An Update on the AAC's Craggin' Classic Series and Hueco Rock Rodeo

PC: Hunter Johnson, @shinyshinysilver

The American Alpine Club will no longer host the Craggin’ Classic Series or the Hueco Rock Rodeo. We’re thrilled with the impact these events have had over the years and the ways they connected the climbing community. At the same time, we’re inspired by our new Strategic Plan and are confident that we are equipped to deliver even greater impact for climbers with this plan guiding the AAC’s activities for the next three years.

PC: Hunter Johnson

The AAC ran the Craggin’ Classic Series for 13 years, and we're proud of the positive impact those events had on climbers and communities over that time. Nina Williams, AAC Board President, first connected with the Club through the Craggin’ series, and she is not alone. It is certainly true the Craggin’s were a party with a heart, and they truly epitomized bringing the community together over a passion for climbing. Across the 13 years of this series, we estimate that we've served over 30,000 attendees and nearly 8,000 clinic participants. Those same participants have given back to the local crags that host these events with well over 10,000 stewardship hours.

Additionally, the AAC hosted the Hueco Rock Rodeo event for over a decade, and we're proud to have played a role in responsibly introducing thousands of climbers from around the globe to this amazing landscape and world-class bouldering destination. The Rodeo focused on encouraging climbers to challenge themselves through friendly competition while fostering a strong sense of community. It was also an important vehicle to introduce many climbers to the ethics of respecting a fragile landscape and the Indigenous communities that share this land. We’re excited to continue to be a conduit for responsible climbing in Hueco through our iconic lodging facility, the Hueco Rock Ranch. 

We look forward to continuing to serve our members, engage local communities, and celebrate climbing through both new and existing initiatives. Please visit this page to learn more about the recently adopted AAC Strategic Plan.

Climbers of the Craggin' Classic: Ozarks

Ozarks Craggin’ Photos by Joe Kopek

We’re interviewing a climber from each event in the Craggin’ Classic Series—Rumney, New River Gorge, Devil’s Lake, Smith Rock, Shelf Road, Moab, Bishop, Ozarks—to take a deep look into the breadth of climbers that come to Craggins, and how they make the most of each unique event.

Read on to hear from climbers just like you, and their take on the things that matter to climbers.

---

Meet Ozarks Climber: Andrew Gamma

Scroll to read Andrew‘s Story…

---

---

Climbers of the Craggin' Classics: Bishop

Bishop Craggin’ Photos by Sierra Farquhar

We’re interviewing a climber from each event in the Craggin’ Classic Series—Rumney, New River Gorge, Devil’s Lake, Smith Rock, Shelf Road, Moab, and Bishop—to take a deep look into the breadth of climbers that come to Craggins, and how they make the most of each unique event.

Read on to hear from climbers just like you, and their take on the things that matter to climbers.

---

Meet Bishop Featured Climber: Andrew Kang!

Scroll to read Andrew’s story…

---

---

2023 Craggin’ Classic Supported By

Climbers of the Craggin' Classic: Moab

PC: Matthew Cunningham @clamsjog

We’re interviewing a climber from each event in the Craggin’ Classic Series—Rumney, New River Gorge, Devil’s Lake, Smith Rock, Shelf Road, Moab, and Bishop—to take a deep look into the breadth of climbers that come to Craggins, and how they make the most of each unique event.

Read on to hear from climbers just like you, and their take on the things that matter to climbers.

---

Meet Moab Craggin’ Featured Climber: Katrina Le!

Scroll to read her story…

---

The 2023 Craggin’ Classic Series is Supported By

Climbers of the Craggin' Classics: Shelf Road

PC: Rob Murillo @murillo.fotographia

We’re interviewing a climber from each event in the Craggin’ Classic Series—Rumney, New River Gorge, Devil’s Lake, Smith Rock, Shelf Road, Moab, and Bishop—to take a deep look into the breadth of climbers that come to Craggins, and how they make the most of each unique event.

Read on to hear from climbers just like you, and their take on the things that matter to climbers.

---

Meet Featured Climber Stephen Lyter!

Scroll to hear from Stephen about climbing education and safety…

---

2023 Craggin’ Classic Series Supported By

Climbers of the Craggin' Classics: Smith Rock

PC: Kenny Gamblin

We’re interviewing a climber from each event in the Craggin’ Classic Series—Rumney, New River Gorge, Devil’s Lake, Smith Rock, Shelf Road, Moab, and Bishop—to take a deep look into the breadth of climbers that come to Craggins, and how they make the most of each unique event.

Read on to hear from climbers just like you, and their take on the things that matter to climbers.

---

Smith Featured Climber: Living Legend Alan Watts

Scroll to read Alan Watt’s take on the AAC’s advocacy event at Smith Rock…

---

2023 Craggin’ Classic Series Supported By

Smith Rock Craggin’ Classic—Update

Dear AAC community,

This weekend has brought a mix of emotions as we process the significance of the threat leading into the Smith Rock Craggin’ Classic. We are grateful for the outpouring of support from the incredible community of climbers who gathered for the event, showing resilience and support for each other in the face of such adversity.

As you may know by now, on Wednesday, October 18, the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) informed the American Alpine Club of a significant threat that may have impacted the health and safety of climbers at Smith Rock State Park, including attendees to the Smith Rock Craggin' Classic event scheduled for October 20-22.

We partnered closely with law enforcement agencies and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, leveraging their guidance and expertise. Throughout this process, the safety of our staff, partners, volunteers, and participants was our number one priority. On Thursday, October 19, the AAC was informed that the individual was arrested and taken into custody by DCSO. Officers expressed confidence that he was acting alone and that there was no longer a threat and partnered with us to increase security out of an abundance of caution for the weekend events to continue.

We can confirm that the individual is a former American Alpine Club member. Still, we have no indication of a motive for the planned attack.

We are beyond grateful for the efforts of the law enforcement officers and the brave individuals who took the threat seriously and notified the Portland Police Bureau. Without either of these actions, the situation could have ended tragically. 

Additionally, we sincerely appreciate the incredible community of nearly 400 climbers who rallied together for a weekend of clinics, education, and festivities at the Smith Rock Craggin' Classic event despite the challenge that knowledge of the intended attack presented.

The American Alpine Club takes the health and safety of all attendees seriously, and we will continue to actively partner with local law enforcement agencies to evaluate security at Craggin Classic events. We'll also provide our staff and volunteers resources to support them as they process the events of the last week.

As a member of the AAC, your dedication to the Club strengthens our community, and we are genuinely grateful for your continued support.

Should there be any questions or inquiries regarding the ongoing investigation, please direct them to the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office.

Sincerely,

Ben Gabriel

Executive Director, American Alpine Club

Smith Rock Craggin' Classic—Public Statement

On October 18, the American Alpine Club was made aware of a potential threat to the health and safety of attendees to the Smith Rock Craggin Classic to be held October 20-22, 2023, at Smith Rock State Park.

We worked closely with law enforcement agencies and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to monitor the situation and evaluate our ability to host the event, with the safety and well-being of our staff, volunteers, partners, and participants as our top priority. The associated individual was arrested and is now in custody, and authorities are confident there is no continued threat.

We are grateful to the law enforcement agencies for their efforts and support during this incident.

Please direct any questions and inquiries regarding the ongoing investigation to the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office.

Climber's of the Craggin' Classic: Devil's Lake

We’re interviewing a climber from each event in the Craggin’ Classic Series—Rumney, New River Gorge, Devil’s Lake, Smith Rock, Shelf Road, Moab, and Bishop—to take a deep look into the breadth of climbers that come to Craggins, and how they make the most of each unique event.

Read on to hear from climbers just like you, and their take on the things that matter to climbers.

---

Chad and Cooper Donahue.

Featured Climbers: Chad and Cooper Donahue

Devil's Lake Photos by: Laurel Myers @laureljmyers

AAC: How did you get into rock climbing?

Chad Donahue: Growing up I had a couple friends who were into rock climbing and so went a handful of times throughout high school. But my son Cooper and I really started getting into it last year, with Adaptive Adventures. My family found Adaptive Adventures, and hooked me up with Kat and Jesse and some of the other incredible people running it. My first trip with them I did some wakeboarding and I’ve tried a bunch of stuff from there!

There’s one rock climbing gym in Madison, and on every last Sunday of the month, Adaptive Adventures hosts an adaptive night for free. We’ve been going to these for a year. Any time I have Cooper, we end up going climbing if we can or doing something else active. They also have a couple times a year where they take climbers outside, and the clinic at the Devil’s Lake Craggin’ was one of them!

AAC: What does climbing mean to you?

Chad Donahue climbing indoors.

CD: Rock climbing gives me an opportunity to share anticipation—like getting excited to go to the movies as a kid. It's sometimes not even about the rock climbing, it's just the whole process. There is no right or wrong way to do the moves either, so it's really cool how different people can do the same thing in different ways. Like Moe, who was also at the adaptive clinic, is in a wheelchair, and he was just campusing this overhung route that is so hard for me! And climbing is just such a cool way to share those moments of connection and love of the outdoors.

I had a traumatic brain injury in 2014, and if that hadn’t happened, I probably wouldn’t have gotten back into rock climbing. Because of the TBI, I have a visual impairment and I’m legally blind, but I can see kind of well for someone who is legally blind. It’s kind of like being permanently without your glasses, everything is really blurry. A lot of fine motor skills are hard, so tying the rope for climbing is really hard. Spacial awareness can be pretty challenging now too…

AAC: Who are you besides a climber?

Chad Donahue rapelling.

CD: Well I’m a dad, a big music lover, our family has always been huge ice cream people, and I love being really active. I used to play a lot of sports—like basketball, tennis, lacrosse, and football.

Cooper is in 8th grade, I can’t believe he’s going to be in high school next year! He’s a really kind and thoughtful kid. He loves video games and anime, and he’s really incredible at art. And he likes climbing outdoors 5x more than indoor climbing. When we were wrapping up for the day on Sunday at the Craggin’ he didn’t want to come down.

We do a lot of active things together. Like we’re working towards a triathlon with Dare 2 Tri. Cooper likes biking but is definitely not a runner. When he was spacing out at the crag during a break from climbing, someone asked him what he was thinking about—and he said snowboarding haha. So we’re always getting up to something.

AAC: Tell us about the adaptive clinic at the Craggin’ event!

CD: We ended up climbing inside on Saturday due to weather, but it was still really fun! On Sunday, it was perfect weather out, and Cooper and I got to climb outside for the second time ever. The rock isn’t very grippy at Devil’s Lake, the handholds are weird. Climbing outside is in some ways so different than inside, it's kind of like starting over! But it was really fun to figure out a way up.

With every new volunteer that I climb with at Adaptive Adventures, I feel like I’m learning something new because they all have a different perspective. Like that day Jason was teaching me how to turn my hip in to extend my reach.

AAC: What’s climbing like for you?

Cooper Donahue helping Chad Donahue with his harness.

CD: My vision is barely a problem indoors because the colors of the holds stand out to me, but outdoor climbing really levels the playing field. It’s a lot more challenging outside, especially to find the footholds. One technique I’ve been working on will help me spot footholds better, by dragging my foot up the wall as I move it, so I can feel the feet without seeing them.

AAC: What’s it like climbing with your son Cooper? Do you worry any extra about safety because you’re also worried about him?

CD: The nice part about working with Adaptive Adventures is that I know that Cooper is in good hands and we’re showing him the ropes in a safe way. I just appreciate the joy on his face, and how excited he is to go rock climbing. He’s always ready to jump in though. His first time out rock climbing he got to rappel!

AAC: Do you have any dreams or goals around climbing?

CD: I just want to continue to have fun…and maybe go on a rock climbing trip to Colorado sometime!

Adaptive Clinic participant, Moe Ewing shows off his powerful pulls.

AAC: In your opinion, how can the climbing community better support adaptive climbers?

CD: Just treat ‘em like any other rock climber and offer help. They might not need it, but you never know unless you ask. With rock climbing becoming more popular, I think that it's really important for everyone to know that groups like Adaptive Adventures or Dare 2 Tri exist. Just because you have differences or challenges doesn’t mean shit. The mind and body is limitless! It’s all mindset—like in rock climbing when you think you can’t go anymore, but you pause and realize you can go a little further, and you push through and do more than you ever thought you could.

Adaptive Clinic participant, John Heim poses with his dog Scout.

Meet Chad and Cooper Donahue: Devil’s Lake Craggin’ Climbers

Scroll to read their story…

---

2023 Craggin’ Classic Series Supported By

Climbers of the Craggin' Classics: NRG

PC: Tanner Henson

We’re interviewing a climber from each event in the Craggin’ Classic Series—Rumney, New River Gorge, Devil’s Lake, Smith Rock, Shelf Road, Moab, and Bishop—to take a deep look into the breadth of climbers that come to Craggins, and how they make the most of each unique event.

Read on to hear from climbers just like you, and their take on the things that matter to climbers.

Meet Leanne Christine Reilly!

A NRG Craggin’ Climber

Scroll to read her story…

---

2023 Craggin’ Classic Series Supported By

Climbers of the Craggin' Classics: Rumney

Photo Credit: Leah Gussoff

We’re interviewing a climber from each event in the Craggin’ Classic Series—Rumney, New River Gorge, Devil’s Lake, Smith Rock, Shelf Road, Moab, and Bishop—to take a deep look into the breadth of climbers that come to Craggins, and how they make the most of each unique event.

Read on to hear from climbers just like you, and their take on the things that matter to climbers.

Meet Caper Loomis!

A Rumney Craggin’ Climber

PC: Leah Gussoff

Scroll to read her story…

---

2023 Craggin’ Classic Series Supported By

Climb United

Building community at the AAC’s Craggin Classic

United We Climb

Every Fall, the American Alpine Club hosts the Craggin Classic, a climbing festival at world-class climbing destinations in the United States. Participants dance wearing glow sticks at night and climb all day. This year the Craggin Classic held Climb United meetups at all locations, creating a safe and welcoming community for everyone.

Climb United works to uplift traditionally marginalized groups in the climbing community. Through intentional programs like the Route Naming Task Force, the Climb United Affiliate Support Network, and the Pull Focus Grant, Climb United is working towards change within the climbing community to welcome all groups. Climb United is all about gaining new perspectives from others to create a more accessible, loving, climbing community.

Take a look at the Moab, New River Gorge, Smith Rock, and Shelf Road CU meetups!

2018 at the AAC: a Recap

Thank you all for being part of a wonderful year at the Club! We couldn’t do it without you.

---