Voting for the 2010 edition of the Reel Rock Filmmaking Competition is now open until September 10th.  Winners will be announced at the Reel Rock Tour’s premiere in Boulder, CO on September 16th. Winners will receive prize packages from our sponsors, and their films will screen in over 100 locations across the world. Side note: The AAC is the non-profit sponsor of this year’s Reel Rock Tour, so check out when it will be near you!

Check them out for yourself!  The 9 entries in the 2010 Reel Rock Filmmaking Competition:

Click here to vote for the 9 contenders in the 2010 REEL ROCK Filmmaking Competition

AAC Member Paul Swienton reports in on his May expedition on Lama Lamani. We’d love to share your latest climb too, so send it this way.

Lama Lamani West Face. Photo courtesy of Paul Swienton

During the month of May 2010, Dick Isherwood of Seattle, Geoff Cohen, Steve Kennedy, Robert Hamilton and Dave ­­­Ritchie all from Scotland and myself traveled to the Himalayan Range in Sikkim, India to climb and try to establish new routes on Lama Lamani (18,500 ft.) and Mt. Jopuno(19,500 ft.). The expedition received funding from the Mount Everest Foundation. As this area of the Himalaya has been largely untouched by climbers and with only a few mountains on the permitted list available for climbing, our expedition chose to climb Lama Lamani and Mt. Jopuno because of their access to one another from our advanced base camp.

We decided to climb the West Face of Lama Lamani, which is very aesthetic, as the face is a combination of rock, snow and ice. Former AAC member Geoff Cohen and I paired up as one team and Scots Steve Kennedy and Bob Hamilton grouped to be the other team. Both groups climbed the South West Spur, which was a mixture of rock, snow and ice and ended in a notch. From the notch both groups turned left and climbed mixed rock and snow. At a junction in the rock, Geoff and I decided to climb onto a snow chute that traversed to the left, then up to the large and beautiful summit ridge. Steve and Bob continued on up the mixed route to a point where the ridge they were climbing on met with our chute. From there we made the summit of Lama Lamani via the summit ridge with clear but breezy conditions.

AAC member Paul Swienton on summit of Lama Lamani with Mt. Jopuno in the background. Photo courtesy of Paul Swienton.

After about 45 minutes on the summit we rappelled and down climbed the West Face to the base of the mountain where we made our way to back advanced base camp. The climb was given a British rating of PD or AD-.

Lama Lamani has only been climbed once before by a British expedition in 2005 headed by Roger Payne. This expedition climbed the center face to the left of our route.

After an attempt on Mt. Jopuno, another summit on an unnamed peak, we descended to base camp where we celebrated with single malt scotch and hit “super strong” beer. A cap to a perfect trip!

-Paul Swienton

Want to hear more about the trip? Email Paul here.

Need to be quick today, so here’s a few climbing blogs we love, for your Wednesday hump-day reading pleasure:

Kelly Cordes. The title of this post is "My Thick Skull (and drink recipe)." Photo courtesy of http://kellycordes.wordpress.com/.

1. http://kellycordes.wordpress.com/

“Climbing, Writing and the Art of Margaritas.” This is the blog of Kelly Cordes, climber,  writer, and member of the editorial team for the American Alpine Journal. Besides gnarly climbing stories (full accounts of his fall and ankle/foot recovery process over the past few months here) and great margarita recipes, Kelly’s blog is full of fantastic writing and well-thought-out connections of climbing to life.

2. http://www.dailyclimbingtips.com/

Totally self-explanatory, and equally awesome. Today’s post: “First ascent anatomy: the making of a modern sport route.” Each day you’ll find a tip, gear review, or just a thought on climbing.

AAJ 2010.

3. http://aaj.americanalpineclub.org/

Shameless self-promotion. If you don’t know that the AAJ is online yet, you should. Reports of the worlds’s greatest climbs are added throughout the year, often with more depth and detail than what eventually goes into the printed book. Click “new” to read the latest additions. The 2010 printed book, by the way, is in the mail to members as we speak. Anybody get theirs yet?

The rendered view from the south side of the bouldering park.

An update from AAC member Christian Beckwith on the Teton Boulder Project:

Three-quarters of the way to their fundraising goal, TBP donors and volunteers are closing in on their goal of a community bouldering park.

Organizers of the Teton Boulder Project (TBP) announced today that on Wednesday, Aug. 11, at 6 p.m., they will hold the official groundbreaking for a community bouldering park in Phil Baux Park at the base of Snow King Mountain in downtown Jackson, Wyoming. Volunteers, donors and icons from the Teton climbing community will be on hand to celebrate the groundbreaking, which is being held on the anniversary of the first ascent of the Grand Teton.

The TBP, a grassroots partnership between the Town of Jackson, Teton County Parks and Recreation Department and the Teton climbing community, announced the launch of the initiative in September 2009. Since that time, they’ve developed site plans, retained EntrePrises to build the boulders and raised $244,000—roughly three-quarters of their goal. Funds raised to date are enough to begin site work and purchase the largest of the three climbing boulders planned for the park.

An aerial perspective of the park.

The August 11 groundbreaking will offer the public a chance to see the project firsthand. Burgers, brats and beer will be served, and volunteers from the climbing community will present an overview of the project’s main goals.

According to Renny Jackson, author of A Climber’s Guide to the Teton Range and the TBP’s chief historian, those objectives are worthy of the range that inspires them. The first—to honor the historical role of Teton climbing in North American mountaineering—will be represented by a metal retaining wall. Into this will be inscribed the twelve most significant Teton mountaineering achievements, a list Jackson compiled.

The second—to remember Jackson Hole climbers who have died in the Tetons and while climbing abroad—will be represented by a circle of six-foot granite slabs that mimics the stone structure atop the Enclosure, a subsummit of the Grand Teton. The TBP’s use of a similar ring will create a contemplative space that allows park users to reflect on the power of the Tetons as well as on the loss of loved ones who have perished in their midst.

The boulders will be a maximum of 12 feet high and offer climbing from 5.5 to 5.15.

The boulders themselves comprise the TBP’s third objective: to create a singular climbing experience for children, families and visitors alike. The boulders will be a maximum of 12 feet high and offer climbing from 5.5 to 5.15. The Town of Jackson has approved the park and its boulders, which will be maintained and insured in perpetuity by Teton County Parks and Recreation Department.

The TBP will continue to raise funds for the remaining two boulders, including one specifically designed for children and beginning climbers. This so-called “Kid’s Boulder” will feature anchors that allow climbers to practice belay escapes, raises and lowers and other techniques so that their adventures on the rock can be executed more safely.

“We couldn’t be happier with the way the project has unfolded,” said TBP Coordinator Christian Beckwith. “When we set out to build this park nine months ago, we had no idea what kind of community support it would encounter. Jackson Hole has a strong tradition of honoring its heritage, and the Teton Boulder Project has been well received by people who recognize the integral role the Tetons have played in the development of American mountaineering.”

Beckwith noted that more than fifty volunteers have worked on the TBP since its inception, and donors have emerged from every corner of the community. “We hope Teton climbers everywhere will join us as we break ground and enter the finishing push for a world-class park in the heart of downtown Jackson,” he said.

For more information on Teton Boulder Project, including renderings of the park and the boulders, please go to www.tetonboulders.org or www.facebook.com/tetonboulderproject.

The Wednesday roundup of climbing blogs, climbers and expeditions worth your reading time: this week we’ve got an office-staff favorite (thanks Dana!), a blog of one of our partners, and one from two of our hard-pulling members (and we know more of you are out there! Send what you’re doing, big or small, this way and we’d love to highlight it). Now, without further ado:

1. http://climbingnarc.com/

The tagline of this one is “so obsessed with climbing it hurts,” and it’s a great representation of the job he does in rounding up what’s going on in the climbing world, from new gear (new and smaller Petzl grigri coming out!), climbing news and FA stories from around the country, great videos, and live coverage of competitions (including the upcoming Unified Bouldering Comp that will happen in less than two weeks in Salt Like City). Check out the about section of the blog to see what prompted Brian Runnels to start the site, and subscribe to get updates from any of the site’s categories delivered straight to you.

Bjørn-Eivind Artun high in the Messner Couloir on our first visit of the expedition to Denali's summit. Photo by Colin Haley.

2. http://www.thecleanestline.com/

The Cleanest Line is the blog for employees, customers and friends of one of our partners, outdoor clothing company Patagonia. Here, they encourage dialogue about the products they make, the environmental issues they care about, and the outdoor pursuits they love. We probably don’t need to say much more – you’ll find stories that inspire you to keep exploring this precious planet, and engaging dialogue about issues that affect it. For a recent post you won’t want to miss, check out this trip report: “Alaska 2010 with Colin Haley: Dracula and Cassin Simul-Solo.”

3. Planet Kauffman: http://www.joelandneilsclimbingblog.blogspot.com/

Joel's comment: "When the snow clears off the North Pillar there will be good climbing."

The blog of AAC members and brothers Joel and Neil Kauffman, sent this way with the message, “these guys are the real deal” (thanks Kim for the tip). On the blog, the guys share stories and photos from their climbing trips around the country, and they are enough to inspire us all. We especially enjoyed the recent photos from various lines throughout their Alaska trip, with other AAC member Andres Marin. Keep the posts coming, guys, and well done!

The Cochamo Valley as featured in Alpinist 23. Photo by Crispin Waddy.

A message from Kika Bradford, executive director of Access PanAm:

Our numbers are strengthened by local climbers in almost all countries in the Americas with mountains and stone. The surge of climbing in the North is spreading southward, and most U.S. climbers will eventually make it to the world class winter rock climbing at Potrero Chico and the many other emerging areas in Northern Mexico or nearby Cuba. Others will make their first challenge at high altitude mountaineering on the volcanos of Mexico, and graduate to the Andes of Peru and Bolivia and finally to the highest peak in the Americas, Aconcagua. These areas are part of our climbing patrimony as “Americans,” and our inheritance as climbers and citizens of one of the nations of the Americas. We share responsibility to protect them with the climbers in those countries.

Most of these and other emblematic climbing areas in the Latin America are unprotected. No legal protection that keeps them open, nor even a local, regional, or national organization to fight threatened closures and restrictions. Aconcagua is experimenting with restricting climbing to local guides only and rescue bonds and guarantees. Most land titles in Mexico are ambiguous. Cuba denies its citizens the privilege of climbing, while welcoming climbing tourism. One of the hemisphere’s biggest potential climbing areas, and certainly its most endangered is Valle Cochamó, in Chile’s Patagonia, an alpine wilderness with some of the longest rock routes on earth. Cochamó is legally unprotected, and local utility companies have applied to dam the Valley for its water and hydro-power.

Hand-drawn routes in the Cochamo Valley, in the AAC archives. Map courtesy of Clayton Laramie.

Enter Access PanAm, an organization dedicated to keeping climbing areas open in all the Americas. It launched last fall, and now is officially moving and shaking to tackle the issues facing many of these climbing areas.

“Unfortunately in places like the southern Andes lax government policies have allowed for the privatization of anything from glaciers to striking granite spires,” says Rolando Garibotti of the urgent need to help protect climbing areas in Latin America. Rolo’s conclusion: “Committed stewardship towards preserving not only access but also the natural character of the places we love is essential. What is happening in Cochamó is perhaps one of the most obvious examples, but unfortunately not the only one. Today the work of Access PanAm is indispensable.”

The issues vary, but they have a common core: No one solution fits. It will be up to local climbers to solve local problems. The basic mission of Access PanAm is to support access and conservation initiatives by climbers in each region and country. Preserving or creating access to climbs must be done by locally organized climbers and their supporters, who are familiar with the area and the issues.

The Western Hemisphere runs the organizational gamut from local climbing clubs to the recently launched nationwide access organizations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Chile to the almost 20-year old Access Fund in the US and the well established British Columbia Access Society. A critical mass of organizations and interest exist to create local, regional, and national climbers access networks in most of Latin America.

Access PanAm is an independent organization, with a steering committee of climbers from all the Western Hemisphere. It has a part-time Executive Director in Brazil, Kika Bradford (the founder of Brazil’s first access organization, Acceso A Montaña), and an acting president in the US, Armando Menocal (founder of the Access Fund). At this time, it has not decided in which country it will incorporate and apply for non-profit status. Until that time the Access Fund is acting as its fiscal agent, and anyone donating to Access PanAm through the Access Fund can claim a full tax deduction.

The new organization’s structure is be flexible and open-ended, a steering committee, including its organizers, a network of individuals, clubs, federations, and sponsors across all the Western Hemisphere. You can participate as activists, a charter member, or as a donor-supporter. Please click here to become a Charter Member or make a donation of any amount to support the work of Access PanAm.

An image from the GTCR webcam, taken July 19.

This summer is the 40th anniversary of the Grand Teton Climbers’ Ranch. The American Alpine Club will observe this occasion with a celebration to be held at the Climbers’ Ranch on the evening of August 21, 2010. Please join us if you’re able!

History of the GTCR: After the old climbers’ camp at the southwest end of Jenny Lake was closed by the Park Service in 1966, the American Alpine Club recognized the importance of finding a new site where climbers could gather at the base of the Teton Range, not subject to the length of stay regulations of the Park campgrounds, and where the tradition of mountaineering in the Tetons, and the tradition of a climbers’ community, would continue to flourish. That mission was realized on January 1, 1970 when the original lease for the Double Diamond Ranch became effective between the American Alpine Club and the National Park Service. The Climbers’ Ranch opened at the beginning of June, 1970 and has remained in operation every summer since. The nightly rate that first season was $1.00! Since opening, the Climbers’ Ranch has been sustained by the commitment of a long succession of AAC officers, an ever-enlarging membership, and numerous visitors who had their initial introduction to both climbing and the AAC through their experience at the ranch.

All the GTCR details and reservations are available here. And, have you seen the webcam? See if you could be climbing the Grand right now – live updates every 10 minutes!

It’s Friday, it’s the weekend, and it’s time to get out. Something to get you motivated, or at least thinking about where you’re going to go…

http://www.splitterchoss.com/2008/05/14/top-5-climbing-movies-of-all-time/

The Top 5 Climbing Movies of All Time, according to SplitterChoss writer BJ Sbarra. Here’s one, The Eiger Sanction, but don’t forget to check out the rest via the link above.

(Want more climbing movies? The AAC library loans and mails them free to members. Search the database here, and email the library with your requests.)

When eleven men perished on the slopes of K2 in August 2008, it was one of the deadliest single events in Himalayan climbing and made headlines around the world. Yet none of the surviving western climbers could explain precisely what happened. Their memories were self-admittedly fogged by exhaustion, hypoxia, and hallucinations. The truth of what happened lies with four Sherpa guides who were largely ignored by the mainstream media in the aftermath of the tragedy, who lost two of their own during the incident, and whose heroic efforts saved the lives of at least four climbers.

Based on his numerous trips to Nepal and in-depth interviews he conducted with these unacknowledged heroes, the other survivors, and the families of the lost climbers, alpinist and veteran climbing writer Freddie Wilkinson presents the true story of what actually occurred on the “savage” mountain.

Please join K2 summiteer and American Alpine Club executive director Phil Powers, K2 summiteer Chris Warner, and alpinist Freddie Wilkinson for a reading, discussion, and signing of Wilkinson’s new book on the 2008 K2 tragedy.

Thursday, July 22 at 7:00p.m.

Hearst Hall, The National Cathedral School (map)

3612 Woodley Rd NW
Washington, DC 20016

The event is FREE but there is a $6 fee for parking. It is pay to park, a $6.00 flat rate until 11PM, clearance is 7 feet 6 inches, with the entrance on Wisc. Ave. at a light in front of the Cathedral. Hearst Hall is almost on top of the parking garage at the corner of Wisc. Ave. and Woodley Rd. Entrance to the building is on the Cathedral side near the entrance to the garage. Click here for details on the Cathedral parking garage.

Sponsored by Earth Treks and the American Alpine Club

For more tour dates and information, visit www.onemountainthousandsummits.com

and the Facebook page for the book.

Welcome to this Wednesday’s roundup of blogs and climbing sites we’re digging lately here in the AAC office. As always, let us know what you think in the comments, or point us toward ones deserving of a mention. For now, let’s get to it:

1. http://verticalcarnival.blogspot.com/

Full of stunningly well made climbing videos on the most perfect rock around the globe, this blog, written and edited by North Face (an AAC partner) athletes Cedar Wright, Renan Ozturk and Cory Richards, is one that the AAC staff get excited to check out when a new post goes live. Check it out for “dispatches” from the NF crew in Turkey, Nepal and even a sneak peek of Australia (full version in the Reel Rock Tour, but for now, a music video in which climbing meets “Total Eclipse of the Heart”). Sometimes they’re funny (Timmy O’Neill is center stage as of this post) and sometimes they let the climbing and surrounding locale speak for itself, but it’s always worth the few minutes to watch. So pumped to point you in that direction…

Australia Climbing Adventure_THE MUSICAL_Total Eclipse from Cedar Wright on Vimeo.

2. http://www.chickswithpicks.net/blog-posts/

One for the ladies. Chicks with Picks (ice climbing clinics) and Chicks Rock! (new rock skills clinics) combine to form Chicks Climbing, an all-around rad place for the women climbers of all abilities. Their goal? To be the “epicenter for women’s climbing conversations, Chick sightings, networking, hot topics, and a little girly-gossip.” More than just gossip, though, the site is FULL of news, tips, training ideas, GIVEAWAYS and more. Especially helpful is their roundup of links each week, pointing out tons of sweet things in the online and offline climbing world. Check them out on Twitter, too…

3. http://www.smileysproject.com/50/Update_FCC.html

Mark and Janelle Smiley

And finally, for a little “we always talked about it but they’re actually doing it” inspiration, check out Mark and Janelle Smiley’s project to complete all fifty climbs of the famous book, Fifty Classic Climbs of North America. Ten of their climbs will be filmed and documented on their quest that includes over 164,000 vertical feet and 25,000 miles of road-tripping. Videos, their schedule (and a map!) of all the climbs and blog updates are all available on their site.