Youth Grant Winner Climbs in the Bugaboos
Bugaboo Spire (left) and Snowpatch Spire from South Howser Tower. Photo by Luke Laeser.
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 and younger to help them travel to remote areas and attempt climbs they might otherwise be unable to do. Learn more here.
I write to express both how impressed and disappointed I am by this post.
Impressed: You free soloed loads of stuff in the Bugs! Wild. I’ve been there once and have done some of the routes you described. It is indeed a great place.
Disappointed: I’ve free soloed things myself. I’ve known others who free solo and I think that they should have the choice to do so. The free spirit of climbing means that we get to choose our own level of risk–we all understand this. However, I don’t think the general public does understand.
The public simply sees this type of climbing as the act of an arrogant, reckless, and irresponsible person. Therefore, I argue that free-soloing hurts climbing advocacy and climbing access causes. Should the AAC really be providing grants that encourage more free soloing? Though the AAC’s slogan says nothing about promoting safer climbing, it does say that it provides advocacy to the climbing community, and access is certainly an important issue to the AAC. It would seem that there is a conflict of interest here.
My current conclusion: I respect Mr. Jones’s accomplishment and I have nothing against the method in which he achieved it. However, for the reasons noted above, I do not think that the AAC should provide grants for free soloing, nor should free-soloists request such money. It should simply be something that is not done in the name of the AAC.
Do you agree or disagree? I’m an open-minded guy and willing to see the other side of a coin. I welcome further comment. If this is not the correct location for such a discussion, would the AAC please provide a link to a more appropriate forum?
Thanks,
Matt