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K2 1938: The First American Karakoram Expedition

AAC Announces 2017 Research Grant Recipients

Photo by Matt Jenkins of Research Grant recipient Kate McHugh.

Photo by Matt Jenkins of Research Grant recipient Kate McHugh.

We're proud to announce the recipients of the 2017 Research Grants.

Our Research Grants program supports scientific endeavors in mountain environments around the world. As climbers, we have a responsibility to understand how our outdoor resources are being affected in changing world. Part of the AAC’s mission is to respect and support the areas we enjoy, one of the most important ways to do that is by funding research to better understand such environments.

May 1, 2017, Golden, CO—The American Alpine Club (AAC) is proud to announce the recipients of the 2017 Research Grants, powered by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy and supported by the following endowments: Lara-Karena Bitenieks Kellogg Memorial Fund, Scott Fischer Memorial Fund, Arthur K. Gilkey Memorial Fund and the Bedayn Research Fund. The AAC Research Grants program supports scientific endeavors in mountain environments around the world. As climbers, we have a responsibility to understand how our outdoor resources are being affected in changing world. Part of the AAC’s mission is to respect and support the areas we enjoy, one of the most important ways to do that is by funding research to better understand such environments.

A big thanks to our corporate partners and to our Research Grant Committee members (listed below). Congratulations to our 2017 Research Grant recipients:

Kate McHugh – $1,500
Wilderness Rock Climbing Indicators and Climbing Management Implications in the National Park System, Grand Canyon National Park and Joshua Tree National Park
Kate McHugh is pursuing a Masters in Applied Geospatial Analysis, Geography, Planning, and Recreation at the University of Arizona. She is conducting a study that will determine what variables or indicators should be monitored and measured for climbing management strategies in National Park Service wilderness.

Cristian Rios – $1,000
Ecology and conservation of Polylepis ecosystem and its bird community, Peru
Cristian Rios is a Peruvian Ph.D. student at Cornell University in Conservation Science, entering his fourth year of field work. He is investigating the possible link of habitat loss and habitat fragmentation to the population declines of several threatened bird species in the Polylepsis forests of Huascaran National Park.

Rebecca Finger – $1,000
Limits to shrub expansion in a warmer Arctic, Greenland
Rebecca Finger is a Ph.D. student and NSF Fellow in Ecology at Dartmouth. She is examining the response of shrubs in the Arctic tundra to global warming and its effect on the permafrost over the past 50 years. In addition to conducting research, she will spend some of her time in Greenland helping teach and mentor local high school youth.

Kaitlyn Hanley – $1,000
The persistence of American pika in the Greater Yellowstone Region under a warmer future climate, Montana and Wyoming
Kaitlyn Hanley is a Masters student in Biological Sciences at Clemson. She is investigating both how and why pikas are surviving at lower elevations than previously reported in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Nathalie Chardon – $750
Disturbance impacts on alpine plant populations at elevational and climatic limits, Colorado
Nathalie Chardon is a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Studies at University of Colorado, Boulder. She is researching human impacts on biodiversity competition at limits of moss campion’s range, (e.g. hiker disturbance and trampling, and how effects change with elevation).

Chris Cosgrove – $750
Open-source automated weather stations for wireless sensor networks in high altitude/latitude environments, Oregon and Alaska
Chris Cosgrove is a 1st year Ph.D. student at Oregon State University’s Mountain Hydroclimatology group. He is developing and testing a prototype open-source automated weather station that will be integrated into a long-range wireless sensor network. If successful, it should be robust enough to endure winter-long deployment in a remote backcountry site.

Jess Gilbert – $500
Assessing the impact of anthropogenic activities on high altitude biodiversity in Huascaran National Park, Peru
Jess Gilbert is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University. She is exploring the spatial use of habitat by mammalian carnivores in both ‘pristine’ environments and areas affected by livestock grazing or tourism activities in Huascaran National Park, Peru.

Emily Schultz – $500
The importance of within-patch heterogeneity for metapopulation dynamics of a high elevation pine, Oregon
Emily Shultz is a Ph.D. candidate and NSF fellow in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Rice University. She is developing models predicting the heterogeneity of whitebark pine and impact of heterogeneity on resilience. This research elevates the predictive analysis possible for metapopulations of the endangered conifer.

Win McLaughlin – $500
Initiation and timing of uplift of the Tien Shan, Kyrgyzstan
Win McLaughlin is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Oregon. He will conduct field work to collect and compare fossils and rock cores from two basins in the Tien Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan to constrain the timing and rate of their uplift.

Anya Tyson – $500
The Clark’s Nutcracker Citizen Science Project: Engaging young adventurers in research and conservation, Wyoming
Anya Tyson is a Masters student in the Conservation Ecology and Field Naturalist Program at University of Vermont and the coordinator of the Clark’s Nutcracker Citizen Science Project. She is an active science communicator who specializes in training instructors from NOLS, Teton Science Schools, and other organizations on how to educate their students about the whitebark pine ecosystem.

Daniel Winkler – $500
Biodiversity collapse: how a keystone species mediates biodiversity of Ecuadorian alpine areas responding to climate change, Ecuador
Daniel Winkler is a Ph.D. candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of California, Irvine. He is conducting research to test if climate change-induced range shifts of the vulnerable X. rigidum (a keystone nurse plant species) have occurred on the dry western slopes in the rain shadow of Mount Chimborazo, Ecuador.

Alison Criscitiello – $500
Histories of Arctic climate and environmental contaminants from a shallow ice core, Grant Ice Cap, Ellesmere Island, Canada
Alison Criscitiello is a post-doctoral researcher in the Cryosphere Climate Research Group at the University of Calgary, Canada and the Technical Director of the Canadian Ice Core Archive at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on reconstructing climate and sea ice histories of the Arctic Ocean, as well as examining the presence of pollutants through time.

Rachael Mallon – $500
Phylogeography of Snow Algae Communities in the Pacific Northwest, California, Oregon, Washington
Rachael Mallon is a Masters student in Biology at Western Washington University. She is investigating the effects of snow algae on accelerating melting of snow pack in the Western United States from the Sierra Nevada through the Cascade Range.

Peter Billman – $250
Understanding how changing snowpacks and water availability affect patterns of distributional change in the American pika
Peter Billman is beginning a Ph.D. program at Montana State University. He is investigating the effects of water-availability on the windward (west-facing) and leeward (east-facing) sides in several mountain ranges on the location and distribution of the American pika.

AAC Research Grant Selection Committee

  • Sarah Vail, Committee Chair

  • Danika Gilbert

  • Louis Reichardt

  • Matt Hepp

  • Katie Rose Fischer-Price

With support from: Maria Povec, Research Grant Coordinator, AAC staff and Jonathan Oulton, AAC Policy Program intern

American Alpine Club and Access Fund Host Second Annual Climb the Hill Event

Celebrated climbers Conrad Anker, Tommy Caldwell, Sasha DiGiulian, Alex Honnold, Kai Lightner and Libby Sauter will join the American Alpine Club and Access Fund to represent the climbing community in Washington D.C. for Climb the Hill, an event sponsored by Adidas. On May 11, 2017, both organizations, alongside a team of elite climbers and outdoor industry partners, will meet with Congressional representatives and policymakers to advocate for public lands, outdoor recreation and improved climbing management.

April 26, 2017, Golden, CO— Celebrated climbers Conrad Anker, Tommy Caldwell, Sasha DiGiulian, Alex Honnold, Kai Lightner and Libby Sauter will join the American Alpine Club and Access Fund to represent the climbing community in Washington D.C. for Climb the Hill, an event sponsored by Adidas. On May 11, 2017, both organizations, alongside a team of elite climbers and outdoor industry partners, will meet with Congressional representatives and policymakers to advocate for public lands, outdoor recreation and improved climbing management.

The team of rock climbing advocates will share their experiences on public lands with members of Congress and top federal land agency officials. They will also advocate for appropriate funding levels and balanced land management policies that support outdoor recreation and conservation.  

“Climbers have a vested interest in what happens in D.C., and showing up to make our voice heard is key to the future of the sport,” stated Brad Brooks, AAC Board member and Policy Committee member. “By working together with industry and partner organizations, we form a stronger united front to voice the climbing community’s concerns to our representatives.”

Access Fund estimates that about 60 percent of all rock climbing areas in the US are located on federal public lands. The American Alpine Club and Access Fund will advocate to protect The Antiquities Act, as well as voice their opposition to proposals that would diminish the value of federal recreation assets and sell or transfer federal public lands to states or private entities.

“Threats to federal public lands constitute the greatest threat to rock climbing we’ve ever faced. The most iconic climbing areas in the country are found on our public lands, and our mission is to make sure that these climbing areas are protected and conserved for future generations,” said Erik Murdock, Access Fund policy director.

“Public lands are not only the backbone of outdoor recreation, they also support a healthy economy,” said Brooks. According to The Outdoor Recreation Economy Report, 2017 by the Outdoor Industry Association, outdoor recreation (now included in the GDP), generates $887 billion in consumer spending and 7.6 million jobs annually. This sum nearly amounts to what Americans spend on pharmaceuticals and motor vehicles combined.

For more information on how you can support the Climb the Hill campaign, visit climbthehill.org.

AAC Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order for a 
Review of Existing National Monument Designations under the Antiquities Act

Photo: AAC member Jason Gebauer

Photo: AAC member Jason Gebauer

AAC Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order for a Review of Existing National Monument Designations under the Antiquities Act

April 26, 2017: This morning President Trump signed an executive order instructing the Interior Department to review all national monuments designated under the Antiquities Act since 1996. An interim report will be concluded within 45 days and a final report within 120 days of the order.

The American Alpine Club is concerned by how this order will impact the future of critical climbing resources, our public lands and the Antiquities Act—the conservation tool used for more than 100 years to safeguard our country’s important archaeological, historic and scientific resources on public lands. 

Under this review will be the newly designated Bears Ears National Monument—the first national monument to recognize rock climbing as a valued activity in its proclamation. In addition to its spectacular climbing areas, Bears Ears includes more than 100,000 Native American cultural sites. “The creation of Bear Ears National Monument—with its iconic desert climbing, wild canyons and Native American artifacts—represents the best, highest value, and most sustainable use possible of these iconic and spectacular landscapes which are on par with Canyonlands, Arches and Yellowstone,” says AAC board policy member Peter Metcalf. “We must be fearless in communicating unambiguously to the president about our absolute commitment to our country’s monuments, especially Bears Ears.”  

Just this week, the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) released its new data: The outdoor recreation economy generates over $887 billion in consumer spending and supports 7.6 million American jobs. The U.S. Department of the Interior reports that visits to our national parks added $35 billion to the U.S. economy in 2016 alone. As OIA’s Executive Director Amy Roberts says, “Monuments, many of which have become national parks, have created economic prosperity and jobs in local communities for decades. The vast majority of Americans value their national parks and monuments and want these lands protected.”

AAC Policy Director Maria Povec is currently in D.C. with the Outdoor Industry Association to educate elected leaders about the importance of public lands to the climbing community and the benefits of the outdoor recreation economy. In early May, the AAC will be back in D.C. with the Access Fund to “Climb the Hill” and advocate for places we climb, land management agencies and policies that support outdoor recreation. As Metcalf says, “We best ensure our continued privilege to climb, in part, by educating others about the integral role our public lands play in the vibrancy of our economy, our cultural history, bio-diversity, and the quality of our lives.”

Latest Educational Video: Cleaning an Anchor in Single Pitch

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Like all climbing AAC education resources, cleaning an anchor in a single pitch setting has some simple principles that will help climbers find a technical solution to most common anchor-cleaning scenarios. Our most recent Know the Ropes video reminds climbers that anchor-cleaning should ideally be a principle-based procedure because

  • The hardware on the tops of cliffs can vary wildly

  • The stances vary quite a bit

  • The tools climbers have available can vary too. 

These principles will guide viewers to appreciate how safety systems work, how to be more efficient, and how to communicate effectively when cleaning. That kind of perspective helps us analyze our decision making and solve problems in adverse/unexpected conditions.

2017 Excellence in Climbing Awards Announced

The American Alpine Club is proud to announce our Excellence in Climbing Awards celebration, presented by Adidas Outdoor. The fundraising event celebrates teamwork and will honor the 2017 Hall of Mountaineering Excellence Awardees for lasting contributions both on and off the mountain.

The 2017 inductees are:

Sean Patrick (1951 - 2009) - For being a recognized leader in the cancer treatment and research community. Sean Patrick spread awareness, compassion and inspiration to other women by founding HERA Ovarian Cancer Foundation, all while continuing to climb.

David Morton and Melissa Arnot Reid - For starting The Juniper Fund, which provides assistance to individuals, families, and communities in underserved countries adversely affected by their work for the mountain-based adventure industry.

Sean and Timmy O’Neill - For their work with Paradox Sports, a community that provides inspiration, opportunities and specialized adaptive equipment so that anyone is able to be an active participant in human-powered sports.

Doug Walker (1950 - 2015) - Former AAC President, committed conservationist, and a true climber’s climber, Doug Walker dedicated his life to the preservation of the outdoors he loved so dearly through his service on a variety of boards and generous giving.

In addition, the American Alpine Club will present the 2017 Cutting Edge Award to recipients Graham Zimmerman and Scott Bennett for their first ascent on the Southwest Ridge of K6 West, a 7,040-meter (23,097-foot) peak in the Karakoram.

April 13, 2017, Golden, CO—The American Alpine Club is proud to announce our Excellence in Climbing Awards celebration, presented by Adidas Outdoor. The fundraising event celebrates teamwork and will honor the 2017 Hall of Mountaineering Excellence Awardees: Sean Patrick, Dave Morton and Melissa Arnot Reid, Sean and Timmy O’Neill, and former AAC President Doug Walker.

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.

Learn more about this year’s Hall of Mountaineering Excellence inductees:

Sean Patrick (1951 - 2009) - For being a recognized leader in the cancer treatment and research community. Sean Patrick spread awareness, compassion and inspiration to other women by founding HERA Ovarian Cancer Foundation, all while continuing to climb.

David Morton and Melissa Arnot Reid - For starting The Juniper Fund, which provides assistance to individuals, families, and communities in underserved countries adversely affected by their work for the mountain-based adventure industry.

Sean and Timmy O’Neill - For their work with Paradox Sports, a community that provides inspiration, opportunities and specialized adaptive equipment so that anyone is able to be an active participant in human-powered sports.

Doug Walker (1950 - 2015) - Former AAC President, committed conservationist, and a true climber’s climber, Doug Walker dedicated his life to the preservation of the outdoors he loved so dearly through his service on a variety of boards and generous giving.

In addition, the American Alpine Club will present the 2017 Cutting Edge Award to recipients Graham Zimmerman and Scott Bennett for their first ascent on the Southwest Ridge of K6 West, a 7,040-meter (23,097-foot) peak in the Karakoram.

Each year, the AAC recognizes one climbing team who, with the aid of an AAC climbing grant, demonstrated excellence in climbing, upheld the values of the American Alpine Club, and acted in a manner befit a world-class ambassador to American climbing both domestically and abroad.The team was supported by the American Alpine Club’s Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Grant.

The teamwork themed celebration will be held on Saturday June 3, 2017 at the Westin located at 1672 Lawrence Street, Denver, CO 80202. The evening includes presentations by award winners and attendees will enjoy a cocktail reception, live and silent auctions, libations, and food. An after party featuring live music by 80’s cover band, The Goonies, drinks, and gear giveaway will take place directly after the dinner also at Westin.

All proceeds benefit The American Alpine Club Library and The Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum.

Darby Communications Selects the AAC for Stand Up Initiative

2016 Lobby Day

2016 Lobby Day

The program will provide pro bono PR services to four non-profits in the next 12 months

Asheville, NC – April 6, 2017 – Darby Communications, a boutique public relations agency specializing in the outdoor, fitness and wellness industries, is excited to announce the selections for the 2017 Stand Up Initiative. Launched in February, the program supports select environmentally-focused non-profit organizations with pro bono PR-related services. With the goal of helping to protect and preserve the environment and public lands, Darby Communications chose four organizations making significant positive impacts on the environment, they include: American Alpine Club, Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners, Bee City USA and The Collider.

To kick off the program, Darby Communications will work with the American Alpine Club (AAC), a non-profit that focuses on advocacy and leadership to support the climbing community and promote conservation. Together the organizations will work towards educating the climbing community about the importance of public lands and heighten awareness around the policy work the AAC is doing to preserve our natural spaces.

“We believe that as climbers, we bear the important responsibility of protecting the places we climb and sustaining the climbing community,” says AAC Policy Director Maria Povec. “We are thrilled to have the support of Darby Communications to share our message and encourage climbers to stand up for the wild places we all enjoy.”

The second beneficiary is the Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners, a non-profit committed to preserving and protecting the 1.9 million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument for the use and enjoyment of future generations. Darby Communications will proudly support their campaign to raise awareness about the monument and the importance of protecting it against threats being made to Utah’s public lands.

The final two recipients of the 2017 Stand Up Initiative, Bee City USA and The Collider, are based in Darby Communications’ hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. Bee City USA endorses a set of commitments for creating sustainable habitats for pollinators which are vital to feeding the planet. Through the Initiative, they seek to share their mission to sustain pollinators by providing them with a healthy habitat. Kicking off the first quarter of 2018, Darby will assist The Collider,  an innovation center that exists to bring together diverse expertise and stimulate a new industry of climate products and services globally. The focus of the pro bono services will be to assist The Collider with awareness around ClimateCon 2018, their inaugural conference on the business of climate.

To learn more about the Stand Up Initiative, please visitdarbycommunications.com/standup or contact Megan Torgerson at[email protected].

About Darby Communications

A public relations firm dedicated to meeting and surpassing the needs of their clientele with customized PR and promotional programs, Darby Communications works with many of the outdoor industry’s most respected companies. The firm’s clients include Astral, Aventura, Ecōths, Feetures!, Granite Gear, Headsweats, Hyland’s, Industrial Revolution, Sierra Designs and Tailwind Nutrition. For more information, visit darbycommunications.com and on Instagram.

 

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AAC’s Recreational Permitting Mission

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Photo: Scott Thompson

Photo: Scott Thompson

The American Alpine Club recognizes how challenging it is for our members to obtain outfitter-guide permits for our National Forests. We’ve heard from climbers who are guides, belong to a regional mountain club and those who work for non-profits that teach climbing that the permitting system is overly complicated and can be a barrier to accessing our commonly-owned public lands.

The AAC is partnering with The Association of Outdoor Recreation & Education, The Wilderness Society, The American Mountain Guide Association and the U.S. Forest Service to simplify and streamline the recreational permitting process on USFS lands. 

Our goal is to assemble a cadre of climbers willing to engage with the Forest Service to improve the permitting system. We’d like you to join our team.

We will teach you about developments in the U.S. Forest Service’s permitting system—specifically the June 2016 guidance on recreational permitting— and the cultural changes underway within the agency. You will develop relationships with your regional Forest Service staff, understand how changes are being implemented and you will have the opportunity to share information with peers seeking access to our National Forests.

Sounds good right? If so, we ask you to carefully consider whether you can make the necessary commitments:

  1. Participate in a webinar training on the June 2016 guidance (April 2017).

  2. Set up a meeting with your local forest (April 2017).

  3. Meet with your local forest and write a short trip report to Maria Povec, AAC’s Policy Director (May-June 2017).

  4. Participate in a group discussion (by conference call) with our team about your experiences engaging with the forests (July-August 2017).

  5. Where appropriate, have follow up meetings with the target forest (remainder of 2017).

As former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says, “Our national forests and grasslands have provided inspiration and peace to millions of Americans.” Let’s work together to ensure that future generations will have the opportunity to enjoy our national forests, learn how to climb outdoors and to explore the vertical frontier safely.

If you’re interested in joining the project, please sign up through our Google Form. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact project lead Maria Povec: [email protected]

A Season at the Climbers’ Ranch: Reservations Open

Photo: AAC staff member Whitney Bradberry

Photo: AAC staff member Whitney Bradberry

The Climbers’ Ranch will be open in 2017 from June 10 through September 12.

Each month of the summer is unique in the Tetons, always providing a perfect time to stay at the Climbers’ Ranch and explore Grand Teton National Park!

In early season, from opening to mid-July, the meadows surrounding the Climbers’ Ranch become daily more resplendent with a pageant of wildflowers. Temperatures are moderate, with sunny days in the 70s or low 80s, and cool evenings perfect for relaxing by the warmth of the woodstove in the Climbers’ Ranch library. The classic Teton climbing routes are in condition for every preference, from long, continuous snow climbs, to routes of mixed rock and snow, to dry rock routes along the canyon walls or in the valley at nearby sites such as Blacktail Butte. During an entire day of hiking or climbing you may encounter only a handful of people, or, in more remote areas, none at all.

The height of summer in the Tetons is from mid-July to late August. The vitality of the Climbers’ Ranch is at its peak, with guests arriving from throughout the United States and many foreign countries. Every day provides an opportunity to meet climbers and other guests who love the Tetons. The hiking trails are all nearly dry, even while Paintbrush Divide, at 10,720 feet, may still bear remnant snow. On the major peaks, snow-climbing routes gradually diminish until even the highest summits may be reached by routes free of ice or snow. Thundershowers arrive and depart quickly in quarters of the afternoon sky. Wildflowers, fading in the valley, still bloom high above the ranch.

Late August and early September are blissful, with crystalline days becoming pleasantly cooler. As the close of the ranch approaches, night-time temperatures fall toward freezing, a reminder that autumn arrives early in the mountains. Cottonwood Creek, which roared in June, murmurs in September, with long reaches of river rock exposed where rapids earlier ran. Aspen turn golden on the Taggart Lake Moraine, and in the brown meadows surrounding the ranch, bugling elk announce the end of the season.

The Climbers’ Ranch constitutes one of the most historically important communities of climbers in the United States. The American Alpine Club has sustained this community since 1970. If you have never stayed at the Climbers’ Ranch, we welcome you to join us for a wonderful experience. If you have stayed at the Climbers’ Ranch before, we will be happy to welcome you again.

The Climbers’ Ranch provides the lowest-priced cabin accommodations in Grand Teton National Park or anywhere in Jackson Hole. Our lodging rates are still $16 per night for AAC members and $25 per night for non-members. Make your reservations now on the AAC website for the 2017 season at the Climbers’ Ranch!

Executive Power over National Monuments: An AAC Member and natural resource law Scholar weighs in on the future of Bears Ears

Photo by Taylor Luneau

Taylor Luneau, AAC member & Natural Resource Law Scholar 

As happens to many climbers on their first trip to Indian Creek, I got spanked! The splitter sandstone was relentless and the grades fleeting. With the absence of face features, it was a whole new ball game for a climber born and raised on northeast schist and granite. However, within a matter of days, the climbing style grew on me and by the end of my first week I was floating up Incredible and Generic Hand Crack, stuffing in a #2 cam every ten feet or so. The trip was a formative one and I was hooked.

Leaving our slice of Heaven was made easier only with the knowledge that the Creek would always be there, waiting for me, nestled there in the canyons with desert washes and endless red rock walls. And, as many did on December 28th, 2016, I celebrated after President Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation establishing Bears Ears National Monument—a 1.35 million acre area area in San Juan County, Utah that encompasses Indian Creek, as well as the Valley of the Gods and Arch Canyon. This Presidential Proclamation is the first to recognize rock climbing as a valued activity and to ensure it as a priority in the management plan. It conserves these climbing meccas for future generations and for my chance of reunion. Or so I thought.

Today, the future of the Bears Ears is uncertain. Utah’s political leadership has formally requested that the President rescind Bears Ears National Monument through a joint resolution. As a legal scholar, I began to investigate if President Trump could actually lawfully abolish the designation of Bears Ears’ national monument status.

The short answer is NO!

But that answer is riddled with caveats and requires an understanding of The Antiquities Act, the law that enables the President to designate National Monuments.

The Antiquities Act of 1906

The Antiquities Act has been used to create more than 100 national monuments and protect 80 million acres of federal land since it was passed in 1906 (1). While the Antiquities Act gives the President authority to declare national monuments, it’s silent about the abolishment of a national monument. The core provisions of the Antiquities Act:

1) Give the President the authority to declare historic landmarks, prehistoric structures and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be National Monuments.

2) Allow that the amount of land reserved must not exceed the smallest area necessary for its proper management. (2)

The Antiquities Act is clear about the President’s authority to create national monuments, but does the President have the authority to reverse a national monument designation?

In 1938, President Roosevelt considered abolishing the Castle Pickney National Monument in South Carolina. However, his Attorney General, Homer Cummings, said the President had no such authority because the law did not authorize the President to abolish national monuments (3). As a result, President Roosevelt did not change the status of the monument. While Roosevelt could not undo Pickney National Monument, it was eventually abolished by Congress in 1956 (4). Although Cummings advice was not a judicial ruling, his statement was the only legal authority to provide a statutory interpretation (5). Cumming's legal analysis was challenged for the first time ever this past week by conservative legal scholars at the American Enterprise Institute but their argument raises constitutional issues and overreach by the Executive Office. 

Although Presidents do not have the authority to abolish national monuments, they have altered monument sizes in order to meet the smallest area compatible criteria. (6) For example, Woodrow Wilson reduced the size of Mount Olympus National Monument in 1915. (7)

If President Trump attempts a full revocation of Bears Ears National Monument, litigation will follow. While courts would likely deny an Executive Order to fully repeal Bears Ears, the President may attempt to alter the size of the monument to meet the smallest area compatible to protect the cultural resources. Such an attempt would require the President to establish that the Monument was designated unnecessarily large for the protection of the scientific, historic or archeological objects of interest-- a fact that would likely be challenged by the Native American Tribes who claim ancestral ties to the landscape. Another consideration here is that The Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) bars the Secretary of the Interior from altering the boundaries of monuments on BLM land so any Executive Order that attempts to direct the Secretary to make adjustments would not be legal (8). 

Congressional Discretion & Implications for Bears Ears National Monument

While the President does not have legal authority to undo a national monument, Congress does. Congress has broad discretion over national monuments primarily because of the Constitution’s Property Clause, which provides Congress the power to make decisions about public lands in the United States. Therefore, Congress does have the constitutional authority to create, modify, and abolish national monuments and it has exercised each of these powers in the past. (9)

What now?

The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, in cooperation with the Bears Ears Commission, will continue to work together to create and implement a management plan for the new national monument. Recreation, conservation and tribal groups will be watching closely as the Trump administration and Congress sets its public lands priorities.

In the meantime, as climbers, we must continue to speak up together about why public lands matter and why we value the Bears Ears area in particular. Let’s push back against efforts to weaken federal land protections and undermine conservation designations. We need to vigilantly remind our legislators that we want to keep our public lands in public hands.

Finally, I encourage you all to continue to support groups like the American Alpine Club and Access Fund that persistently look out for the preservation of our climbing landscapes. I’ll be there with you, because the indigenous peoples, the land, water, and wildlife of the Bears Ears region deserve this monument designation. And … I want a second chance at sending Anunnaki in the Creek.

---

Taylor Luneau, American Alpine Club Member

Dual Masters Candidate, 2018: Master of Environmental Law and Policy, Vermont Law School and Master of Science in Natural Resources, University of Vermont

 

ENDNOTES

[1] Coggins, Wilkinson, Leshy, Fischman, Federal Public Land and Resources Law, p. 394, 7th Ed., Foundation Press, 2014.

[2] Id.

[3] 39 Op. Att’y Gen. 185, 187 (1938).

[4] Vincent, Carol Hardy, National Monuments and the Antiquities Act, Congressional Research Service, p. 2, 2017.

[5] Id.

[6] Antiquities Act 1906-2006, National Parks Service Archeology Program, https://www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/antiquities/MonumentsList.htm (Last updated Dec. 28, 2016).

[7] Id.

[8] Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976, https://www.blm.gov/or/regulations/files/FLPMA.pdf

[9] U.S. Const. art. IV, §3, cl. 2.

Standing Up for Indian Creek

John Climaco Climbing in Southeast Utah in the 1980s.

By AAC member John Climaco

Canyonlands first captured me in the spring of 1984 as a skinny, 16-year-old Ohio boy. Years earlier I’d stumbled across a 1966 issue of National Geographic covering the first ascent of the Titan. Entranced by this wild adventure, I stole the only copy from our school library just to have it to myself. I devoured every story of the hard-living desert climbing pioneers I could, but nothing I’d read prepared me for the descent into Indian Creek and the desert of my dreams on my first time. No words could possibly capture the quiet, and the freedom.

In those days, you could have Indian Creek all to yourself on a spring weekend. The Anasazi art and the even more ancient sandstone towers were your silent and only companions. It was a place where you were free to create your own adventures and be the outlaw of your youthful imaginings. Looking back, it recently dawned on me that the very thing which seduced me about the desert may be precisely what imperils it. As the vast emptiness of the desert begets a feeling of endless freedom, it is easy to lapse into a comforting sense of the timelessness of the landscape. It is too easy to let that freedom lull us into assuming that what was here yesterday to be enjoyed today will still be there for us tomorrow.

The fact is that while we see these lands as our birthright, others see them as a vast piggy bank. Whether it was silver to fund a booming new nation, uranium to fuel the cold war or petroleum to fill our tanks, these lands have always held the promise of riches far more bankable than the ephemeral wealth we build there. Only a tiny portion of our public lands are entirely secured from those who wish to tap, mine or drill for personal profit. Would anyone seeking those rewards see our climbing community as a legitimate constituency to be respected and accounted for in use planning and public lands access? Maybe not a generation ago, but things are changing.

Like the echoes of pitons being driven into sandstone, the outlaw era of climbing is gone. Today, climbing is a mainstream sport. The power of our collective voice has grown and so has our capacity to give back to the lands that have given us so much. In speaking together, we have made a significant difference in communicating the value of these lands. The recent Bears Ears National Monument proclamation was the first ever presidential proclamation to list rock climbing as an acceptable and appropriate activity. We spoke up together and we were heard.

Unfortunately, efforts are already underway to dismantle Bears Ears National Monument. The Utah legislature recently passed a resolution, HCR 11, asking the Trump administration to rescind Bears Ears National Monument. Undoing the monument would be unprecedented and would put our other national treasures at risk.

A call to your congressman today will take less time than racking up for tomorrow’s adventures. Thousands of such calls, mainly by hunters and fishermen, recently led Representative Chaffetz (R – UT) to withdraw his disastrous bill which would have allowed a massive transfer of public lands into corporate ownership. If each of us made a single call to protect Indian Creek and the surrounding Bear’s Ears National Monument, could we secure it forever? I’d like to think so.

A few years ago, on yet another climbing and exploring trip from my home in Northern Utah, I saw a sight so incongruous with my sense of the desert landscape I had to stop the car and stare: a drilling rig tapping away yards from the entrance to Canyonlands National Park. I gawked at its gravel containment platform and wondered what law could ever permit this eyesore? Who will clean it up? Was anyone out there who cared enough to do something about it? 

Finally, it struck me: I was.

John Climaco today with his children

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Here's How You Can Take Action:

It is imperative that we communicate our stance on public land policy to our elected representatives. Contact of your federal representatives by calling the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected.

Can’t remember who your representatives are? Look them up here:  

U.S. Senate: https://www.senate.gov/ 

House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/representatives/

And if picking up the phone terrifies you, consider writing an Op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Not sure where to start? Check out this great resource from our partners at Outdoor Alliance.

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For some legal background on the future of Bears Ears, check out AAC Member Taylor Luneau's article Executive Power Over National Monuments

Sketchbooks & Diaries

Check out this selection of 19th century sketchbooks and diaries found in the AAC Library's Archives and in the Central Asia Library. See more photos on Flickr.

Sketches made in the Himaleh 1848 by Charles Horne. This sketchbook can be found in the Central Asia Library. Charles Horne (1823-1871) was employed in the Bengal Civil Service. He worked in the region, studied, and wrote articles on various aspects of the life of the people, which appeared in such publications such as the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Most of the sketches were done in the region of Garhwal.  Sketches include scenery, shrines, rope bridges, local people, botany, birds, etc. Also artifacts such as prayer wheels.  It is a thorough documentation of life in the mountains at that time. 

Summer Tour in the Grisons and Italian Valleys of the Bernina, 1862

A souvenir from Mrs. Henry Freshfield's summer tour, most of the sketches found in this little book are by a Mrs. C. Galton. They were pasted into this book, which might be a draft version of Mrs. Freshfield's book of the same name. This item was collected for the AAC Library by Past President J. Monroe Thorington. To read the book, you can access it online here.

Sketches made on trip to Mt. St. Elias, June-Sept. 1888

Descended from William Williams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, this Williams donated many items such as this sketchbook, a diary and a privately published book to the AAC Library. Read his In Memoriam in the 1947 AAJ here.

Henry George Newcombe Tibet Diary, 1869.

This is another treasure that can be found in the Central Asia Library. This is the journal of a 4-month shooting expedition into Tibet in 1869, undertaken by three young British army officers, Henry George Newcombe (1846-1895) and his companions, Tillotson and Evans. In addition to Newcombe's observations, are illustrations, consisting of 3 maps, 53 watercolors and many vignettes within the text.

Sketchbook of Pfarrer Friedrich Drechsel 1895

The sketches range in date from 1890-1909. It contains sketches of mountain and village scenes in turn of the century Bavaria. The book was donated by Karl Drechsel to J. Monroe Thorington (Drechsel's former pupil) in 1927. Thorington donated the sketchbook in 1949 to the AAC.

To see more of the sketchbooks and diaries,

take a look at our Flickr page.

Protect Bears Ears National Monument

Photo: Emma Longcope 

Southeast Utah is one of the most revered climbing destinations in the United States, and climbers have been strong and influential advocates for its protection. Our collective efforts paid off when on December 28, 2016, President Obama declared the region a national monument and listed climbing in the proclamation.

However, efforts are underway to dismantle the newly designated Bears Ears National Monument. In the upcoming weeks, newly appointed Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke (former Montana Congressman) will set his priorities for public lands. He will be in a position to influence President Trump's decision on whether or not to rescind Bears Ears National Monument.

Please help us speak up for Bears Ears! We need as many climbers as possible to urge Zinke to protect the national monument. The easy letter writing tool has content you can use and as always, we love when you add your own voice from a climber's perspective.

TOGETHER WE'RE STRONGER.
 

We joined our partners at Access Fund, Outdoor Alliance, Outdoor Industry Association, Friends of Indian Creek, and Salt Lake Climbers Alliance to ask Secretary-designee Ryan Zinke to protect Bears Ears National Monument and the Antiquities Act as a tool to protect public lands.

Read our letter below:

 

 

Education, Counterculture & Mentorship: Annual Dinner Panels Announced

Left to Right: Kai Lightner, Sasha DiGiulian, Libby Sauter at last year's Annual Dinner. 

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. 

 

Four Mountain Clubs Unite for Climbing Education and Public Policy


We're proud to be joining forces with the Colorado Mountain Club, the Mazamas, and The Mountaineers to promote improvements in climbing safety, coordinate stewardship and advocate for climbing areas in the United States. The four organizations have formally agreed to a working partnership to develop and implement shared standards for climbing and related mountain sports. The standards, lead by the AAC, would apply to volunteer instructors and remain consistent across the country. 

The partners represent four of the largest and longest-standing organizations dedicated to conserving mountain environments, providing quality outdoor education, and advocating for climbers throughout America. 

“We all care about introducing the next generation to the great outdoors and we have a responsibility to do it safely and effectively,” AAC CEO Phil Powers said. “This partnership, with four prominent U.S. mountain clubs, promotes the AAC’s vision of a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes. In the vertical world, combinations of seemingly insignificant errors add up quickly—competence matters.”

“We have the opportunity to extend the impacts of our organizations by working together,” The Mountaineers CEO Tom Vogl said.

February 13, 2017, Golden, CO—The American Alpine Club, Colorado Mountain Club, the Mazamas, and The Mountaineers are joining forces to promote improvements in climbing safety, coordinate stewardship and advocate for climbing areas in the United States.

The four organizations have formally agreed to a working partnership to develop and implement shared standards for climbing and related mountain sports. The standards would apply to volunteer instructors and remain consistent across the country.

The partners represent four of the largest and longest-standing organizations dedicated to conserving mountain environments, providing quality outdoor education, and advocating for climbers throughout America. As the United States’ representative to the UIAA, the American Alpine Club will be leading and facilitating the work, and will ensure that these new standards are internationally recognized by the global climbing community.

“We all care about introducing the next generation to the great outdoors and we have a responsibility to do it safely and effectively,” American Alpine Club CEO Phil Powers said. “This partnership, with four prominent U.S. mountain clubs, promotes the AAC’s vision of a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes. In the vertical world, combinations of seemingly insignificant errors add up quickly—competence matters.”

In the past decade the popularity of climbing in the U.S. has increased dramatically, creating a demand for quality climbing instruction. “These standards aim to ensure that the entire climbing community benefits from better training and will ultimately make climbing more accessible to everyone,” Mazamas Executive Director Lee Davis said.

“The Colorado Mountain Club is thrilled to be formally partnering with other influential mountain clubs to assist in the development and dissemination of new mountain skills training standards in America,” CMC Executive Director Scott Robson said. “By coordinating our efforts nationally, we raise the bar in regards to the quality of education that organizations like the CMC provide and we look forward to the positive impact these standards will have on our members and all of those who recreate in the mountains for years to come.”

“We have the opportunity to extend the impacts of our organizations by working together,” The Mountaineers CEO Tom Vogl said.

In the future, the partner organizations plan to examine ways to collaborate on issues of public policy, technology, membership, benefits and services, and other items of shared interest.

 

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 the Hueco Rock Ranch, New River Gorge Campground, Samuel F. Pryor Shawangunk Gateway Campground, and Grand Teton Climbers' Ranch 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.

 

About the Colorado Mountain Club:

The Colorado Mountain Club is the state’s leading organization dedicated to adventure, recreation, conservation and education. Founded in 1912, the CMC acts as a gateway to the mountains for novices and experts alike, offering an array of year-round activities, events and schools centered on outdoor recreation. The Club comprises 13 regional groups across the state to serve the local needs of its members and partners. To ensure the continued enjoyment of Colorado’s pristine places, the CMC also leads efforts to protect wild and public lands with its conservation and stewardship programs. The Club publishes a quarterly magazine, Trail & Timberline, and operates a press with 50 current titles. No other organization in the Intermountain West employs such a strong or broad approach to connecting people with the Rocky Mountain landscape.

 

About the Mazamas:

The Mazamas promotes mountaineering, responsible recreation, and conservation through outdoor education, youth outreach, and advocacy programs. Founded on the summit of Mt. Hood, and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the Mazamas has been working to represent and support everyone who loves to play in and protect the mountains of the Pacific Northwest for more than 120 years. The Mazamas operate one of the largest centralized mountaineering training schools in the country, graduating more than 500 people per year with basic to intermediate level climbing skills. The Mazamas also have a robust grants program that distributes more than $50,000 per year through conservation, research, and expedition grants. Members enjoy priority access to programs, domestic rescue insurance, and the opportunity to apply to our larger grants, including the $10,000 annual Bob Wilson Expedition Grant. Additional programs include classes in outdoor leadership, expedition planning, nordic skiing, ski mountaineering, wilderness first aid, and a variety of outdoor skill building courses. You can learn more about the Mazamas and start your adventure here: mazamas.org

 

About the Mountaineers:

The Mountaineers is an organization dedicated to helping people explore, conserve, learn about and enjoy the lands and waters of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Founded in 1906, the 12,000-member Mountaineers community offers thousands of volunteer-led courses, activities, and events to connect young and old, novice and veteran, to the power and wonder of the natural world. The Mountaineers’ advocacy program is Washington’s leading voice for protecting the wild places where we play. Mountaineers Books expands passion for the outdoors internationally through award-winning publications, including instructional guides, adventure narratives, and conservation photography. Learn more at www.mountaineers.org.

Climbers and Climate Change: Trevor Bloom

Did you know the AAC supports cutting-edge scientific research? Through the Research Grant program, we provide funding to multiple researchers across the country every year. The scope of work our Researchers conduct is broad, but a common thread among many of them is investigating the effects of climate change. We've asked several of these Researchers to sit down and chat with us about climate change, their research and their climbing. 

AAC member Trevor Bloom recently earned his Masters of Science at Western Washington University in the Department of Biology. Trevor’s research is focused on quantifying the consequences of climate change and wildfire in high-elevation ecosystems. To do so, he conducted a field survey of the alpine wildflower “Spotted Saxifrage” (Saxifraga austromontana) where he and his climbing partner crossed the Rocky Mountains from New Mexico to British Columbia. Jonathan Oulton, AAC member and geologist, spoke with Trevor to find out more:

Q&A with Trevor Bloom

Oulton: Why is your research important to climbers and non-scientists?

Bloom: In my line of research, the consequences of climate change are very visible. Perhaps the most evident change is the recession and loss of glaciers throughout the central and northern Rocky Mountains. As these glaciers shrink each year less meltwater becomes available down-stream. As this happens, we’re seeing some of the largest wildfire years on record. Uncharacteristically high wildfire activity has increased 6-fold since 1970. People are directly affected by these wildfires through loss of natural resources, destruction of homes, health issues and increased risk to firefighters. We’re losing a lot of the diversity of life that is in the alpine.

Trevor Bloom (right) and partner Matt Kneipp (left) on the summit of the Grant Teton during field work (2015)

I observe how populations of a wildflower, the Spotted Saxifrage, change over time as a result of warming temperatures, changing climate and increasing fire frequency in the alpine. The evidence from the research is conclusive: wildfires are having devastating, potentially irreparable consequences on certain species in the alpine. As once relatively rare fire events become more and more frequent at high-elevation, unique alpine organisms face habitat loss and possible extinction. Species that exist nowhere else in the world may be lost forever!

Oulton: What is the most striking impact of climate change you've observed in the alpine?

Bloom: Entire landscapes have been altered by wildfires in the alpine. Most people don’t think that fire can propagate through the alpine, but once a wildfire reaches the tree line, it spreads like… well, like wildfire!

Fire in the alpine at the Bob Marshall Wilderness Compex, MT in 2012 

Also, the changes taking place in Glacier National Park completely blew me away. When the park was established in 1910 there were about 150 active glaciers, now there are fewer than 25, and may be zero before 2050. Once those glaciers are gone we can’t get them back, and we’re already beginning to see the consequences through increased summer drought and huge wildfires.

Oulton: Looking forward, what do you foresee as the most significant challenges to addressing the issues of climate change?

Bloom: We need to take climate change seriously as individuals and as a nation. A tremendous part of that is being active in the political process so that our elected officials make positive climate policy decisions. The problem right now is that the new administration’s cabinet is being stuffed full of climate change deniers (not even skeptics!). This is very scary because climate change deniers comprise a tremendously small portion (<2%) of the scientific community. Many of these politicians have a long history of combating environmentally friendly policies.

It is critical to convince policy makers that this issue is important to us, to our country and to our world! The vast majority of the scientific community agrees that human actions are a driver for climate change. Unless policies are put in place, companies and individuals will continue to make environmentally insensitive business and lifestyle decisions that are convenient, but detrimental long term.

Oulton: A common sentiment is that "the actions of an individual can't influence an issue as massive as climate change." This attitude is dangerous, as it can lead to complacency. What actions can an individual take to have a positive, real influence on climate change?

Bloom: First and foremost, we as individuals need to be informed and make informed decisions through voting and consumption choices. Your dollar goes a long way and your vote goes a long way. I think many people struggle with staying up to date on contemporary issues. A great way to do this is to join conservation organizations at all levels of policy. There is a litany of organizations from the local to the federal level that do the research regarding ongoing policy decisions and will offer great suggestions on how you as an individual can help out. Open their emails! Sign those petitions! Send those letters to your congressmen and women! Call them up on the phone! Show them you care! Stay up to date on contemporary issues, especially regarding climate change and public resource management.

A great example of this is the Outdoor Alliance. They regularly send out emails that provide information on policies that will threaten public land access/preservation at the federal level. Right now our access to climbing on state and federal land may be highly compromised! I’m willing to bet that there if you’re reading this, there is a local conservation group near your home that you can get involved in.

Lastly, be a personal steward to alpine environments. Stay on designated trails, respect closures, don’t pick the flowers or stomp on the tundra; these plants may be a hundred years old and fragile. Basically, respect Leave No Trace principles. If you allow these themes to guide your actions you’ll be taking personal measures to help preserve our beloved alpine. Share the outdoors and your values with others, especially the youth, so they too can make good decisions that benefit our environment. There is something so freeing about being in the mountains, but we must recognize it as a privilege that must be protected through good stewardship and political activism.

The beautiful Spotted Saxifrage (Saxifraga austromontana). Photo by Trevor Bloom

Oulton: All good advice! You're the creator of the "Climb-It Change" website and campaign. Tell us a little bit about it and your upcoming documentary.

Bloom: I’ve been working as a biologist for about 8 years now, which has involved writing peer-reviewed publications, discovering new species and generally investigating natural phenomena. However, I don’t feel like the science I’ve been doing has been communicated well with the general public, which is a critical component in preserving these species and places that I am very passionate about. The intention of the Climb-It Change documentary and blog is to present climate science and research in an approachable manner, to encourage people to get outside, experience nature first hand, and to help preserve our natural resources in a time of political peril.

The documentary follows my climbing partner, Matt Kneipp, and I as we traverse the entire Rocky Mountain Chain, sampling 76 peaks, rock climbing in six states and two Canadian Provinces, all while conducting field research on the Spotted Saxifrage wildflower that we detailed earlier in this interview. The documentary’s core purpose is to spread awareness about the climate change and increase in wildfire frequency that is happening in alpine environments. It is an adventure story and a method to educate a broader audience about the consequences of climate change in the alpine! So stoked. We expect a first release of the film in Bellingham, WA on Earth Day (4/22/17), followed by an internet release.

Oulton: We’re looking forward to seeing it! Thanks for chatting with us Trevor, good luck with the rest of your research and graduate program!

The Spotted Saxifrage in its high-alpine home. Photo by Trevor Bloom during his 2015 field season.

For more information on Trevor, his research/blog, and other AAC Research Grant recipients, please see the following links:

AAC’s “Meet Our Researchers” Webpage

Trevor’s Trip Report for the AAC

Trevor’s Website

Trevor’s Contact: [email protected]

Climbers and Climate Change: Kristin Schild

Did you know the AAC supports cutting-edge scientific research? Through the Research Grant program, we provide funding to multiple researchers across the country every year. The scope of work Our Researchers conduct is broad, but a common thread among many of them is investigating the effects of climate change. A timely topic, we've asked several of our researchers to sit down and chat with us about climate change, their research and their climbing. 

AAC member Kristin Schild is a 6th year Ph.D. student at Dartmouth College in the Department of Earth Sciences. Kristin’s Research focuses on understanding the dynamics of glaciers that terminate in the ocean (tidewater glaciers) in Greenland, Alaska and Antarctica. Jonathan Oulton, AAC member and geologist, spoke with Kristin to find out more:

Oulton: Why is your research important to climbers and non-scientists?

Schild: The vast majority of climate change driven ice loss (which translates to sea level rise) occurs from tidewater glacier systems. Understanding how and why these glaciers are changing, and the physical processes driving these changes, is crucial to predicting how they will behave in a changing climate. My research looks at a piece of this complicated puzzle, in particular how meltwater that is exiting a tidewater glacier influences the circulation of ocean waters adjacent to the glacier (in the fjord), and glacier terminus melting and stability.

Oulton: Your field work in Norway on the Kronebreen Glacier put you in an extremely remote location. What was that like?

Schild: My field season was about 3 weeks long, including travel. We were stationed out of a very small research base and would take a boat to the glacier each day. I’ve done a lot of work in polar regions, so I knew it would be cold, windy and that sometimes instruments wouldn’t operate in the cold, but this was my first time working from a boat which presented all new challenges. We had to wear full survival suits, including large steel-toed boots and full zip-up hoods, but collecting the data presented the largest challenge.

Kristin Schild performing field work in the Larsbreen Ice Cave.  (Svalbard, Norway - 2013).

We were collecting water samples with air temperatures of about -20 °F and with water temps of about -4 °F, so by the end of the day everything had a solid layer of ice around it - your gloves, the sampling bottles, all of your equipment - everything was frozen. We had to be very diligent to knock all the ice off the instruments between every sample to prevent inaccurate readings or sample contamination.

Oulton: Looking forward, what do you foresee as the most significant challenges to addressing the issues of climate change?

Schild: I think the first challenge is that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation which results in people not knowing what to think anymore. We need to make information about climate change accessible and tangible to the general public.  As climbers, I’m sure many have seen their favorite ice climbs not come in, or a classic route up a mountain change because the snow bridges are melting out earlier each season; so the effects of a changing climate have been observed, however this is not necessarily the case for everyone.

The second challenge is that climate change itself is complex and far-reaching: there is no simple or single solution to climate change because it impacts so many different aspects of our environment and economy. Many people are focusing on adaptation and mitigation, versus curbing emissions, because those solutions seem simpler or more straight forward. 

Kristin Schild servicing a time-lapse camera to monitor the Hubbard Glacier (Alaska, 2011). Photo by Gordon Hamilton

However, if we don't make necessary economic and lifestyle changes to reduce emissions, we won't be able to mitigate and adapt fast enough.

Oulton: A common sentiment is that "the actions of an individual can't influence an issue as massive as climate change." This attitude is dangerous, as it can lead to complacency. What actions can an individual take to have a positive, real influence on climate change?

Schild: There are so many choices, just in our everyday lives, which we can make to reduce our contribution to global emissions that won't hurt our economy (and, in fact, would help it). Many we’ve heard before: turn off the lights, take public transportation or ride your bike to work. But there is also the consumerism side: buy local products, buy energy efficient appliances, and reduce overall spending.

The real big one though, is to vote. Everyone should take the opportunity to urge government representatives and policymakers to support the development of renewable energies, the development of smarter/more efficient vehicles, and research into new technologies. The scientific community is working hard to understand how our planet is changing and on what timescales, but without the support of the government, there is a limit to what we can do.

Kristin Schild headed back to the helicopter after installing a high resolution GPS on Helmheim Glacier (Greenland, 2009). Photo: Gordon Hamilton

Oulton: Thank you. That wraps up out climate change questions. Let’s talk about climbing. Did you see anything in Svalbard that would be fun climbing?

Schild: The rock around Svalbard is all sedimentary rock, so it’s not ideal for rock climbing. However, the skiing is amazing, there are several ice caves, and ice climbing routes do exist! The views and terrain are quite variable, so I can only imagine any exploration being an incredible experience.

Oulton: Have you had any interesting wildlife encounters during field work?

Schild: While I haven’t had any personal encounters, I’ve certainly had some unplanned repairs because of them! One trip out to Greenland we found a few Arctic Foxes had eaten through our “fox-proof” cables connecting our solar panels to the GPS system. On another trip in Alaska, we found the housing for our time-lapse camera had been used as a scratching post by a bear about a week after setting up the system. Thus, instead of watching the glacier terminus advance and retreat, we now had a whole season’s-worth of pictures looking first at the bear, then at the ground.

Oulton: What advice would you give to someone who wants to visit Svalbard?

Schild: I would actually encourage them to visit during the late winter (February-March). It is absolutely bitterly cold and is just coming out of 24 hours of polar darkness, but there is an incredible peace in the darkness up there and the northern lights are the best I’ve ever seen.

Oulton: That sounds oddly amazing. What is one of your most memorable climbing experiences?

Schild: This past summer we were contracted by the US Geological Survey to install a survey marker at windy corner (measuring plate movement) and to determine the ice-thickness at the summit of Denali. Our group of four spent about 3 weeks shuttling all of our science equipment up Denali - equipment which included a rock drill, various different cold-temperature epoxies, a small car battery, as well as the high-resolution GPS system and ground penetrating radar (GPR) system. This was certainly more weight than any of us would take on a normal climbing trip! The day we summited and measured the ice thickness there was very poor visibility, so instead of taking pictures of the view, many other climbers took pictures of our group towing around the radar to measure the ice thickness at the summit. We later found out that everyone thought it looked like we were vacuuming the summit!

Oulton: You were able to climb Denali for science! Thank you so much for chatting with us, Kristin. We look forward to hearing about more of the results from your research!

Kristin Schild descending along the ridge traverse from High Camp to Camp 14 on Denali after completing a radar survey measuring the snow thickness at the summit (Alaska, 2016). Photo: Seth Campbell

For more information on Kristin, her research, and other AAC Research Grant recipients, please see the following links:

AAC’s “Meet Our Researchers” Webpage

Kristin’s Trip Report for the AAC

Kristin’s Dartmouth Profile

Climbers and Climate Change: Alice Hill

Did you know the AAC supports cutting-edge scientific research? Through the Research Grant program, we provide funding to multiple researchers across the country every year. The scope of work Our Researchers conduct is broad, but a common thread among many of them is investigating the effects of climate change. A timely topic, we've asked several of our researchers to sit down and chat with us about climate change, their research and their climbing. 

AAC member Alice Hill is a 4th year Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado, Boulder in the Geography Program. Alice's research is focused on mountain hydrology, specifically the importance of snow and ice melt water as water resources for communities in Central Asia. Jonathan Oulton, AAC member and geologist, spoke with Alice to find out more:

Q&A With Alice Hill

Oulton: Why is your research important to climbers and non-scientists?

Hill:  Rivers in the Central Asia region are sourced from snow and ice melt in the mountainous countries like Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and then they flow across borders downstream. Changes to glaciers and snow in a warming climate suggest that this region might experience water vulnerabilities in the future. I am trying to quantify that potential water vulnerability. This region is already politically tense for a variety of reasons, and water resources could be a spark for conflict.

Oulton: Many people consider that region to be volatile and dangerous. After your experience, how do you respond to this pre-conception? Is it justified?

Hill: In rural communities we experienced generous hospitality and positive interactions. In remote alpine areas our Kyrgyz colleagues were more concerned about our safety from packs of wolves than from the people who live in those areas. In urban areas we didn’t feel unsafe, although we did pay attention to State Department warnings that were issued.

Alice Hill below the toe of the Karabatkak Glacier, Kyrgyzstan.

The highly bureaucratic systems were challenging and at times made me feel vulnerable. There are a different set of cultural norms that I didn’t understand. I wasn’t privy to the bribing culture, even for tasks as simple as getting your luggage on an airplane. Not speaking Russian, Kyrgyz or Tajik, there was a challenging language barrier. Thankfully our in-country partners were there to help us as both translators and negotiators.

Oulton: It’s nice to hear that there are good people in these places. Looking forward, what do you foresee as the most significant challenges to addressing the issues of climate change?

Hill: For me, the biggest challenge with climate change is getting our new leadership to actually buy-in that it is happening. I am anxious that the new administration will be led by people who choose not to believe that climate change is real. That, to me, is the major concern because they are the ones who affect what policies we adopt and what kind of role model we want to be to the international community. I’m trying to stay optimistic.

Oulton: A common sentiment is that "the actions of an individual can't influence an issue as massive as climate change." This attitude is dangerous, as it can lead to complacency. What actions can an individual take to have a positive, real influence on climate change?

Hill: As westerners, we all make individual choices that affect our climate. Indeed, all of us need to make individual lifestyle changes to holistically make impactful change. There are many positive individual decisions we can make on a daily basis: riding a bike, or taking the bus, living in a smaller house, taking shorter showers, buying local food.

The question is, to what level are we willing to inconvenience ourselves? We’re so used to having this highly convenient lifestyle and we need to be willing to sacrifice some of that for the sake of our local and global community We need society scale buy-in for individual changes to collectively have an impact.

Oulton: Absolutely, do you think that leading by example in our communities is effective?

Hill: I think that’s certainly one of the most important ways to do it. I know I’m affected and inspired the most by my friends that ‘walk the walk.’ I think role-modeling is an important piece of the solution.

Alice Hill (center) and fellow CU researchers Alana Wilson and Cholpon Minbaeva (both left) were greeted with kindness and incredible hospitality by the locals in the Kyzyl Suu Basin, Kyrgyzstan.

Oulton: Great, thank you. That covers our main questions on climate science and impact. Let’s talk about climbing. What is one of your most memorable climbing experiences?

Hill: While working in the field as an instructor with NOLS, there was one route that was especially memorable; a traverse across the Northern Patagonian Icefield. Patagonia is one of those places where you have to really lean into the uncertainty of the terrain and weather, among all the other variables that climbers are used to. Case in point, my co-instructors and I wanted to try a traverse that included an unmapped “blank” area on the map. This blank spot had no mapped topographic information because the photographic glare off the glacier surfaces prevented aerial photographs from being used to discern terrain information.  So we basically had little idea what was in store around the next corner until we got there.

We were feeling pretty good about the route after getting up-and-over what we thought was going to be crux of the traverse. We dropped down into a glacial valley and thought we could just run the valley out to the main glacier to get a food re-supply. As it turned out, we were perched on top of this buttress at the head of a steep sided valley with a Class VI cascading river running down the guts.

After days of scouting, we found a route out we were fairly confident we could use to descend. We rappelled down the buttress and pieced together this really steep, thick bushwhack to curl around a ridge. Upon finally reaching our re-supply location, we discovered there was nothing there.  At this point we were totally out of food, eating spice-kit soup, and mostly going off mate fumes. We walked out another day to the only other logical place the food supply might be. Lo-and-behold there it was... We set up camp, rested, and literally ate for two days.

Oulton: You are quite the leader, Alice. Thank you so much for talking with us today. Good luck with your research and the rest of your doctoral program!

Alice Hill taking water samples below the Karabatkak Glacier, Kyrgyzstan.

For more information on Alice, her research, and other AAC Research Grant recipients, please see the following links:

AAC’s “Meet Our Researchers” Webpage

Alice's Trip Report for the AAC

Alice’s CU Boulder Profile

AAC Announces 2017 Cutting Edge Grant Award Winners

The American Alpine Club is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2017 Cutting Edge Grant award. The Cutting Edge Grant, a new evolution of the AAC’s historic Lyman Spitzer Award, continues the Club’s tradition supporting climbing athletes in pursuit of world-class climbing and mountaineering objectives.


The Cutting Edge Grant is supported in part by Global Rescue.

January 12, 2017, Golden, CO— The American Alpine Club is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2017 Cutting Edge Grant award. The Cutting Edge Grant, a new evolution of the AAC’s historic Lyman Spitzer Award, continues the Club’s tradition supporting climbing athletes in pursuit of world-class climbing and mountaineering objectives.
 
The Cutting Edge Grant seeks to fund individuals planning expeditions to remote areas featuring unexplored mountain ranges, unclimbed peaks, difficult new routes, first free ascents, or similar world-class pursuits. Objectives featuring a low-impact style and leave-no-trace mentality are looked upon with favor. For the 2016/17 grant cycle, the AAC received 33 grant applications and awarded $20,000 to three recipients.

  • ANNE GILBERT CHASE - ($8,000) to attempt the first ascent of the Southwest face of Mt. Nilkantha (6596m), a major peak of the Garhwal division of the Himalayas, in the Uttarakhand region of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The route contains 1,500m of technical climbing from base to summit and features steep rock and ice mixed climbing with numerous objective hazards. Mt. Nilkantha has been climbed only a few times via the North and West Ridges while the more impressive Southwest face is yet to be completed.

  • JEROME SULLIVAN - ($6,000) to attempt the first ascent of the East face of Monte San Lorenzo (3706m) on the border between Argentina and Chile in Patagonia. Various parties have attempted the face yet no one has succeeded -- cornices and seracs top the 4km wall, leaving little safe lines. The primary objective is a steep and technical buttress on the East face of the Cumbre Central.

  • CLINT HELANDER - ($6,000) to attempt the first ascent of the South Pillar of Panbari (6905m) located in the Peri Himal region just north of Manaslu in Nepal. Panbari, though close to the popular and accessible Manaslu trekking circuit, has seen little attention from climbers. The South Pillar begins with a web of couloirs that weave upward for 1000m with the technical pillar beginning at about 5300m with steep snow, ice and mixed climbing expected, with the rock being fractured granite.

The Cutting Edge Grant is supported in part by Global Rescue, the world’s leading
provider of integrated travel risk and evacuation memberships. CEG recipients are
additionally awarded a one-year, full Global Rescue Membership—an upgrade to the standard AAC rescue coverage. Upgraded benefits include: $500,000 of rescue
evacuation, repatriation back to the US, deployed Global Rescue Personnel, and
more—a service intended to help AAC members climb hard and return home safely.

The American Alpine Club has inspired and supported cutting-edge climbing achievements for over 100 years. From funding the first ascent of Mt. Logan in 1925, to the exploration of the Karakoram in 1938, to the 2006 first ascent of Nanga Parbat’s Rupal Face, the AAC has stood to support climbers who push their physical and mental limits and celebrated their accomplishments.