If you have sent a book request between Friday and today, please send it again to library@americanalpineclub.org just to make sure we receive it. We apologize for any inconvenience. We want to make sure you get your book and dvd orders!
Charles Houston, 96, died peacefully in his Vermont home on Sunday. I know Charlie mostly as a mountain climber. From his leadership on the first ascent of Nanda Devi in 1936—the highest mountain ascended until Annapurna was climbed fourteen years later—to his expeditions on K2 in ’38 and ’53, Charlie … Read more…
Craggin’ Classic 2009 When: Oct 9, 2009 – Oct 11, 2009 Where: Salt Lake City, UT Pre Register by Friday, October 2nd: You’ve been hearing rumblings about this for the last couple of months. We’re psyched to unveil the packed schedule of events. The American Alpine Club, with the help … Read more…
In May 2009, a small team of rock climbers departed for Namibia with two goals: to find a way up an unexplored face, and to find a way into a deeper understanding of Southern Africa. At the heart of their trip lies the question, can adventure and culture combine to … Read more…
The application deadline for two of the AAC’s major grant programs has been moved two months earlier, to ensure that grant winners can be notified before their expeditions are scheduled to depart in the spring. The new application deadline for the Lyman Spitzer Cutting-Edge Awards and the McNeill-Nott Awards is … Read more…
Last fall the AAC co-organized and hosted a major fund-raiser for the great American climbing pioneer Layton Kor, who has kidney disease and is facing a transplant. More than 1,000 people watched Kor give his first slide show in many years. Now climbers Stewart Green (who is working on a … Read more…
The Northwest Mountaineering Journal is a beautifully produced online journal published annually since 2004 by a team of volunteers, with support from the Mountaineers and CascadeClimbers.com. The 2009 issue of the NWMJ has just been released, with eight feature stories and a compilation of new climbing routes and first ski … Read more…
Will Denali National Park and Preserve increase the special-use fee that climbers pay to attempt Mt. McKinley or Mt. Foraker? That’s the rumor, although no fee increase has been formally proposed. To stave off a potential increase, the AAC has been working closely with the Access Fund, the American Mountain … Read more…
A presentation by Astronaut John Grunsfeld, “The Hubble Repairman” September 30, 2009 American Mountaineering Center 710 10th Street, Golden, CO VIP Reception: 6:00pm-7:15pm $35 for AAC/CMC members and Friends of the Library/Museum $50 for non-members Includes admission to the presentation, appetizers and drinks RSVP by September 25 to Dana Richardson … Read more…
First, who is “Bates”? Robert Bates, a renowned explorer, alpinist, Peace Corps director, and educator, accomplished numerous first ascents in Alaska and was a member of the American expeditions to K2 in 1938 and 1953. His literary contributions describing the K2 expeditions and his life of adventure in the mountains … Read more…
Access Pan America is a new organization designed to share ideas and resources for climbing access problems throughout the Western Hemisphere. Co-organized by AAC member and Access Fund founder Armando Menocal, the group held an organizational meeting in August in Squamish, British Columbia. Activists from seven countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, … Read more…
A Presentation by Astronaut John Grunsfeld, “The Hubble Repairman” September 30, 2009 American Mountaineering Center 710 10th Street, Golden, CO VIP Reception: 6:00pm-7:15pm $35 for AAC members and Friends of the Library/Museum $50 for non-members Includes admission to the presentation, appetizers and drinks RSVP by September 25 to Dana Richardson … Read more…
Greg Sievers, a longtime AAC volunteer and past section chair from Estes Park, Colorado, made a quick trip to the Alps in early September and bagged a couple of classic routes. Here’s his story. Everything got started a day late because Lufthansa lost my bag in Frankfurt and it arrived … Read more…
AAC Mountain Fellowship winner Aaron Jones had an eye-opening trip to the Bugaboos in August. Aaron bagged seven summits, but still didn’t achieve his complete goals. But bear in mind: His goals were extremely ambitious! Read his full report here. Mountain Fellowships are awarded twice a year to climbers 25 … Read more…
Jim Moss, host of the AAC’s book club writes in: “We had an extremely interesting discussion at our September book club meeting where we discussed Mountains of the Mind by Macfarlane. The discussion touched life, death, religion, goals and how mountains affected and in some cases directed mankind. I was … Read more…
Actor William Shatner tries to explain the motivation for his character, Capt. James T. Kirk, who attempted to free-solo El Capitan during the opening scene of Star Trek V. Courtesy of Fall on Your Sword, via the American Alpine Institute blog. Click here to see the (awful) El Cap clip … Read more…
Photographer and AAC member Jody Langford has created a wonderful online gallery of historical Teton photos of and by his father, Jim Langford, a climbing ranger in Grand Teton National Park during the 1950s. John Gill, the famed boulderer who frequently climbed in the Tetons at the time, wrote of … Read more…
Once a month, bring your kids to the American Alpine Club Library for inspiring stories about mountains! Hosted by Dr. Erika Sueker, former director of Golden Independent School, this is an opportunity for local families to use the resources of the mountaineering library. While the kids are listening to stories, … Read more…