz. PC: A Passing Tourist

Mike left the next morning, and after five days of being sick in bed, I finally recovered. For my last adventure in the Andes, I took a long, all-day trail run up a lesser-known Quebrada. I had a hunch of where I might find water ice based on locations where I'd seen some ephemeral smears over the past two months. Right where I was expecting, I found an ice line that was even better than I could have imagined. This line of nearly 1000 ft of steep ice was the best-looking ice climb I'd seen in Peru. There is a small vanishing serac above it, and judging by pictures I found of the same face in 2013, the overhead danger will continue to decrease in the coming years. This experience had me leaving Peru with lots of stoke in my heart for the many lifetimes' worth of adventures to be had here on our planet. Overall, I learned a great deal on this trip. I now understand how to look at prominent, snowy peaks from a distance and estimate where the most sensible weakness may be and what the terrain will entail. I also got my first taste of leading out into entirely unknown terrain and am hooked. 

On the upper slopes of Chopicalqui, shedding layers before continuing the descent. That evening we would make it back to the canyon floor and haggle/hitchhike our way back to Caraz. PC: Mike Buyaskas

In terms of our ultraneering challenge, the goal is still accomplishable. I don't know if I will ever attempt it again. It required massive amounts of logistical challenges as well as blue-collar prep work. I underestimated just how demanding the conditions might be between 8 different mountains. Although all of the routes we intended to climb would go at some point during the season we spent there, being able to climb all of them safely in the same three-week window would be a rare occurrence. If one were to fly off the summits of these peaks using a wing, the ultraneering traverse would become much more feasible and enjoyable. Hopefully, one day, I will get the time and resources to begin learning the art of flying, but I must return to the ordinary world via the booter. Thank you, American Alpine Club, for helping me have a once-in-a-lifetime summer in the Andes. 

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This could be YOU! Apply for the Live Your Dream grant before it closes, on April 30. Don’t wait, your dream expedition is just an application away!

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Characterizing the Effect of Elevation on Climate Records in Denali National Park, Alaska

A Research Grant Report

by: Inga Kindstedt, PhD Student in Earth and Climate Sciences (University of Maine); Liam Kirkpatrick, Dartmouth College '22, PhD Student in Earth and Space Science (University of Washington) 

*This report has been lightly edited for clarity

Our field camp on the summit plateau of Begguya (13,000 ft). Photo credit: Emma Erwin.

The American Alpine Club supports scientific endeavors in mountains and crags around the world through our Research Grants. Landscapes and ecosystems are a vital part of climbing. We believe in the importance of funding projects that enrich our understanding of these places, contribute vital knowledge to the management of climbing environments, and improve the health and sustainability of the climbing community.

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Definitions:

• Ice cores are cylinders of ice drilled from ice sheets or glaciers that are essentially frozen time capsules that scientists can use to reconstruct climate far into the past.
• Firn is snow at least one year old that has survived one melt season without becoming glacial ice.
• Isotopes are used to measure past climate properties

Ten miles south of North America's highest peak lies Begguya (Mt. Hunter), or "Denali's Child" in the Dena'ina language. To climbers, Begguya is known for its extremely committing and technical routes; only a handful of teams attempt it each season, compared to the hundreds on Denali. To our team of four researchers, Begguya is also known as the site where researchers recovered two surface-to-bedrock ice cores* in 2013.

The 2013 Begguya cores likely contain at least ten thousand years of the region's climate history, including records of snow accumulation, wildfire, and atmospheric pollution. Still, the interpretation of chemical signals in the ice can be challenging. This information is also supplemented by a firn* core recovered on the mountain's summit plateau in 2019.

Drilling and processing firn cores on the plateau. Photo credit: Emma Erwin.

In May of 2022, our team traveled to the Alaska Range with dual purposes: 1) to recover surface snow samples covering a span of elevations and 2) to recover another firn core from the Begguya summit plateau. We spent the first leg of our season on Denali's West Buttress, ascending to 11,200 ft. On the way, we collected surface snow samples for isotope* analysis. Our goal with these samples was to examine the relationship between elevation and the isotope signal recorded in the snowpack, thereby providing regional context for the isotope signal measured in the Begguya cores.

The climb also allowed us to acclimate before being transported via helicopter to the Begguya summit plateau (13,000 ft), where we spent the remaining two to three weeks of our season. Our objective on the plateau was to recover two 18m firn cores containing a climate record from the past several years, bringing the existing record to the present and allowing us to assess the impact of COVID-19 on atmospheric pollution recorded in the ice. 

Liam’s graduation day on the plateau. Photo credit: Emma Erwin.

During our time in the field, we successfully recovered both surface snow samples on the West Buttress and two firn cores on the plateau. We returned one core intact frozen to Dartmouth College for analysis and sampled the other in the field to transport back melted in vials. It was a remarkably successful field season—we even celebrated Liam's graduation from Dartmouth on the plateau! 

The Dartmouth Ice, Climate, and Environment Lab melted the intact core months after our return from the field. Some measurements (e.g., electrical conductivity, dust) were available in real-time as the ice melted. Both electrical conductivity and dust show distinct seasonal cycles, helping us develop a depth-age scale for the core. However, most of the meltwater was collected in vials, which have been sent to labs across the country to measure a wide range of chemical proxies.

We look forward to receiving back a variety of measurements, which will address topics ranging from pollution levels and sources to wildfire activity to plankton productivity in the North Pacific. 

Learn more about the impact of this research here. 

-Inga Kindstedt

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Our fieldwork was conducted on the native lands of the Dena'ina peoples under a Denali National Park permit. It would not have been possible without the support of Denali National Park Rangers and Talkeetna Air Taxi. In addition to the financial support provided by the American Alpine Club, funding for this project was provided by the Sturgis Exploration Fund, the University of Maine Graduate Student Government, Maine Space Grants, the Dartmouth Outing Club, the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, and NOLS. 

Queer Mountaineers, Kulshan Climb: A Story From the Catalyst Grant

PC: Sarina Pizzala

Queer Mountaineers is a Pacific Northwest based non-profit that aims to provide community, events, resources, and a safe space for outdoor enthusiasts of all backgrounds, genders, and sexualities. Founders and directors Sarina Pizzala and Jude Glenn had a dream to put on one of the first all-queer climbs of Kulshan (Mount Baker) in the North Cascades.

Kulshan is known as a mountaineering training ground with a relatively straightforward and beginner-friendly approach. They met Jack Bynum at Indigo Alpine Guides, who shared the same passion for creating safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+(Lesiban, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual) community. Together, the three of them planned a four-day course that would cover basic mountaineering skills with funding from The American Alpine Club Catalyst grant.

Join the Queer Mountaineers for a climb up beautiful Kulshan and read their story below!

Immaterial Climbing: A Story From the Catalyst Grant

Reported by Sierra McGivney

Photos by Ben Burch

Ben Burch climbing, featured in Immaterial Climbing. PC: Ashley Xu

In the backdrop of Northern Appalachia, Ben Burch (he/they) drove to nowhere. Like most high schoolers, driving was a source of relief and independence in the wake of an angsty breakup. Eventually, Burch needed to stop at a gas station, and the one they picked happened to be next to a climbing gym. Bored of driving aimlessly in their car, Burch wandered inside the climbing gym, opening the door to climbing and its community.  

Burch continued cultivating their passion for climbing in Philadelphia when he went to college. There, he worked with other queer climbers to create PHLash, a community-based, peer-led group that aims to bring together LGBTQIA+ individuals to climb and socialize. Burch found he loved leading and being a part of that community. It was a space that held community and understanding in a sport that traditionally has not always provided that. 

The mood shifted last year when West Virginia attempted to pass a law banning events based around queer affinity. West Virginia is only a stone's throw from Pennsylvania and hosts Homoclimbtastic, the world's largest queer-friendly climbing festival. Burch and his friends found themselves distressed about the status of Homoclimbtastic. This event, like PHLash, had enriched their climbing experience. It kept Burch climbing and invited others into the community. But now, they didn't know if it would ever exist again. Instinctively, Burch thought, I need to document this. 

"I just needed to have something recorded down so people know that this event was here and that we were here," said Burch. 

Their idea was to take photos from affinity groups and events they attended and post them on Instagram to exist somewhere in the ether. On a whim, Burch applied to the American Alpine Club's Catalyst Grant and was chosen. Their photos would no longer live just online but in a physical book: Immaterial Climbing: A Queer Climbing Photography Zine. 

Burch embarked on an East Coast climbing adventure, photographing and memorializing queer events, meetups, and climbers. 

Ultimately, the version of the bill that would outlaw Homoclimbtastic did not pass; however, the bill that did pass put restrictions on queer events. Minors are not allowed to be involved in any way in drag shows in West Virginia, and drag show organizers are responsible for checking the age of attendees. At the Homoclimbtastic Drag Show, participants had to wear a wristband and have their IDs checked. 

Despite the political backdrop, the high-energy drag show and dance party at Homoclimbtastic was one of the most fun nights Burch had in years. For some photographers, when they capture moments through the pictures they take, their memories bend to how they remember them. That night, Burch took a photo of someone dancing surrounded by a bunch of people, all wearing wristbands, and titled it Armbands Around Salamander because the person dancing in the center has a salamander tattoo on their shoulder. This ended up becoming one of Burch's favorite photos in the book. 

"They're really kind of lost in their moment of dance, and for me, even though it is kind of a reconstructed memory, I really think about that dance party as this moment of freedom and expression regardless of the circumstances that were trying to repress that," said Burch.

In the book, Burch focuses on his home base, too. 

One moment stuck out to Burch. A participant at PHLash wearing a Brittney Spears t-shirt said that climbing in Pennsylvania is like Spears' song …Baby One More Time. The rock climbing in the northeast is generally not friendly. Outside of Philadelphia, one of the main climbing areas, Hayock, is home to Solid Triassic Diabase, a type of rock that requires precision on unforgiving edges. Philadelphia feels like a city that embeds grit and determination in its residents, much like the climbing in the area. The lyric hit me baby one more time embodies the rough climbing and the determination of the climbers in the area. 

Photo by Ben Burch

Burch became interested in the idea that the city you're from—not just the culture–is reflected in the climber. In the book's PHLash section, he mixes photos from living in Philadelphia with climbing photos from the meetup. 

Next, Burch changed their aperture, widened their depth of field, and traveled down to Atlanta, Georgia, to the southeast bouldering scene. 

"[Bouldering in the southeast] is truly this perfect marriage of texture and shapes that force precise body positioning and control, mixed with the raw power to get through the fact that they're all just slopers disguising themselves as crimps," said Burch.

There, he participated in a meetup with the affinity group Unharnessed, an LGBT+ and allies climbing club. At this meetup, Burch was more of a wallflower; he had a couple of friends in the Atlanta area but was not a deep group member in the same way as Homoclimbtastic or PHLash. He listened in on the conversation between climbs and found it was not the idle talk that normally existed at the crag. People would talk about the climb or the person climbing, but then the conversation would shift to asking if anyone had extra food to put in the Atlanta community fridge or about the community resources near the gym. He was so struck by how focused the group was on building community through resources and knowledge. 

It reminded him of a quote by bell hooks, "I think that part of what a culture of domination has done is raise that romantic relationship up as the single most important bond, when of course the single most important bond is that of community."

In their portrait section, Burch created a shallow depth of field, softening the background and pulling queer climbers to the forefront. Andrew Izzo is a crusher. He has recently sent Bro-Zone (5.14b) in the Gunks and Proper Soul (5.14a) in the New River Gorge and is a consistent double-digit boulderer based in Philadelphia. He only came out recently and is featured in Immaterial Climbing: A Queer Climbing Photography Zine. Burch thought that taking and publishing these photos of him almost served as a coming-out party. Izzo felt like there was no better way for him to come out. The intersection of being part of the queer community and part of the climbing community showed all of him. "That was a special moment in taking these photos, serving as a space for someone to embrace all of themselves," said Burch.  

Everyone featured in the book's portrait section was chosen for their excellence in community work or climbing. Burch wanted to highlight these individuals who were balancing so many aspects of their identity and achieving so much within the climbing community.

The book revolves around the community Burch is most familiar with—that he could really speak to without fear of misrepresentation. 

"I think all climbers are in constant chase of flow, of that feeling when you are climbing, and it feels like your body is in perfect response to what it needs to do with the rock—this immovable object that you have rehearsed and understood. For me, the East Coast Climbing Scene feels like that state of flow.

“It feels like a place where you are understood, and people know who you are, even without thinking about the larger circumstances. It's this, like, perfect moment of escape in the larger challenge of—to complete the metaphor—trying to finish the climb," said Burch.

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More about Immaterial Climbing: A Queer Climbing Photography Zine and Ben Burch (he/they): 

PC: Ben Burch

Burch is a photographer and climber currently based out of Washington DC. Part of queer affinity groups since they began climbing, he wanted to use this zine as a love letter to the spaces that gave him so much. For more of their photography, please follow them @benjammin_burch on Instagram.

Immaterial Climbing is a photography zine which explores the world of queer climbing. Taken over the course of 2023, this book explores meet-ups, affinity groups, and climbers who are creating their own space of belonging. The project features the event Homoclimbtastic, affinity groups Unharnessed and Phlash, as well as portraits of queer climbers. It is a lovely coffee table book, a book to add to your gym's collection, or a reminder that we'll always be here. Grab your copy.

This project was made possible through the American Alpine Club and the bravery of the queer climbing community.

Journey to Mount Ritter: A Story From the Live Your Dream Grant

Provided by: Erik Hamilton

"Throw the damn axe!" I beckoned Alanna as the once infrangible glacial ice deteriorated into slush, quickly becoming a four-inch-deep, wet avalanche under our twelve-point crampons. As the seconds ticked by and dawn grew near, the conditions were growing perilously unfavorable. That morning on the southeast face of Mount Ritter, at 10,600 feet, it took every ounce of practice, patience, and know-how to retreat safely down the mountain."

After receiving the Live Your Dream Grant, Erik Hamilton and his partner Alanna set off on a journey traveling from the forested mountains of the East Coast to the majestic Sierra Nevada’s of California, intent on climbing Mount Ritter. Hamilton reflects on the meditative nature of being in the mountains and what he truly finds important while traveling through the Western United States.

Come along for a scenic ride of Mount Ritter, by reading the story below…

The Live Your Dream Grant is Powered By:

Grant Spotlight: The Cornerstone Grant

PC: Grey Satterfield

In this article, writer Holly You Tung Chen captures the energy and effort that goes into sustainably developing a new bouldering area. Thanks to the AAC’s Cornerstone Grant, the Carolinas Climber’s Coalition was able to build trails and develop a parking lot for the McKinney Gap and Weaver Knob boulders. Dive in to hear about the process of discovering the boulders, sending and first ascents, and marshaling resources to responsibly open access to climbers everywhere.

Measuring Success in the Mountains

PC: Lindsey Hamm

A Story from the Cutting Edge Grant and the McNeill-Nott Award

By: Sierra McGivney

In July of 2023, Lindsey Hamm, Rhiannon Williams, Stephanie Williams, and Thomas Bukowski traveled to the Charakusa Valley in the Karakoram to attempt routes on Naisa Brakk (~5,200m) and Farhod Brakk (~5,300m). To attempt these objectives, Hamm received the American Alpine Club's McNeill-Nott Award and $6,000 from the Cutting Edge Grant. This was Hamm’s second trip to the Charakusa Valley. In 2022, she, Dakota Walz, and Lane Mathis established a first ascent on a formation between Spansar Brakk and Naisa Brakk (which they named Ishaq Brakk): Pull Down the Sky (15 pitches, 5.11 R). In 2023, she defined success a little differently. 

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“I think there were a lot of lessons learned,” remarked Lindsey Hamm from a coffee shop in Moab. She's been enjoying climbing in the desert; today is her rest day. 

She had returned from the Charakusa Valley a couple of months ago without accomplishing the FAs she had dreamed up. This year, her crew went in with two objectives, and they split up in two teams to make their respective attempts. But ultimately, the weather was against them, and it rained 22 of the 30 days they were in the valley. 

PC: Lindsey Hamm

The team desperately wanted to climb, but the weather was a big factor. When they did attempt a line, they would climb for an hour, bivy, wait out the rain, and then climb. They were in this constant mode of stop-and-go that was not sustainable. 

Hamm and Bukowski attempted a route on the Northeast Spur on Farhod Brakk. They were shut down due to objective hazard and need for potable water. The two had only planned for two or three days and ended up being out for about four days. Then bad weather moved in.

“I think it was a bad season for rock climbing,” said Hamm.

This was another lesson learned: Big-wall climbing is better later in the season. She chose to go in July because she wanted to attempt both alpine and rock objectives. The environment is so different from one peak to the next that you could attempt both alpine and rock objectives during this time of the year. 

PC: Lindsey Hamm

“I'm really learning the place,” said Hamm. Hamm is an AMGA Cer­ti­fied Rock and Alpine Guide, and an Appren­tice Ski Guide, but she believes there is always more to learn, especially in alpinism. 

In addition, Hamm and another teammate dealt with altitude sickness. This was something new for Hamm. She had never experienced it to the extent she did on this trip. On one of the climbs, she was breathing heavily. She had to take a moment to feel everything and then “get her shit together.” According to Hamm, her group’s effort to help each other out when they were sick was a highlight of their climbing. 

Hamm’s team wasn't the only group stifled by the rain. Base camp, which sits at 14,321 feet, became a hub of climbers waiting for good weather windows. Groups played volleyball together, hosted movie nights, and played Settlers of Catan. Hamm was very social; she went to other campsites, hung out with different people, and got to know everyone. She read, worked out, and cooked with the porters. 

Hamm took it in stride—the trip wasn't a negative experience; things just weren't aligning. With each passing season, she is becoming more and more dialed. Last year, Hamm and Dakota Walz started a line, but they didn’t get to finish putting it up or cleaning it—they only completed one pitch. This year, Hamm got back on that first pitch with S. Williams, R. Williams, and Bukowski, and climbed five more pitches to link into the Southwest Ridge, first put up by Steve House, Marko Prezelj, and Vince Anderson in the early 2000. Their “sit-start” to the Southwest Ridge is called Stop Talking (six pitches, 5.12-). Their plan was to link into the Southwest Ridge and then break off into the west face and put up a new route, but once again, rain and thunder turned them around. Later, S. Williams and R. Williams attempted Stop Talking ground up, but were again foiled by rain.

On expeditions, climbing isn't the only focus for Hamm. She believes in having a positive impact on the local community. The team brought over school supplies for the Hushe Valley, which they distributed among three schools in the area. In addition, Hamm set up a GoFundMe that goes towards the Iqra Fund, which helps Pakistani women achieve their master’s degrees. Hamm and the team met some of the women who benefited from the fund. The team got to see their faces, hear their voices, and see how they lived. Facilitating and helping with these women’s education meant so much to Hamm. 

“I think one of the biggest highlights was meeting those women,” said Hamm.  

PC: Lindsey Hamm

She got to see many of the same porters and guides she worked with last year. They were as happy to see her as she was to see them. Despite the language barrier, the experience was like reuniting with old friends. She gave away a lot of her Rab equipment, including sleeping bags, to her porters and guides. It’s important for her to give back to the community that is helping her achieve her goals in the mountains. 

“It [provided] so much validation about how much of the connection I built with people,” said Hamm. 

Since returning to the United States, Hamm has been looking toward the future, analyzing what she can do better next time.

“I'm going back next summer,” said Hamm, with a big smile on her face. “I already told Jack Tackle.” Tackle chairs the AAC’s Cutting Edge Grant committee, which decides the fate of grant applications.

She will train hard and try her best to get funding without forcing anything. She has 170 lbs. of stashed gear waiting for her return. She's definitely going back. Right now, she is focusing on the next couple of months. Hamm is going through the IFMGA guide certification process—this season, she will take her final exam. She’s still processing this summer’s trip and reflecting on what she can do better next time. Most importantly, she’s living for today.

New Route on White Sapphire

Cerro Kishtwar (center), White sapphire (right). Photo by Vitaliy Musiyenko.

A Story from the 2023 Cutting Edge Grant

By: Sierra McGivney

On October 6, 2023, Christian Black, Vitaliy Musiyenko, and Hayden Wyatt summited White Sapphire, a 6,040m peak in India's Kishtwar Himalaya. The new route was named Brilliant Blue (850m, AI3, M7+). To attempt this mountain, the team received $8,000 from the American Alpine Club's Cutting Edge Grant, made possible by Black Diamond. They climbed the route free and in alpine style. This is the third ascent of White Sapphire.

Pack mules descending the valley on our hike to basecamp. Photo by Vitaliy Musiyenko.

AAC: In 2022, you received the Live Your Dream Grant to attempt a line in British Columbia on Mt. Bute. How did you transition from a Live Your Dream–style expedition to a Cutting Edge–style expedition in just a year?

Christian Black: The funny thing was we just needed an idea. Expeditions are challenging to plan. It all came from our friend giving us the idea—something to dream about, on the other side of the world as opposed to in America or Canada.

AAC: White Sapphire has seen two first ascents previously, via the west face in 2012 and the south face in 2016; how did you choose this peak and, more specifically, the line?

CB: I've always struggled to plan what to do in an area I haven't been to. There's just too much information out there. The story is that I met a guy who had spent his whole life going on expeditions. He had a whole list of unclimbed things he never got around to. He was trying to find people to do them. And he approached me and said: You're a big-wall climber with alpine climbing experience. You should check out this peak. I've got photos of it, and it's pretty cool looking. So, the original intent was to climb the big-wall rock face on White Sapphire, knowing that we had to be flexible to the conditions. We ended up climbing more of an alpine route because we went later in the season, and it had snowed and gotten cold. But to answer your question, it was a gift from someone who has done a lot of cutting-edge expeditions and is out of the game now. He had said: I'm aged out and happy to pass on the torch of ideas if you're interested in going to the Himalayas. The Himalayas are such a large place; you'll never know what to do unless you go once, so you just need a reason to go.

Hayden starting a simul-block up midway up the steep snow and ice of the lower section of the route. Photo by Christian Black.

AAC: Who gave you the idea?

CB: It was Pete Takeda [the editor of Accidents in North American Climbing.] I'm like a bad historical knowledge climber, so I didn't know much about him until later. But, I mean, obviously, he's legendary.

AAC: What type of climbing did you encounter on White Sapphire?

CB: We first encountered 2,000 vertical feet of steep snow and ice with moderate mixed climbing toward the top, anywhere from 60 to 80 degrees snow, and AI3 climbing. Then, it was more like M4 and M5 climbing to the top of the snow part. The upper headwall that goes up the direct north face of White Sapphire Peak ended up being a little over 200 vertical meters of climbing and seven or eight pitches of fairly sustained, steep dry tooling. And so there were about two pitches of M7+, a few of M6 and M5, and some alpine ice and snow mixed in.

AAC: How was the quality of the ice and the rock?

CB: It was really good. The rock up there is not granite; it's a gneiss. I studied geology, so I noticed, but you can't tell from far away. It forms cracks differently. It climbed quite a bit differently, but the rock was very solid. Except for one pitch, all the rock was pretty good.

AAC: Can you walk me through from when you left advanced base camp on October 5 until you returned on October 7?

CB: Yeah, so I might back up a bit because we had two attempts on the peak, the first one thwarted by a broken stove when we were 100 meters from the summit. It adds to the lore of the story. The moral of the story is the fuel mix in India is a little different, so it didn't work well with our stove and caused it to overheat. We learned a hard lesson about not taking a backup stove. That was our first attempt, but I'll fast-forward to the successful second attempt.

Starting to rappel from the notch after first attempt. Photo by Vitaliy Musiyenko.

We came down on that first attempt and had a few days at base camp. The weather looked like it would be good again, so we packed our food and some stoves and hiked up there. We waited about six days of weather for a good window to appear at our high camp. We left around three or four in the morning on October 5 from our advanced base camp at 15,800 feet. Then, we had a two- or three-hour glacier approach to the base. After that, we started simul-climbing the lower, less steep section of steep ice and snow. We did about a 1,300-foot simul-climb pitch. Vitaliy led that, and then Hayden led the second half of the ice and mixed climbing to the notch that day. We camped there that evening in our little corner bivy.

The following day, October 6, we woke up and took our altitude med concoction that gave us superpowers. What we had initially climbed as four pitches of steep mixed climbing the first time—we aided a lot of that and left in some of the crucial pins—this time, I suggested we climb it free. We ended up free climbing all of that terrain and didn't aid climbing anything. We did it in two 50-meter pitches. And that got us to our high point. From there, we continued to the summit. There was no terrain harder than those first two pitches. The headwall pops out directly on the small summit. We ended up being on the summit around 7:45 p.m. It was dark by that time of year, so we spent about an hour up there, melted some water, took photos, and enjoyed our time. Then we rappelled in the dark back to our bivy. The next day, we had a slow morning and rappelled back down to our base camp. It was an uneventful third day, which was nice.

AAC: What do you think was your biggest emotional hurdle on the trip?

CB: Oh, man, there were a few of them. A big one for all three of us was definitely the stove breaking on our first attempt. At that point, we were only ten days into our 26-day expedition and were 100 meters from the top. We thought it would be unbelievable if we did this first try. That would leave us with two weeks to climb whatever else we wanted. Accepting the reality that it was unsafe to go up without water was hard for us. We had less than a liter of water to share between three people, which would have been our ration for the whole day. Especially knowing now what the upper terrain is like, I'm super glad we didn’t go that first time. The climbing was still hard and would have taken a long time. Being dehydrated up there is not a safe thing that any of us would be willing to do. So that was a hard truth to accept.

Excited to be at notch bivy before sunset! Photo by Christian Black.

Luckily, the saving grace is that Hayden, Vitaliy, and I are all close friends. Vitaliy and Hayden didn't know each other before the trip, but I'm close friends with both of them. We all have very similar approaches to safety-related decisions. We were all on the same page about flexing the bail muscle. Other than that, we each had our moments of need, which the other two were naturally able to step in and take care of, which was nice.

AAC: How did you end up picking your team?

CB: Hayden is one of my best friends. We worked on the Yosemite SAR team together for a few years. I met him there, and we climbed El Capitan several times together. We just got along energy-wise. Over the past couple of years, we've gotten to go on multiple, more extensive trips together. One of those trips was to Mt. Bute on the Live Your Dream grant. This summer, we went to the Cirque of the Unclimbables for a month. If you're going to be in gnarly places, you want to be with good people. I only climb with my friends in those scenarios—honestly, in most scenarios.

Vitaliy, I met through messaging online. When I worked in Kings Canyon as a park ranger, he had put up a bunch of routes in the Sierra that I kept seeing his name on and was interested in doing. I messaged him to gather information. We ended up linking up on a climb the following year. We had an epic time. We did The Nose in a day as our first climb, and he took a 100-foot whipper. It was really scary, but we both reacted in a way that felt right. It built a lot of trust between us. Even though we haven't always lived in the same place, we'd casually link up for outings. We know each other as solid partners who know their stuff and are easy to get along with.

Photo by Christian Black.

AAC: That's great it worked out so well. It sounds like you had a good team.

CB: Yeah, that was the best part, for sure. You can't compare any experience to doing this with your two best friends. It's just so fun!

AAC: Do you have any fun anecdotes or funny moments from the trip?

CB: The funniest moments were just like how horrible we felt at various times. That is how we each process hard experiences in the moment. You can't help but laugh at it. And that's why we like each other as climbing partners, because none of us take it seriously.

A funny moment for me was when we made it to the bivy notch on the first attempt. It was pretty late, and I had fallen asleep multiple times on the last two pitches. We got up there, and I was boiling the water. It was dark, I was in every puffy layer I owned, and I was ten times more tired than I'd ever been in my whole life at 19,000 feet. I'm holding the Jetboil upright, and my purpose in life has never been more apparent. I hold the Jetboil. If the Jetboil isn't held, the water spills, and we don't drink water. I had an internal moment of reflection, like, wow, life has never been simpler than it is right now. There are only so many times when your life boils down to doing an incredibly simple task. For 45 minutes, that was my whole life.

The first mixed pitch out of the notch bivy. I'm [Christian Black] contemplating how to navigate the unprotected slab to gain the cracks. Photo by Vitaliy Musiyenko.

AAC: Is there anything else you want to add about the trip?

CB: The only thing I have to add is I feel so appreciative of a good team and good friends to be out there with and make hard decisions with. That was our biggest takeaway. We had a two-part goal going into the trip: A) we obviously wanted to come back alive, and B) become better friends. We achieved those goals through the roof. We have a lot of trust in each other. It's a cool medium to experience friendship in.

*Christian Black is writing a feature article for the 2024 American Alpine Journal about this expedition.

The Cutting Edge Grant is Powered By:

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Four New Routes on Baffin Island, Canada

Noah Besen Climbing. Photo by James Klemmensen.

A Story from the 2023 Cutting Edge Grant

By: Sierra McGivney

Noah Besen didn't expect to find the Atlantic Ocean frozen in the middle of July outside of Qikiqtarjuaq, a hamlet on Broughton Island, in the Nunavut territory of Canada, off the coast of Baffin Island.

Billy Arnaquq, a local outfitter and guide, remarked, that there was a lot more sea ice than normal for this time of year. The plan had been to kayak to Coronation Glacier, about 75 or 80 kilometers from town, and then hike up and into the glacier. From there, they would attempt to ascend granite walls accessible from the glacier. Besen and the rest of the team, James Klemmensen, Shira Biner, and Amanda Bischke, wanted the expedition to be as human-powered as possible, but there were apparent limitations. They couldn't unfreeze the ocean…And they had about 1,000 pounds of gear. 

About 20 kilometers south of town, the ice was beginning to break up, so the trip was still very much within reach. Arnaquq snowmobiled them out with a big load of their gear to the southern limit, where they stashed their equipment on a little island. They wanted to start the expedition with a human-powered effort, even if it meant changing their original plan. He snowmobiled them back, and they began their journey, walking across the sun-pocketed ice with day packs back to their stashed gear, seals and icebergs lining the way. 

“That was the first big crux,” said Besen. 

Noah Besen in the front and Shira Biner in the back of the boat. Photos by James Klemmensen.

Once on the island, they decided to wait out the ice breakup, thinking it would only take a couple of days. A week passed, so they took matters into their own hands and planned a “staged gear shuttle.” The 24-hour sun poured over them as they dragged their gear to the ice's edge. Dry suits on and boats packed, they individually heaved their boats until the ice cracked and they plopped in. Four days later, they saw the Coronation Glacier flowing into the ocean.

Ten kilometers up the Coronation Glacier, they made their basecamp, where the glacier splits into two forks, surrounded by huge rock cliffs. They would stay on the glacier for 20 days. Now, the climbing would begin.

The team spent days on the glacier with binoculars in hand, scouting out different possible rock climbs and sometimes hiking for hours to get a better angle on certain features. Klemmensen and Besen found a route near their base camp and “just went for it.” 

“We brought enough stuff that we're like—if it doesn't make sense, we have what we need to … just epic back down,” said Besen. 

Twenty hours of climbing on multicolored alpine granite later, the two put up a new route, Salami Exchange Commission (800m, V 5.10). They slept on the top of the wall and spent the next day returning to base camp. 

Photo by James Klemmensen.

Blank chossy walls near camp stymied Bischke and Biner, so they decided to venture to another section of the glacier. Four thousand-foot walls loomed over them as they searched for a choss-free wall to climb. A lower feature snagged their attention. Psyched, they put up a new route, The Big G (350m, III 5.8 ).  

Storm clouds gathered, and rain descended on the team, staying for a week. The days drizzled by. Once the week was up, the rain cleared, and the walls dried. Besen and Klemmensen started another epic.

From far away, Escape from Azkaban looked heinous; blocky rocks and blank faces seemed to greet the two, but once up closer, perfect splitter cracks formed the route. The route was 650 meters and had the most challenging climbing on the trip, with the grade of IV 5.10+.

“It proved to be the best alpine rock I've ever climbed in my whole life,” said Besen. 

The journey back was the inspiration for the name. After topping out, they descended an easier-looking route involving some scrambling. They popped out on a side glacier that connected to the main Coronation Glacier that their base camp was on. Glaciers are constantly moving, creating, and ever-changing. This side glacier had carved out a canyon with raging river rapids, between 60 and 70 feet deep, completely impassable.

At three in the morning, the two ate the last food, mulling over their unfortunate circumstances. The sun hovered on the horizon—all hours normally considered night appearing like sunset—allowing endless daylight hours for their epics. They journeyed around the river and onto a boulder field with water running underneath it. 

“The name came from us feeling trapped and needing to escape,” said Besen. 

Photo by James Klemmensen.

Bischke, Biner and Besen attempted another route, but unfortunately, had to bail. The rock had become very loose, so they decided to put in a couple of bolts and abandon the project. After returning, both groups finished the trip together on one last attempt.

Cerulean water pooled on the sides of the glacier, forming deep, bottomless basins in between the bedrock and the glacier. Besen, Bischke, Biner, and Klemmensen stared down at the water, the rock on the other side just out of reach, but they started to get to work. Besen had brought his dry suit on the glacier in case they might have to ford a raging river. They constructed an anchor using ice screws and lowered Besen into the water. 

“I didn't have to swim that much. I got into about my chest, and I was able to lean, reach, and scurry up,” said Besen. 

From there, they built a Tyrolean traverse and shuttled across and soon found themselves at the base of a cliff. The crux of their climb brought them to a steep hand crack. They topped out farther from the ocean than their previous climbs, seeing the Penny Ice Cap stretch across the expanse. They called the climb Raise the Drawbridge (400m, III 5.10-).

They rappeled down in the dark; it was the first time Besen had experienced true night the whole trip. The season was changing. Their journey was coming to an end but was not over yet.

Photo by James Klemmensen.

By the time they reached the rock that bordered the glacier, the sun began to rise. They still had one more crux: the glacial basins. Crossing back onto the glacier, the ice was tilted upwards, forcing Besen and the team to climb out of the water. Besen had only brought Crocs with him besides his mountaineering boots. There was only one real solution. Besen donned his Crocs, fitting his crampons to them, and shimmied up the other side. He set up a zipline for the others to come down. 

They strolled into basecamp, the glacial ice gleaming, and watched an unbelievable sunrise.

“It was a beautiful moment, too, because we all had this awesome success on this route together,” said Besen. 

The way back was quiet save for laborious gear shuttles and near encounters with polar bears. Big polar bear footprints were left in the sand at their camp near Qikiqtarjuaq. Luckily, Arnaquq had spotted the polar bear 300 meters from their camp and warned them to go uphill. Nothing was destroyed or taken, just a clear path the bear had taken through camp. Once they made it to Qikiqtarjuaq, the group camped and waited out their delayed flights. 

From right to left Noah Besen, Shira Biner, Amanda Bischke. Photo by James Klemmensen.

“For a lot of climbers, us included, Baffin Island has taken on this sort of mythical sense,” said Besen. 

Recent films featuring climbing adventures on Baffin Island, like Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll’s Asgard Jamming and Dodo‘s Delight, inspired the group. After Googling, they stumbled upon a painting by the late Corey Trepanier of the Coronation Glacier. They studied his reference photo, noting the large granite walls surrounding the mass of ice. From there, the idea of this trip started to take form. 

There is still so much potential for exploration on Baffin Island. “This area is really special. I think that more teams or even stronger teams—because we're not pro athletes by any stretch—should go and check it out because we didn't even do the biggest, craziest things at all. There's a lot more to be done,” said Besen.

If you have a cutting edge idea, apply to the Cutting Edge grant today! 

New Route on The Northeast Face of Pik Alpinist, Kyrgyzstan

Photo by Jared Vilhauer.

A Story from the 2023 Cutting Edge Grant Recipients

By: Sierra McGivney

Dane Steadman (25), Jared Vilhauer (42), and Seth Timpano (41) traveled to the Western Kokshaal-Too in the Tien Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan in September 2023, powered by the American Alpine Club's Cutting Edge Grant to attempt three possible objectives. 

Vilhauer and Timpano had known each other since 2010, when they met in Antarctica. The two had climbed quite a bit together: two trips to Alaska, two trips to India, and a lot of ice climbing over the years. The trip was originally just the two of them, but they decided to bring on Steadman to have three people on the trip.

"He's young and keen, and Jared and I are in our 40s, and it's always good to have some younger energy there just to keep it going," said Timpano. 

Each brought something to the team: Timpano has a lot of experience at altitude and climbing steep ice, Jared is an ultrarunner, and Dane is the strongest mixed climber. Each climber had their own strengths, making a well-rounded team. As summer faded into falling leaves and cooler temperatures, they were soon headed for Kyrgyzstan. 

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In Seth's Words:

Photo by Jared Vilhauer.

We chose this timeframe based on two factors: 

1) The temperatures are significantly cooler than mid-summer and, therefore, better for ice climbing objectives.

2) The weather seems more stable with less afternoon convective build-up and precipitation. 

However, when winter does come early to the Tien Shan, it can make travel into and out of the region challenging, and most people said we should be out of there before October.  

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The East Face of Pik Alpinist was a pipe dream, the least likely of the three objectives they had set their sights on. The photos used for their trip planning showed that the ice up the face of Pik Alpinist was not continuous. The trip as a whole was nebulous, an idea dependent on exploration. They didn't know what they would face until they were in Kyrgyzstan. 

After a week of travel— flying halfway across the world, then driving over bumpy roads deep in the Tien Shen Mountains—the three stood looking at Pik Alpinist. They got excited. Unexpectedly, the ice was in. The other two objectives were explored but were not viable for this season. They would attempt to climb Pik Alpinist. 

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In Seth's Words:

After ten days of acclimating and window shopping for different objectives, we set our sights on an elegant and sustained ice line on the Northeast Face of Pik Alpinist (5482m). Given the steep ice climbing on the route, we determined our best strategy was to attempt the route without carrying bivy gear. We left our bivy at the base of the wall at 3 a.m. and crossed the bergschrund (the terminal crevasse), or 'schrund, shortly after that. Using 70m ropes, we made 16 pitches, many of which required 10+m of simul-climbing through difficulties up to AI4 on the steeper pitches and 60+m of simul-climbing on the lower angle sections. 

Dane in the red puffy. Photo by Seth Timpano.

Dane in the Yellow; Olan's musk (our mascot) is the name of the marco polo sheep horns. Photo by Seth Timpano

Jared climbing below. Photo by Dane Steadman.

Dane in the yellow jacket, Seth in the blue jacket. Photo by Jared Vilhauer.

Photo by Seth Timpano.

Photo by Jared Vilhauer.

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"[It] was some of the best ice I've ever climbed in the big mountains," said Timpano.

Seth in the blue with white pack. Photo by Dane Steadman.

This was due to the freeze-melt cycle that mimics waterfall ice. The ice was similar to what a climber would find in Montana, Wyoming, or Colorado, sticky and good enough quality for V-threads. However, the rock–compact limestone—proved hard to protect. The crack systems in the wall were brittle and shattered, so they mainly relied on ice anchors. 

As the team ascended, pulling past the mixed crux, the sun began to descend, illuminating the Taklamakan Desert, one of the harshest deserts in the world. All of the days put in planning, scouting, trekking, and traveling for two days of climbing—for this—were coming to a head. They knew they were in for a long night, but the summit was within reach. 

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In Seth's Words:

Dane with the red backpack. Photo by Jared Vilhauer.

We gained the summit ridge at 8:15 p.m. and stood on the summit in the dark at 8:30 p.m. on September 24. We simul-climbed down the upper part of the route and then made 18 rappels using our 70m ropes on mostly V-thread anchors. The limestone rock was particularly compact and made rock anchors challenging, both on the way up and down. However, we did leave a few stoppers and piton anchors when the ice was too thin or nonexistent for safe ice anchors. We crossed the 'schrund 26 hours later, making for a 27-hour round trip time on this objective.

Alpine climbing is inherently tricky to grade due to the number of factors that can affect the perceived difficulties (acclimation, health, weather, etc.). Nonetheless, we are calling our new route Trophy Hunt (AI5+, M5, 1100m 'schrund to summit height).

Generally, we found good weather and cold enough temperatures for most objectives, except for those facing due south. We snuck out just before a winter storm covered the roads in snow on September 30.

Finally, we would like to thank the American Alpine Club for supporting this expedition through a Cutting Edge Grant.

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"I've received a handful of these over the years, and it's an honor to get it, but it also makes it possible for us, non-sponsored climbers, to do a rad trip," said Timpano.

This grant is made possible by Black Diamond. We encourage all climbers who are pursuing cutting edge ascents to apply for the Cutting Edge Grant, which is open from now until December 31, 2023.

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