Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grant

An Alaskan Dream: A Story from the Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grant

“The remoteness, the lack of people, and the complexities all work to create an atmosphere of real adventure...The 60-degree terrain had my heart racing and coated with the perfect snow; it made for a moment I could only dream of. I stopped to hammer in a picket 30 meters up and then again at the end of the rope, where I took a seat and belayed. Glory!”

Tanner Josey's dream of an Alaskan adventure turned into a reality in May of 2021. Josey attempted to climb Mount Foraker, the third highest peak in the United States.

Dive into the details and epic photos of his trip report and be transported into the Alaska Range. Face avalanche danger, navigate crevasses, and ascend steep snow slopes alongside Josey.

Mount Foraker, AK

The Fine Line of Insanity: Stories from the Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grant

Mountaineering, like most disciplines of climbing, turns out to be a lot more about failing than success. The Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grant offers opportunities for young mountaineers to cut their teeth on the extraordinary and bold limits of alpinism. But before the cutting edge can be tested, mountaineers have to come to terms with the immense amount of respect, strategy, grit, suffering, and failure that is central to this discipline. In 2013, Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grant (MFFG) winners Zach Clanton, adventuring in the Alaska Range, and Amy Ness and Myles Moser, adventuring in Patagonia, each respectively took a long look at the “fine line of insanity” that is the flip side of the coin of adventure alpinism. On one side of the coin is the glory of exquisite rock, ice, and a clear summit. The other side is mortal danger. The cutting edge requires riding this fine line of insanity, and doing so with eyes wide open.

Explore the exhibit below to experience the fine line alongside Zach, Amy, and Myles.

The Fine Line of Insanity

*This story is best told with the help of vibrant and dynamic photography. Dive into this Spark Exhibit to see these photos come alive alongside this story.