The second year of the AAC’s Los Glaciares National Park conservation project, sponsored by Patagonia Inc., wrapped up successfully in early December. Over six weeks in the Patagonian spring, the eight-man Argentinean-American team, led by project coordinator Rolando Garibotti, with help from other volunteers, continuedwork begun in 2008 to restore heavily eroded trails in Los Glaciares, which is home to Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.

First, however, the American trail experts led a nine-day field-work seminar in late October with 17 park rangers from various national parks across Argentinean Patagonia. Over more than 76 hours in the field, the rangers learned techniques for mitigating and stopping erosion, including steps, drainage, and causeways. Despite some initial difficulties due to the language barrier, the course was a major success, and similar efforts likely will be made in the future.

Once the trail course ended, work resumed on the heavily damaged Laguna de los Tres trail in Los Glaciares. Because of poor weather, work also was done on the lower-elevation trails leading to Rio Blanco camp and up the Cerro Torre valley. About 2,000 man/hours of trail work was completed.

In his report on the 2009 work, Garibotti said the project is having a much broader impact than new water bars and steps. “Our work, including the trail course, is inspiring some land managers to follow a much more deliberate approach toward trail building and maintenance,” he wrote. “One clear example of the above is that since January 2010 the northern area of Los Glaciares National Park has its own trail crew. As an initial experiment, the park decided to commit five salaries for four months (until late April) to the trails. It is the first time in the Patagonian parks that several people are specifically assigned to trail work.”

The Los Glaciares conservation project will continue until 2011. There is much more to this innovative international effort than can be described in a short article, and you can read Garibotti’s full report here. The video below offers a great summary of the first year of the project, in 2008.

The American Mountaineering Museum will induct four members of its new Hall of Mountaineering Excellence in April at a celebration of the lives and achievements of American climbers Yvon Chouinard, Robert Craig, Bob Bates, and Dr. Charlie Houston. At the awards gala on April 10 in Golden, Colorado, Chouinard and Craig are expected to accept their awards in person; the family and friends of Bates and Houston, who both have passed on, will accept their awards.

The evening will be filled with stories of each mountaineer’s greatest ascents and expeditions, memories of the inductees no longer with us, as well as an appreciative look at each man’s work beyond the climbing world. In addition to being a pioneering ice and big-wall climber, Chouinard has been one of the most important outdoor equipment and clothing innovators of modern times and a leading voice of environmental activism. Bates, Craig, and Houston are perhaps best known as climbers for their roles in the dramatic K2 expedition of 1953, but each has had profound impacts outside mountaineering: Bates as a beloved educator; Craig as founder and longtime president of the Keystone Center public-policy conference center; and Houston as a doctor and medical researcher.

Tickets for the April 10 event will go on sale February 15 through the American Mountaineering Museum website and at the museum’s Base Camp Adventure Gift Shop in Golden.

The American Mountaineering Museum opened in February 2008. The new Hall of Mountaineering Excellence will be located in a rededicated space in one of the museum’s theater rooms.

AAC Member Vicki Young tells the story of her family’s recent climb in Pinnacles National Monument. What did you put up last weekend? Tell it here.

January at home in the California Sierra can mean snow and cold. January in Pinnacles National Monument (just outside of Soledad, California) can mean sunshine, if you’re lucky. We braved the Central Valley fog to get in one last climbing day before the annual Raptor Closures kept us out of some of our favorite areas.

We had a specific goal in mind: my husband Brad wanted to get his 800th climb at Pinnacles. So we gathered up a group of friends – some vastly experienced climbers and some “newbies” – and hiked out to Crowley Towers to put up a few new climbs. The line that Brad had picked out to be “The 800 Club” went up fairly easily at 5.7 or so. Brad and some of the more seasoned climbers showed the new guys how to hand-drill bolts (on lead, of course) and everyone took turns being part of the crew. As Brad and Waldo were putting in the belay bolts on top, the largest flock of California condors we had ever seen showed up to circle above us – practically within touching distance! The sound of the wind in their feathers was incredible. We had seen the condors before, but always at quite a distance and never so many at once.

Once the anchors were ready, the ascent party began. And party it was! A grand total of 13 in the first-ascent group, with an age range from 7 to 60+, tied-in conga-line style.  The guidebook entry for the FA for this climb will be an essay.

Mark Richey, past AAC president, and his wife, Teresa, are planning a second shipment of tents to Haitians left homeless by this month’s earthquake. The first big load of tents and other equipment will leave the Richeys’ Massachusetts woodworking business, en route to Haiti, this week. The new deadline for sending good-quality tents (new or used) to the Richeys is February 12. Larger, family-style tents are best, but any shelter is welcome. Please ship tents to:

Mark Richey Woodworking
40 Parker Street
Newburyport, MA 01950-4056

Teresa Richey said sleeping bags are no longer needed and that tents are the primary need in Haiti, with untold numbers of people still sleeping outside without adequate shelter from the weather and mosquitoes. Mark Richey and past AAC vice president Jim Ansara are both in Haiti, assisting Partners in Health with building-related issues.

Ansara and his wife, Karen, are matching donations to the Haiti Fund of the Boston Foundation up to $1 million, through their own family foundation. The funds will provide immediate relief as well as a long-term focus on reconstruction and human rights. To learn more or make a donation, visit the Haiti Fund web page.

Pat Goodman and Dave Sharratt, winners of a 2009 Lyman Spitzer Award from the AAC, experienced a surprising and frustrating permit situation in Sichuan, China, effectively shutting down their expedition. Goodman had climbed in Siguniang National Park in 2005 and had researched the October 2009 trip extensively, but the two men were surprised to learn upon arriving at the park gate that they needed a special climbing permit. Back in the nearby town, officials told them they had to get their permit in person in Beijing; locally, they were only able to obtain an expensive camping and trekking permit. Despite a threat of fines and jail time, they made a brief attempt on unclimbed Seerdengpu (the “Barbarian”), but the wind had gone out of their sails.

Late, Goodman learned that the permit rules had been in place since the mid-1990s, but were only strictly enforced beginning in 2009. One team that obtained the proper permits in 2009 paid roughly $3,000 for 10 days of climbing. You can read Goodman’s full trip report and find more info about the permit situation at the AAC website. Sharratt’s account can be found at the Black Diamond site.

This spring, when AAC member Troy Bacon leads a small group up Denali’s west buttress, the climbers won’t just be thinking about the route and the weather—they’ll be thinking about a Montana Highway Patrol trooper named Michael Haynes who was killed by a drunk driver last year. Bacon will be leading the six-man team to Denali on behalf of a nonprofit called Cops on Top, which plans annual climbs and frequent expeditions in tribute to police officers who have died in the line of duty.

Cops on Top was founded by Captain Keith McPheeters of the Farmington, N.M., police department. In 1998, Captain McPheeters was a member of his department’s Special Response Team, searching for the killers of Cortez, Colo., police officer Dale Claxton. The manhunt was the largest of its kind in American history. During those months, McPheeters reflected on of the nature of his occupation, the public’s perception of a police officer’s work, and the effect such a loss has on survivors. From these thoughts, the concept of Cops on Top took form.

In June 1999, a team of Dutch and American climbers set out to climb North America’s tallest mountain in honor of Officer Dale Claxton. In 2001, Cops on Top launched another memorial expedition to Denali, this time in honor of Trooper James Saunders of the Washington State Patrol. Since then, Cops on Top has carried out several more expeditions in honor of fallen officers, reaching the summits of Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, and Denali: Read the rest of this entry »

Mark Richey, a past president of the AAC, is helping to organize a collection drive for tents and sleeping bags to send to Haiti to aid the hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of people left homeless by the recent earthquake. “Used tents, as long as they are functional, and sleeping bags are fine, and of course new tents and sleeping bags from any of our outdoor industry friends would be ideal,” Richey said. “Since the climate is hot, lightweight sleeping bags are preferable and larger, camping-style tents would be best, but anything will be used.”

Time is of the essence, so equipment should be sent no later than Friday, January 22, to:

Mark Richey Woodworking
40 Parker Street
Newburyport, MA  01950-4056

Richey’s employees and volunteers will check the gear and prepare it for shipment.

Former AAC vice president Jim Ansara and his wife, Karen, also are heavily involved in the Haiti relief effort. The Haiti Fund has been created by the Ansaras and the Boston Foundation to provide immediate relief as well as a long-term focus on reconstruction and human rights. Donations to the Haiti Fund will be matched dollar for dollar by the Ansara Family Fund, up to $1 million. To learn more or make a donation, visit the Haiti Fund web page.

It is usually very hard to get people up by nine a.m. on a Sunday, especially after a wild party. To my surprise, though, I had to turn people away from our 4th Annual AAC Sunburn Breakfast, part of the 2010 Ouray Ice Festival. This year, we were pleased to host Ines Papert. Ines wowed the crowd with her pictures and stories about rock climbing and what motivates her to keep pushing her limits.

If there is ever a reason to get up early on a Sunday morning, it is the AAC Sunburn Breakfast that never disappoints.

The rest of the weekend was a hit as well, with AAC members Josh Wharton and Ines Papert taking home top spots and everyone having a generally great time. Says AAC volunteer Amy Villaci,

“It was my first time at this event which has been a fixture in the climbing community for the past 15 years. Checking out the latest gear from companies like Patagonia and The North Face, watching the pros compete, taking in Ines Papert’s slideshow at the American Alpine Club’s Sunday morning breakfast, or dressing up like a superhero and dancing the night away – it’s hard to choose my favorite part of the event. Even as someone who didn’t strap on a single crampon or tie into a single rope, the organization and friendly atmosphere of the festival made it a weekend well spent!”

Until next year.

-Dana Richardson

Coming soon to a theater near you: “North Face,” a full-length film showcasing the gripping story of two German alpinists’ 1936 attempt of the infamous north face of the Eiger. Urged on to complete the ascent by Nazi propaganda, Toni Kurz and Andi Hinterstoisser begin a reluctant attempt of the Swiss massif just slightly ahead of an Austrian team. When weather and other events push back against the climbers’ initial progress, this true story of their fight for survival begins.

Starting January 29, the film will show at small venues around the U.S., including a sneak peak at AAC headquarters in Golden, CO (6:00pm showing. For the full list of venues and dates, click here). Based on the preview copy floating around the office, AAC staff recommend it highly, but the producers’ comments speak for themselves:

“NORTH FACE is a story about youth, passion, and the search for challenges that make life worth living for younger generations. And even though the events go back 70 years, the lives of Toni Kurz and Anderl Hinterstoisser have lost nothing of their relevance or power. Only few people will remember them directly, but many will find their own reflection in these characters – not only Alpinists and nature lovers, but also those still searching for their path in life.”  -Danny Krausz, Boris Schonfelder, Rudolf Santschi and Benjamin Herrmann

This suspenseful story of two climbers’ race against time and nature has won numerous film awards in Germany including Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound Design. For more information, visit www.northfacethemovie.com or check it out on Facebook and Twitter. Here’s the trailer, below:

The deaths of alpinists Jonny Copp and Micah Dash, along with young filmmaker Wade Johnson, last spring in Sichuan, China, left a huge void in American climbing. But it’s not just their climbs we miss—it’s also their unique and fresh perspectives as storytellers, whether in print, photos, slide shows, or video. Both Copp and Dash were great characters, and their passion for telling the tales of their adventures was as vital and enriching as the great new routes they completed.

The brand-new Copp-Dash Inspire Award celebrates this spirit. These awards will fund bold climbing adventures in the remotest ranges on Earth, and, equally important, they will help talented storytellers bring back multimedia stories. The new grant, administered by the AAC and sponsored by Black Diamond Equipment, La Sportiva, Mountain Hardwear and Patagonia, will provide a pool of $20,000 in grants to North American climbers for expeditions between May 1, 2010, and February 28, 2011.

Good candidates for the grant will propose first ascents in distant ranges and regions, requiring a high level of skill and commitment, and climbed in a fast, light, and clean style. Proposed documentation styles can include any mix of photos, video, or writing that will vividly capture the essence of the adventure, and these stories may be shared through many outlets: slide shows, the Internet, magazine articles, and more. Creativity is key.

Uniquely, the Copp-Dash Inspire Award also will provide recipients with mentoring before and after their expeditions. Instruction and storytelling advice will be provided by the Adventure Film Festival, Alpinist magazine, Sender Films, and professional photographers John Dickey and Mikey Schaefer, in order to help award winners achieve their goals.

Applications for the 2010 awards are due March 31. Click here to learn more and download an application for this exciting new grant program.