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K2 1938: The First American Karakoram Expedition

Conrad Anker

Montana Hill to Crag - Climbing Ice with Public Land Advocates

The American Alpine Club hosted their 5th Hill to Crag, and the FIRST ice climbing event this past weekend! We were incredibly fortunate to partner with the Bozeman Ice Festival and spotlight not only the event itself but the beauty and grandeur of Hyalite Canyon.

Hill to Crag is a unique opportunity to bring together legislators, staffers, outdoor recreation influencers, and veterans to discuss and share information in an exciting way - Climbing! Participants had the opportunity to get on the ice with some of America’s foremost Alpinists, as well as Service members who have a passion for the outdoors.

Among other things, we discussed Veteran issues, the impact of outdoor recreation on the economy, and access to public lands to support a healthy economy and Veteran therapy. We were joined by Rachel Vandervoort, Director of the Montana Office of Outdoor Recreation and spoke at length about the amazing climbing resources in Southwest Montana, and elsewhere in the state.

We were also joined by Zoe Bommarito and Darla Cotton from the National Forest Foundation, who experienced their first time climbing ever! Nearly 34% of climbing in the United States lies on Forest Service lands - that’s more than any other agency public lands. It was great to connect some of the stewards of these lands with climbing for the first time and talk about the importance of National Forests everywhere to the climbing community.

A big thanks to Joe Josephson, Conrad Anker and Graham Zimmerman for showing our crew around the canyon, putting up ropes, and teaching climbing movement. These folks have contributed in so many ways to the climbing community and we were grateful to have them in attendance. Also, thank you to all of the service members who attended. We hope to continue sharing climbing and public lands with active and veteran military communities across the country. A final and important thanks to our sponsors for the event, Black Diamond, Scarpa, Cilogear, and Patagonia!

Photo Credit: Joshua Murdock and Taylor Luneau

2016 D.C. Lobby Day

In February 2016, a group of board members, partners and AAC member Conrad Anker, climbed Capitol Hill to talk with policymakers and advocate for the places we climb. We found that there is a high regard among many of our elected officials and their staffs—as well as from agency representatives—about the AAC and its members. We focused on the following issues:

  • Land Water Conservation Fund: A bipartisan effort to protect natural treasures and outdoor recreation. For more than 50 years, LWCF has protected  5 million acres of land and supported more than 41,000 state and local park projects. We want to ensure LWCF is permanently reauthorized and fully funded in the long-term.

  • Centennial Act: An effort to address critical maintenance and improvement projects in our national parks as the National Park Service prepares to celebrate its centennial next year. We want to see a bipartisan bill that builds on recent funding increases and ensures our climbing landscapes remain healthy and supported for the next 100 years.

  • Recreation Economic Contribution Act (Rec Act): A bill that would require the government to officially measure the impact of outdoor recreation on the U.S. economy. We believe that the Rec Act will raise the policy profile of the outdoor community and emphasize the importance of protecting public lands.

  • Bears Ears: An effort to permanently protect valuable climbing areas in southeastern Utah (includes Indian Creek, Valley of the Gods and Lockhart Basin to name a few). Whether protection is done through a national monument designation or through legislation, we are working to ensure that rock climbing is acknowledged as an acceptable activity.

  • Director’s Order 41: A National Park Service order that states that climbing is a legitimate activity in Wilderness, and that fixed anchors are necessary for climbing. We are working to ensure this precedent will also be adopted by other agencies including the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

“Meeting with staffers, leaders and decision makers on the hill makes a difference. If we don’t, who will? I’ve seen time and again where the simple act of spending time talking about what you are passionate about makes a difference.”
— Paul Gagner, former AAC Board Member