Print these out and give them to your partner-in-climb for a chance at sparking a belaytionship. xo, your AAC
Our Content Manager Emma doodled these with love, and with some creative input from the comments of last year’s post. Pun credits: 1st to @jendet2, 2nd to @drewpellitieri, 3rd to @loscambones, 4th to @_lord_jord, 5th to @ambeckman0. We <3 all of you.
In case you missed them, last year’s Valenclimbs are below.
April 19 - 25, 2020
Red Rock, NV
Too much time in the gym this winter? Craving sunny sandstone? Excited to meet new climbing partners?
Join the AAC’s Education Director, Ron Funderburke, AAC's trips organizer Carol Kotchek, and your fellow Club members in the legendary climbing area Red Rock, Nevada. If you've been looking for the best time to go, the right partners, or the motivation to put together the logistics here’s your opportunity!
We have rented a huge, deluxe, AirBNB, all you need to do is get yourself to Vegas with your personal gear and your psych! Please note the AirBNB is bunk-style so be prepared to share rooms.
Basecamp Includes:
Six nights lodging within 25-minute drive to Red Rock ParkBreakfast and lunch to-go options.
Daily single pitch climbing with Ron Funderburke, AMGA Certified Rock, Alpine Guide.
Opportunity to learn new skills and debate best practices.
Discount on local guide services with Jackson Hole Mountain Guides
In past years this event has sold out. Not all AAC members wanting to attend have been included due to limited space. This year we will have a short application to fill out. There are no pre-qualifications to attend this event. Our goal with the application process is to create a diverse group of climbers.
To receive an application please contact Carol Kotchek at [email protected]
We will be letting applicants know by Feb 20 of their acceptance into the event.
Let's Climb, Red Rock Trip Cost: $600
A $200 non-refundable deposit is required at the time of application acceptance. The remainder is due on or before Feb 29, 2020.
In 1925 Albert H. MacCarthy had just led a successful first ascent of Mount Logan in Canada, composed of climbers from Canada, Britain and the United States. MacCarthy, an American and member of the American Alpine Club, wrote a number of reports and summaries of the expedition, including this list of Mountain “Dont’s.”
"Yosemite Valley (Ahwahnee in the language of the Ahwahnechee, who originally inhabited the area) has long been a bastion for American climbing, from the first ascent of the NW Face of Half Dome (Tissaack) to the first free solo of El Cap (Tutocanula). The AAC has been there nearly every step of the complicated (and sometimes dark) way—from guiding the establishment of the park to fighting for climbing as a legitimate use of wilderness in National Parks and advocating for the preservation and 2018 improvements to Camp 4, the iconic climbers' campground."
We've worked with NativesOutdoors to put together this resource for all things Yosemite climbing and history. Check it out below.
Any Mountain.
At the start of this year I was planning on setting out on my biggest climbing trip to date, Patagonia. Just the thought of walking into that range gave me chills and excitement at the same time. It was hard to know at times if I was really ready to take on any objective in one of the worlds great ranges, but I knew that I had to at least try. Training, gearing up, and plotting out logistics with my partner that lived on the other side of the country was as far as I made it on this objective. Two weeks before I was due to fly down to South American and find my way to El Chalten, I found myself at having to tackle a mountain that was certainly never on my “to-do” list.
Cancer.
I was having stomach discomfort for about two weeks and on the night of January 28th it woke me from my sleep. I got out of bed, doubled over in pain and thought to myself, what did I eat yesterday!? The pain subsided and as I tried to fall back to sleep my mind raced with possibilities of what that stomach pain could be. Being a nurse provided me to too many potential scenarios for me to let this go and I decided to go to my hospital to get it checked out.
As I drove to the hospital I just wanted to be laughed out of the ER, maybe someone would give me a talk about wasting resources, I just wanted this stomach pain to go away and find out I was being crazy. The Cat scan of my stomach only played into my greatest fear, soft tissue masses and grossly enlarged lymph nodes. I was told that night I would need a biopsy in the morning and that this was likely lymphoma. Flooded with emotions all I could manage to do was cry.
The fear was unreal. It was as if I was 8 pitches up, totally pumped, and just realizing I had not placed a single piece of gear. So I took a few really deep breaths and decided this was my new objective, this was a mountain I must climb and I found myself going to a familiar mind set. As I started to equate battling cancer to climbing I found the fear starting to fade.
Having the right mindset is everything when you are going for a big scary objective. Staying positive, moving forward, and keeping that goal in front of you is everything. Climbing taught me how to keep my head together, it taught me how to breath when I’m scared, it taught me that I can do the things that once seemed impossible. I would be relying on all the deeper lessons climbing had taught me and this gave me strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I related my 6 chemo treatment to 6 pitches and I knew that reaching the top was not an option, it was mandatory.
I was nervous to share my news on social media, but in doing so I found the collective strength in the climbing community and suddenly I felt like I had thousands of spotters. Everyone was reaching out to give love and support and with that it helped me to continue keeping a positive attitude, to continue up this new mountain. I had never felt such love from a community.
Fast forward to today. I’m finished with my chemo and I have my next PET scan coming up in early July. The results of this scan could spell remission. It’s unclear to me how I would have dealt with having cancer if I was not a climber, all I know is that climbing has given my life a greater purpose and taught me lessons that have helped me in my darkest hours.
I’m a climber and I can tackle any mountain.
In September of 2014, at the age of 31, I was deep in preparations for my first week-long, outdoor rock climbing adventure in Moab, Utah. I had no idea what to expect but I was nervous. I hadn’t worked out in over a year and was weaker than I had ever been in my life. I was still pretty bald from chemo and my skin was still burned from radiation. Heading out on this adventure just two weeks after completing a year’s worth of treatment for Stage 2 breast cancer felt a little like an act of insanity but it turned out to be a life saver.
A friend with cancer had told me about First Descents, a non-profit that provides week long adventure trips for young adults with cancer, and I had immediately signed up. Out on the rock the first day I was nervous. But I was pleasantly surprised that first day that after a year of being the weakest person in the room I seemed to have some semblance of strength. It was on the second day though that I met my greatest foe of the week.
I had jumped at the chance to take on what seemed like a pretty difficult climb but about 10 feet short of the top I could feel my strength fading fast. It had been an excruciating climb and my muscles were completely spent. I had been clawing, grasping, and dragging myself up, fighting for every inch. I took a moment and thought about all of the pain I’d endured, against my will, over the last year. If I could survive that pain, I could survive this pain, I thought to myself, and I finally pushed myself far enough to reach the last hold, a nice big jug, and hoisted myself up.
That became a defining moment for me. Since then my cancer has returned and it is now Stage 4. The damage cancer has done to my body makes it impossible for me to climb. But that one day out on the rocks illustrated for me exactly how strong and resilient I can be. Every time I feel overwhelmed or like I want to throw in the towel I think about that day and remember that if I can just push myself far enough I will eventually make it to the top.
A couple years after I got out of the Army, I moved to Boulder, Colorado. Part of my life was going great, but part of my life was pretty miserable. I reached out to a friend who challenged me to climb the First Flatiron with him. I did and I was hooked. Climbing saved my life, quite literally. It pulled me out of my head and got me moving. It helped me find a sense of purpose, a community, a group of friends.
I have always sought after the higher perspective. As a child, I found my adventure high up on the roof of the house or in the tops of the trees and eventually on the walls of my local climbing gym. As a young adult, those proclivities towards exposure translated to a love of big walls. Places like Yosemite and Zion replaced the man made structures of my youth. And now, as a 31 year old, I've taken what I've learned over the years of climbing and translated it into my nursing work in countries like Ukraine, Iraq, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan and Libya. Without the grit, confidence and ability to suffer that climbing taught me, I doubt I would be able to handle the struggles that come with trying to help establish pediatric heart surgery programs in the developing world. 90 hour work week? Eh, at least my body doesn't hurt as much as the time I did the El Cap/Half Dome link up in 23:47. No water/electricity/internet in Libya today? Sounds like every other big wall I voluntarily attempt! Protein hungry because I can’t find good vegetarian food?? Still easier than that time we were in the remote Chilean rain forest putting up a 4,000 foot first ascent for 6 weeks and ran short on our food supply! How about that time I dropped the weeks old collection container of respiratory fluid (think: snot, spit, vomit) and it splashed all over me? Ok, that one was more disgusting than any other climbing related experience and I’ve been accidentally peed on, multiple times. When a patient is very sick and on the cusp of death, I harness the strength to keep a clear head that years of climbing above RURPS and ledges has taught me.
Thanks to climbing, I am a better nurse, and because of that, I hope to be a better human.
These days I get hired to speak to audiences—at corporations, conferences, trade shows, universities, rotary clubs, and small businesses—all over the world about climbing. As I say in those talks, what I do does not save lives in Africa or get kids off the street in America’s ghettos, yet I’m passionate about it. And apparently sharing that passion has a ripple effect. Many people, months or years after hearing my story, have approached me to say thanks. One person told me he found the courage to accept a job in China, which led to incredible life experiences and adventures. Another was inspired to begin working with Doctors With- out Borders, another to leave an unsatisfying job to travel the world, and still another to commit to a trip to trek Nepal in between corporate jobs.
Why on earth would anyone climb the Nose one hundred times (or 101 times, as of the date of this publishing)? I’m not sure that’s the right question. How about this one: Why on earth would anyone work a job they don’t care about, day after day, for 261 days a year, every year? Or this one: Why would someone who has a choice settle for “good enough” instead of going after great?
One of my favorite books is Jim Collins’s Good to Great. It talks about how corporations let good stand in the way of great. Jim just so happens to be a climber. When he set out to climb the Nose, he went for NIAD, and he climbed the whole thing—no jugging. That’s not just good, that’s great. Or as my coauthor Jayme says, “follow the heat,” which is another way of saying find your passion, your “Precious.”
Mine is El Capitan and specifically, the Nose route up El Capitan. For all of my adult life, I’ve been either directly or indirectly putting my energy into climbing that route, to the absolute best of my ability. It was a risky investment, riskier than say, building a career at Parker Seals, but the return has been huge. In a way, I can tie everything and everyone I love most in life back to the Nose. And the dividends are still coming. My next challenge is to climb El Capitan 200 times. I’m at 161, and yes, most of those have been the Nose. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Hans Florine is a climbing legend in his own time. The 52-year-old holds the speed record, along with Alex Honnold, on the Nose route of El Capitan, a route Hans has climbed 101 times — more than anyone else ever has, and most likely ever will. In this excerpt from his new book, On the Nose: A Lifelong Obsession with Yosemite's Most Iconic Climb, Hans talks about how his devotion to climbing the Nose has enabled him to live a life according to his values.
Lately, I’ve been trying to remind myself why I climb. It has always been about spending time in the mountains with good friends, a brief respite from the routines of life. I have had many passions in my life, and climbing was the first one that taught me to fully enjoy the moment and appreciate the beauty of life, no matter where it takes me.
The more I got into it, the more I realized that the mountains were where my heart is. I got into the AMGA track and set my sights on guiding in a much bigger way. Climbing, skiing, and pushing my own limits in the mountains is fun, but it’s no longer my main priority. Now, I am blessed with the opportunity to share that experience with other people who might not otherwise have the chance to do it. I have the best job in the world. It’s hard, it’s challenging, it’s dangerous, and it’s generally not well paying. Yet, I can’t think of anything else I would rather be doing with my time.
After my first summer guiding in the Tetons, I have learned quite a few things about why I do what I do. As a guide, I get to spend more time in the mountains than I ever have. Yet at the same time, I get to go climbing with my friends far less than I ever used to. My climbing goals, the very things that used to be more important than just about anything, are just a hobby. When your passion becomes your career, it can be a challenge to remember why you fell in love with it in the first place. As a guide, I have had the opportunity to meet and climb with so many amazing people. I have silently fell in love with every person I have climbed with. Not in a romantic way, but in a family-like way. Every client I get to work with is like a brother or sister to me. I care deeply about each and every person that I get to work with in the mountains. I climb for them now. The most fantastic thing is that once I dropped the pressure to pursue my own personal climbing goals, I gained the freedom to simply have fun. That is why I climb and what I strive to give to all of my climbing partners now, whether I am working, or climbing with friends… It’s all about having fun out there!
Honestly, rock climbing is one of the hardest things I've ever chosen to do. I don't remember why I decided to do it, but I remember how hard it was to even see it as "fun". For many months I would cry like a baby, I'd scream and throw temper tantrums, I'd be so stressed out and completely out of my comfort zone, cut up and peppered with bruises. Unable to center myself, progress felt non-existent. I had little patience for myself. People hated climbing with me; I was not a fun climbing partner. But there was something there, in the tiny bursts of courage that I'd manage to squeeze out, even when I thought I was all out of juice. I'd always feel good after completing something really difficult, all the terrible feelings and screaming that happened during the climb would seem so silly once it was over.
Eventually, things stop being so scary, and difficult tasks were fun challenges to overcome. You find newer, scarier, and more difficult things and your whole personality changes. Slowly, but you notice over time. This is me after my first ever crack climb outside. I was very patient with myself, I worked very hard. I am proud of my progress, not just in my climbing ability but also in the changes I've seen in my personality. I still have those frustrating moments, I feel the same fears and frustrations as when I first started climbing, this is good. It means I'm still pushing myself even now after all these months. I'll admit, I'm not that great at climbing in general, but I'm super stoked to continue growing a stronger mind and body!
Learn more about Latino Outdoors here.
“So do you still climb?” the physician said during a recent physical exam as she grimaced at the scars on my knees and documented the limited range of motion I had when bending them. Her expression made me hesitate, but I saw no point in lying.
“Yes. The accident was my mistake. I know what I did wrong. It wasn’t gear failure…”
“Mmm hmmm…so you didn’t learn your lesson, did you?”
She was referring to a 60-foot fall I had taken two years earlier after accidentally rappelling off the end of my rope during a climbing descent.
I instantly felt discouraged. I had heard a variety of responses similar to hers and, while I understood they frequently came from a place of concern, the implicit “you-don’t-value-your-life” tone was hard to swallow. However, the comments had also given me pause to grapple with the question for myself: Why did I feel so compelled to continue climbing after enduring an event that could easily have killed me?
The answer was and still is simple: the passion and dedication required to tackle climbing challenges represent the values I aim to live out each day. As a perfectionist who struggles to balance both career and personal aspirations, climbing helps me take a step back from life demands when I most need it.
I use the same strategies to calmly analyze next steps for a tricky climbing move as I do when handling stresses in day-to-day life. I am a more open-minded individual because my climbing friends have pushed me to expand my comfort zone while offering inspiration and reassurance. Few things trigger a stronger sense of gratitude for the numerous privileges I experience each day than overlooking a gorgeous mountain I recognize not all people have access to. Most importantly, climbing reminds me I can’t effectively serve others in my job if I am sacrificing my own happiness. It is a sport that humbles me on a daily basis to find beauty in each situation and have faith in myself to tackle unknowns with patience and confidence.
The same skills that allow me to look at a blank face and truly believe I can find innovative ways to conquer it are the ones that helped me push through my accident recovery and return to work after 4 months when the doctors said my recovery would take a year. It was as much of a strugglefest as a difficult route often is, but the success tasted as magnificent as completing a project I had repeatedly failed on.
Climbing is a constant reminder to value my life and each obstacle in it that has shaped me. The sense of trust and focus it has instilled within me have allowed me to make some of the most courageous, spontaneous, and meaningful decisions of my life. So, yes, of course I still climb. I couldn’t imagine my life without it.
You can read more about Ryan's accident and recovery here.
I used to climb just because I could.
I grew up extremely active, climbing 14,000 foot mountains on weekends and traveling with my dad around the US and the world climbing peaks. Not only did we have able bodies that carried us to the summit, but we always had unbelievable weather. (Crazy, right?!) No matter where we were: Colorado 14ers, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, Kilimanjaro, Gannett Peak, Granite Peak… We were never denied a summit day. I got so used to summiting as the norm and not the exception that I began to lose sight of the purpose of the journey.
Mobility is a concept that affects every human, every day. I was first introduced to adaptive sports as a volunteer ski instructor at Alyeska through the Challenge Alaska program. What started as a weekend hobby to get a free ski pass, turned into my biggest passion: helping people access the mountains.
From there I quit my engineering job to work with people with disabilities full time through two non-profits. I was introduced to ROMP (The Range of Motion Project) while traveling in Ecuador in 2013 and immediately connected to their mission. ROMP helps amputees gain access to prosthetics in Central and South America. They believe that you are not disabled by a missing limb or broken body but by a missing prosthetic and broken healthcare system. ROMP empowers people by giving them mobility. There may be no greater gift.
My outlook on the mountains and summit days has changed over the last few years. I did a training hike with ROMP’s elite climbing team on Mt. Bierstadt last summer in Colorado. Stream crossings where I did not hesitate, rock scrambles I ran up like a kid again, and snowfields that I tiptoed across without issue were obstacles that the ROMP athletes struggled to overcome, I was floored by their determination.
Not everyone made it to the summit that day- a concept I had yet to understand. The ascent wasn’t about the summit, though- it was about trying. What I once viewed as so easily accessible and available, I now saw through a different lens. The mountains I grew up loving are still so inaccessible to so many people. My biggest passions are skiing and climbing, two things where, I believe, people with disabilities are not limited by their disability but by access to proper technologies.
I climb now to demonstrate what is possible when people are given the tools they need to fully realize their human potential.
I climb for those still waiting to receive the help they need to get back on their feet.
I climb now for those who cannot.
Learn more about the Range of Motion Project.
Photo by: Josh Vertucci
I didn’t grow up in the outdoors. Sure I went on the occasional car camping trip on the coast of Rhode Island, but I was what you may like to call a ‘city girl.’ The outdoors first made its impact on me during study abroad in South Africa. For some odd reason, I joined an outdoors group and during my six months there I hiked to a hut in the middle of nowhere, slept under the stars and saw the moon rise and set from my sleeping bag. I was totally out of place, yet felt this strong sense of belonging and acceptance.
Over the years, as I dove more into the outdoors, I’ve felt myself becoming stronger, braver, bolder and more audacious through my outdoor experiences. And not only in regards to outdoor pursuits, but in my everyday life. The outdoors has had a profound, life-changing impact on my life. It has inspired me so much, that I knew I wanted to introduce others to the outdoors because I knew the power it would have on them.
Photo by: Josh Vertucci
In March 2017, the Big City Mountaineers - Summit for Someone program gave me the opportunity to pursue an outdoor dream of my own while helping to raise money to introduce under-resource youth to the outdoors via transformational week-long backpacking trips. I joined three other women, all from different backgrounds, to climb Pico De Orizaba in Mexico. Climbing to 18,491 ft was a totally new experience for me and a majority of the group.
During the climb I thought a lot about one quote I read from a Big City Mountaineers youth, “Each step, each breath, it is the most memorable time of my life.” As I look back at the climb, the summit wasn’t the most memorable moment. It was suffering through our acclimatization days, listening to other climbers’ stories in the hut and the first sight of the sun on summit day - it was the journey. But, what was most memorable, hasn’t even happened yet. It’s the excitement for the Big City Mountaineers youth that will head out on their own summit days this summer, the memories they’ll create and the impact it will have on them. I’ve been lucky enough to grow through my experiences outdoors and I can only hope these kids get the opportunity to do that too.
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If you’ve been impacted by the outdoors, I urge you to pay it forward and get involved with Big City Mountaineers. You can volunteer on a week-long expedition during the summer with the youth or you can help to raise money for the programs by heading out on your own climb through the Summit for Someone program.
Inspired by the Women’s Climb? We’ll be releasing a short film soon, but you can check out photos and memories from the climb on Facebook and donate here.
Chris Noble rappels off a climb in Thailand.
I just published a book titled Why We Climb, so you’d think it would be easy for me to wax poetic about the reasons I climb— but ha-ha, fat chance. Climbing is far too rich and sprawling, too subtle and complex, to be boiled down to easy answers. That’s one of the many reasons I love it. Climbing refuses to be boxed in, limited, or defined. In fact, climbing is not one thing at all, it’s a broad spectrum of related activities, each of which imbues life with passion, meaning and purpose—qualities sadly lacking in modern society. If only for a moment, climbing allows us to be the hero or our own personal story, giving us the opportunity to be better than we believed possible. Climbing transports us to the most wild and beautiful regions of the earth introducing us to life-long I would do anything for you best friends along the way. Perhaps most importantly, in a world ever more synthetic and virtual, climbing reconnects us with the primal living earth, gifting us with true wealth—adventures that can be told and re-lived long after we’re gone. As Chris Sharma said, “I can’t think of any reasons not to climb.”
Check out Chris's book here.
I played ice hockey for twenty-five years. When I was in my mid-sixties, I decided it was time to find a new adventure. My daughter Robyn, an accomplished climber, suggested that I try climbing with her. After one visit to the gym, I was hooked. I've been climbing several times a week ever since. When I first took up the sport, I suffered back pain from severe spinal stenosis and at times could hardly walk. Within a few weeks of starting to climb, the pain went away and has never returned. I have no way of knowing if climbing had anything to do with this "remission", but I know that a strong core contributes to back health, so I consider rock climbing to be my magic pill.
I have always believed that physical activity is the key to the fountain of youth, so exercise has been a part of my daily life for years. I routinely walk twenty miles a week, and in the summer I swim and frequently hike long distances in the Hudson Valley. In the winter, aside from shoveling snow, my husband and I ski. All these activities contribute to my physical and emotional well-being.
Climbing has been a wonderful addition to my exercise repertoire for many reasons. It is obviously a great workout for building core strength and maintaining balance and muscle mass— all things which are crucially important for older people. Equally importantly, it’s just plain fun! I have met an amazingly diverse group of people who come together because of their love of the sport. Some days we feel we could climb Everest and other days we can't get off the ground but we keep coming back for more because the challenge is always there and the taste of success is so sweet. Recently I climbed (well, worked my way up) a 5.12, which has been a goal of mine for a long time. It felt so good!
I also competed in my first bouldering competition several weeks ago. I'm not much of a boulderer, but I had a blast! I came in fourth in the Women's masters division, which had a minimum age of 40. I'm 71. I often ask myself: Why are my climbing friends 20 or more years younger than I am? Where are my contemporary friends who could do a 13-mile day hike? I know there probably are a lot of older people out there who are like me, but perhaps not as many as there should be. It's a shame because it's just not that hard to get up and move. The rewards are immeasurable.
We're proud to launch 24-Hours into the Black, a fundraiser to help kickstart AAC's Climber Grief Fund: a program to support grieving climbers in need. At the end of this month, climbers Madaleine Sorkin and Mary Harlan will attempt to link 3 major routes in the Black Canyon in 24 hours. Madaleine says the effort is "for the nourishment we can find in the void, in the Black, and for the fierce and gentle persistence to trust life enough to risk returning time and time again.”
Learn more about the journey here, follow Madaleine and Mary and donate on their fundraiser page, and look for updates on AAC’s Facebook.
We're hopeful that Madaleine and Mary's incredible efforts to come on these climbs will kick off a positive beginning for a fund dedicated to helping climbers through dark times.
"I feel like one of my most important roles as a mother is sharing the experience of mountains with my daughter." -Ammi Midstokke
We're sending hugs to all the moms out there who have encouraged and supported us, whether that's meant putting up topropes, helping us identify birds at the crag, looking at our photos when we return, or— in the case of AAC Member Ammi Midstokke and her daughter Beverly— taking us on wild and formative adventures.
Read about Ammi and "B"s climbs and explorations here, and keep an eye out for more from this dynamic duo in the 2018 Guidebook to Membership.
Thank you to all the strong mothers in this community. We're grateful for you!
October 12, 2017, Golden, CO—The American Alpine Club is proud to celebrate the 40-year-anniversary of Americans on the summit of K2 at the 2018 Annual Benefit Dinner. The event will feature Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner as the keynote speaker and will be presented by LOWA and Global Rescue. The Dinner serves as one of the largest annual gatherings within the climbing community, celebrating the history of our sport with some of climbing’s brightest stars.
Kaltenbrunner will speak February 24, 2018, at The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel (138 Saint James Avenue, Boston, MA). Kaltenbrunner has been called “a Queen Among Kings” by Outside Magazine. She is the second woman to climb the fourteen 8,000 meter peaks and the first woman to do so without the use of supplementary oxygen or high altitude porters. K2 was the final challenge, which she summited via the lesser climbed North Pillar route.
Additional weekend festivities are open to the public and kick off Friday, February 23 with the Annual Membership Meeting and Climbers' Gathering at Central Rock Gym (74 Acton St, Watertown, MA 02472). The Climbers’ Gathering includes a food truck, libations, and a star-studded climbing competition. Additionally, Saturday morning’s special panel discussions, at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, are open to public. Panelists will discuss topics affecting today’s climbing community and reflect on our community’s past.
The main event of the weekend—the Annual Benefit Dinner—begins at 6pm on the 24th. The evening gathers all generations of climbers for an inspiring evening benefiting the Club’s programs. In addition to Kaltenbrunner's keynote address, attendees will enjoy fine dining, beer and wine, live and silent auctions, and acceptance speeches from this year’s awardees.
The event is expected to sell out and tickets are limited. For more information and to reserve your spot, visit americanalpineclub.org/annual-benefit-dinner. Registration closes on February 14, or when sold out.
About the American Alpine Club
The American Alpine Club is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose vision is a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes. Together with our members, the AAC advocates for American climbers domestically and around the world; provides grants and volunteer opportunities to protect and conserve the places we climb; hosts local and national climbing festivals and events; publishes two of the world's most sought-after climbing annuals, the American Alpine Journal and Accidents in North American Mountaineering; cares for the world's leading climbing library and country's leading mountaineering museum; manages five campgrounds as part of a larger lodging network for climbers; and annually gives $100,000+ toward climbing, conservation, and research grants that fund adventurers who travel the world. Learn about additional programs and become a member at americanalpineclub.org.
Naomi Risch warms up on Underdog at Main Cliff, Rumney, NH. Photo: AAC member Anne Skidmore Photography
The AAC has purchased a 15 acre campground in Rumney, New Hampshire, within walking distance of Rumney Rocks Climbing Area.
"Rumney is one of the country's finest sport-climbing destinations,” said AAC CEO Phil Powers. “With visitation on the rise, and with more than 22 million Americans and Canadians within weekend striking distance, the American Alpine Club is proud to participate in a sustainable long-term camping solution for this popular spot.”
The Rumney Campground is now part of the AAC's growing lodging network which also includes: Grand Teton Climbers' Ranch, Gunks campground, New River Gorge campground, and Hueco Rock Ranch.
August 28, 2017, Golden, CO—The American Alpine Club (AAC) has purchased a 15 acre campground in Rumney, New Hampshire, within walking distance of Rumney Rocks Climbing Area.
"Rumney is one of the country's finest sport-climbing destinations,” said AAC CEO Phil Powers. “With visitation on the rise, and with more than 22 million Americans and Canadians within weekend striking distance, the American Alpine Club is proud to participate in a sustainable long-term camping solution for this popular spot.”
The Rumney Campground will build upon the success of the current campground and create a place for climbers to stay and for the climbing community to gather near the popular Northeast climbing area. The beautiful 15-acre property sits along the Baker River in Rumney, NH and was previously owned and operated by Tom and Marsha Camara. The AAC will continue the good work of the Camara’s by providing a communal first-come first-serve camping option. Look for a few private reservable sites to be added soon for those wanting a guaranteed spot before arrival. Porta-potties and access to potable water at the barn will remain the same through the end of 2017.
The AAC plans to open the existing barn to campers and climbers as a community space and a place to gather when the weather turns. In addition, the AAC will add bathrooms and showers to the barn.
The campground is located across the street from the Meadows and Parking Lot Wall areas on the east side of the crags. Rumney Rocks, mainly known as a sport climbing destination, has close to 1,000 routes for all ability levels (from 5.3 to 5.15) and also offers traditional climbing and bouldering options.
“With the Rumney Campground now part of the AAC's growing lodging network, we are looking forward to welcoming climbers from around the Northeast and the world to experience this wonderful place, learn, challenge themselves, and meet old and new friends," said Powers.
The American Alpine Club Library isn’t just home to historic mountaineering ephemera but also maintains thousands of circulating items. As AAC members you have access to these items by logging into your library profile at: booksearch.americanalpineclub.org and requesting them through the “Get It Now!” feature. Books will be mailed to the mailing address you have on file (so make sure it’s current), all you have to pay for is return shipping. Averaging 230 items circulated to just 60 members each month, the greatest benefit to AAC membership (potentially biased opinion) is going under utilized by the majority of members.
The library has everything you need from training guidebooks for all levels, hiking and climbing guides for your local crag or wherever you may be off to, and mountaineering narratives, literature and videos for rest days.
AAC Volunteer: “What's most fun about climbing?”
Shalynn, age 12: “Belaying… because that's when my friends know that I've got their back.”
The AAC Triangle Chapter's New Heights program for underserved children began with an informal outing in the fall of 2014. A dozen or so kids enrolled in a YMCA mentoring program for at-risk children spent an evening with AAC volunteers, enjoying their first climbing experience. The Y and the Triangle Rock Club North Raleigh, provided logistical support while AAC volunteers belayed, cheered and laid out a pizza spread.
It was so much fun that the group did it again a month later. The seed had been planted.
AAC volunteers Rebecca Lem, Derek Morgan, Cathy Kramer and John Dagenhart recognized that the chapter could do more for the kids than simply get them into the gym for special outings. They proposed the creation of an ongoing outreach program, which launched in February 2015 with support from the Y, the Triangle Rock Club, and a dozen more AAC volunteers. Connie Lightner (Kai Lightner’s mother) and lead volunteer Rebecca christened the program New Heights.
New Heights is a program, not an event. Twelve kids per location are enrolled in the fall and expected to attend monthly sessions during the school year. In addition to offering climbing skill development, the program emphasizes character development, particularly goal-setting, positive interaction and relationships with adults and peers, physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle.
Each monthly session is structured to focus on both the kids' individual objectives and the program's objectives. On arrival, each child is expected to pick-up their shoes and harnesses and gear up independently. After stretching, individuals will work on a combination of bouldering problems and top-roping skills with their AAC climbing mentor. The evening wraps up with a pizza or sandwich dinner buffet for all.
It's great to see kids moving up the YDS scale at the gym. But it's maybe even better to see the older kids like Shaylynn taking on the challenge and responsibility of belaying, letting friends know they’ve “got their back.”
A program that begins each school year with some fear of heights and general apprehension, ultimately yields significant personal growth. Y Learning leader Jennifer Watson has seen the growing self-confidence in all of her participating students – a development that translates to their academic perseverance and supportive interactions with peers, tutors and mentors.
In February 2017, the program expanded to support a new YMCA branch with a community of predominately Latino children. New Heights is now running monthly at two Triangle Rock Club location, supports two YMCA branches, and has over 20 AAC volunteers.
Thanks to local fundraising support and a generous scholarship from the Triangle Rock Club, this summer New Heights will sponsor twelve children from each location to attend one week of climbing day camp at the Triangle Rock Club. Also, in July, the program will fully sponsor two teenagers to attend a week of residential outdoor rock climbing at YMCA Camp Hanes! In 2018, New Heights plans to bring another Y branch into the program at the North Carolina State University climbing wall.
Growth requires solid program management. For the past two years, AAC volunteer John White has done a superb job as the New Heights Program Director, delivering an outstanding program across both locations.
“I've enjoyed supporting a program where perseverance and tenacity are nurtured through fun, exciting and engaging physical activity,” John says. “The program gives our kids the opportunity to apply their own definitions for success and failure to climbing. From there, I hope our kids are better prepared to apply the same goal-setting feedback to their everyday activities.”
John is supported by over twenty-five AAC climbing volunteer mentors and the chapter's New Heights Steering Committee, which includes long-term New Heights volunteers Ashton Drew and Bob Silk and is chaired by Brian Peters.
Interested in learning more about our chapter program? Check out opportunities by location to find out what’s happening near you.
Left to Right: Kai Lightner, Sasha DiGiulian, Libby Sauter at last year's Annual Dinner.
We're excited to confirm three panels and presentations that will take place on February 25, 2017 at our Annual Dinner in Seattle, WA.
The Education Crux: Together We're Smarter...or we should be
Time: 10am - 11:15am
AAC Education has been endeavoring to educate climbers for over a century, but rarely have all the disparate voices in climber education coalesced into a single mediated conversation. Today, more than at any point in climbing history, the American climber hungers for information, and a myriad of voices presume to fulfill their appetites. At this special moment in climber education, the AAC will convene key voices, thinkers, educators, writers, to explore its historic vision of competent climbers and healthy landscapes.
From Counterculture to Mainstream
Time: 11:30a - 12:45pm
We are drawn to climbing because it provides adventure and fulfillment and uncovers the best in our partners and ourselves. The sport has grown significantly as the number of climbing gyms has increased and more people have access to the sport and lifestyle.
As climbing transitions from its counterculture heritage in natural settings to urban and indoor environments, how does the climbing community build on its legacy as a foundation for inclusivity? What influence does social media, climbing gyms, coaches and the Olympics have on the way climbers transition from the gym to natural climbing landscapes?
We're partnering with Camber Outdoors to open this dialogue; see their description for more information.
Melissa Arnot Reid - Partnership & Mentorship in the Mountains
Time: 1pm - 2pm
In 2016, Melissa Arnot became the first American woman to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen. Rather than rest after this monumental achievement, she sought her next adventure. With a friend she set her sights on the speed record for summitting the highest point in each of the 50 states state - completing the challenge in just 41 days! Melissa will share stories and photos from a year of challenge, record setting and mentoring the next generation of explorers.
See you there!
Learn more about the 2017 Annual Dinner.
Photo: Brad Schwarm
Reservations are available for summer 2017 reservations. Book your stay!
Photo: AAC member Michael Lim/Edwin Teran
The AAC’s first ever Excellence in Climbing Awards Dinner at the History Colorado Center in Denver, presented by Adidas Outdoor, celebrated the inspirational 2016 Hall of Mountaineering Excellence inductees, the Alpina Cutting Edge awardees and raised critical funds for AAC programs and institutions.
Read what the press had to say:
True Heroes of Climbing
"The word “hero” gets thrown around a lot in climbing. But as impressive as summiting K2 or bouldering V15 might be, the genuine heroes of climbing are those whose achievements help make the world a better place..."—Climbing.com
Women Are On The Rise In The Climbing World
"It was a giant stepping stone,” said Libby Sauter, the award recipient and also the keynote speaker of the night. Sauter is the youngest climber to be added to the Hall, and only one of five women in its history, since the club’s birth more than a century ago..."—Gear Junkie.com
What do these names have in common? Tom Frost, Hugh Herr, John Roskelley, Libby Sauter, and Geoff Tabin.
These are your 2016 Hall of Mountaineering Excellence inductees!
They will be recognized at the inaugural AAC Excellence in Climbing Awards Dinner on May 7th, 2016. We invite you to join us at the History Colorado Center to honor these amazing climbers who achieve both on and off the mountain.
This special event includes a cocktail reception, silent and live auctions, high cuisine, keynote by Libby Sauter, and an after party with live music.
Learn More:
The American Alpine Club is proud to announce our inaugural Excellence in Climbing Awards Dinner, presented by Adidas Outdoor. The dinner will feature a keynote by Adidas athlete Libby Sauter and honor the 2016 Hall of Mountaineering Excellence Awardees: Tom Frost, Hugh Herr, John Roskelley, Libby Sauter, and Geoff Tabin. This prestigious award is given to those who have made lasting contributions both on and off the mountain. These climbers have inspired a legacy for future climbers, positively impacted the environment, and advanced the fields of science and medicine, all while accomplishing incredible climbing feats.
“For the past 7 years, the American Mountaineering Museum has been quietly inducting America's most accomplished climbers into the Hall of Mountaineering Excellence,” said AAC CEO Phil Powers. “This year the AAC is recognizing these notable climbers in a much more public forum in downtown Denver.”
The event features a special keynote by Libby Sauter. An all around climber, Sauter has many accomplishments ranging from big walls to mountaineering to high lining. She holds speed records in Yosemite and has done first ascents in South America. When not in the mountains, Sauter works as a pediatric nurse for Novick Cardiac Alliance, a nonprofit that brings cardiac care to conflict zones.
Here is a little more about this year’s group of inductees:
Tom Frost for his efforts in saving Yosemite's iconic Camp 4 and his many first ascents in Yosemite including the Salathe Wall.
Geoff Tabin for co-founding The Himalayan Cataract Project, which brings sustainable eye care to the Himalaya and for climbing the seven summits.
John Roskelley for giving back to the climbing community with his writing, his public service and notable ascents in the Himalaya including the third ascent, and first American ascent, of K2, by a new route.
Hugh Herr who is head of the Biomechatronics research group at MIT,where he develops wearable robotic systems that serve to augment human physical capability and for climbing many first ascents such as the first 5.13 on the East Coast with Lynn Hill.
Libby Sauter for her many speed records in Yosemite, including a new women's record on the Nose of 4 hours and 43 minutes, and for her work as a pediatric nurse for children who need heart surgery in third world countries.
The dinner will be held on May 7, 2016 at the History Colorado Center located at 1200 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203. To go along with the keynote and induction ceremony, attendees will enjoy a cocktail reception, live and silent auctions, libations, and fine dining. An after party featuring live music by 80’s cover band, The Goonies, an open bar, and gear giveaway will take place directly after the dinner also at History Colorado. All proceeds benefit The American Alpine Club Library and The Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum.
Over 400 people gathered in Washington, D.C., at the historic Mayflower Hotel for the American Alpine Club’s 2016 Annual Benefit Dinner presented by REI and The North Face. Legendary climbers of all generations, from Kai Lightner to Conrad Anker, mingled with politicians like Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, filling the room in support of the Club and climbing in America. The dinner celebrated the members of our community that we have recently lost and the enduring bonds that we create in the mountains and at the crag, serving as a powerful reminder of why we climb.
Secretary of the Interior Jewell took the stage to honor the memory of former AAC President Doug Walker, who passed away in a hiking accident in the Cascades in December. She praised Walker’s love of the outdoors and his dedication to creating ways for others to get outside themselves. Jewell concluded with the promise of expediting the permit process for those geared at getting kids outside. While she joked the lawyers called it the order for "Increasing Access to Extended Outdoor Experiences for Under-Resourced Youth," she said would affectionately refer to it as the Walker Permit.
