Participants between 16 and 30 years old are invited to participate in a mountaineering expedition in the Kazbek Gorge Mountains of Georgia. This event is part of the Global Youth Summit, a series of international summer climbing camps and other mountaineering events for young people that promote environmental efforts, peace and cooperation between countries.

Mt. Kazbek, which participating students will summit. Photo courtesy of Mountaineering and Climbing Association of Georgia.

This particular trip will be an eight-day mountaineering school guided by the Mountaineering and Climbing Association of Georgia, of which the highlight will be a summit of Mt. Kazbek, 5407m. Young members from all UIAA associations (AAC membership meets this requirement) are welcome to join this event. Participants under 18 must be accompanied by a leader from their own federation.

There is quite a bit of helpful trip information (costs, dates, skill requirements, travel info, etc) and contact details in the invitation, available here. If you would like to take part, you must send in the registration form (a downloadable form is available via link) before June 25th, 2010 to the following addresses: zkutch@yahoo.com or clubtravell@hotmail.com.

You can find more summer treks, climbing camps and ascents for young people on the GYS Calendar .

A couple of days ago, we posted Cedar Wright’s video of his quick trip to the crags in Arkansas. Here’s the story to go with it – a story of great climbing and great community among the members of the Heartland section of the AAC. Enjoy, and thank you, Cedar.

I had the great pleasure last weekend of traveling to the Horseshoe Ranch in Arkansas to give a joint presentation along with Jeremy Collins, to benefit the AAC. I was a little bit dubious about the prospect for climbing in Arkansas, as I had not heard much about it, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a true sandstone frontier offering the full gamut of challenges, from Bouldering, to Sport Climbing and even some spectacular Trad-climbs. I arrived a day early to get in a little climbing with Jeremy, and by the end of the day my forearms felt like they had been beat to a pulp by a meat tenderizer, by the endless supply of steep gymnastic climbing. Between burns, I pulled out my video camera and tried to convey through moving pictures the vibe of Arkansas cragging. That evening, I edited a video to show at the presentation.

People were psyched to see their home area on the big screen, were very supportive of the AAC and just generally psyched to come together. Nearly a hundred and fifty people rallied to the show and everyone was amped for the entertainment, beer and door prizes. Jeremy showed his amazing film “Border Country” for the first time, and also shared some of his classic climbing related cartoons. Jeremy is in my opinion the single greatest climbing artist on the planet. He really is a visionary…constantly striving and breaking new ground as a climber and artist. After Jeremy, I showed my multimedia shebang, which includes several original short films and slides from all around the world, including Africa, Pakistan, Brazil, Argentina and some local adventures as well. I find events like this rejuvenating. It’s nice to know people are psyched and inspired by some of my crazy adventures, and it’s always nice to give back to the climbing community that has truly given me everything. We rallied some new members to the AAC, and showed people a good time, so I think it was a success on all accounts.

Being a member of the AAC is about taking part in something larger than your self. It’s about shared values, and shared passion. I’ve been getting my inspiration from the Journal since I knew what a climbing shoe and camalot were, so it’s always an honor to represent the AAC and I look forward to helping the club reach out to new members whenever and however I can. These are my people, this is my community.

Off Belay.

Cedar Wright.

Arkansas in a day! from Cedar Wright on Vimeo.

This past weekend, AAC members Jeremy Collins and Cedar Wright got together in Arkansas for a slideshow, beer, and general alpine hijinks with climbers near Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. From the sounds of it, the night and the climbing were both terrific.

We’ll let Cedar’s video tell the story, posted on Vertical Carnival:

Arkansas in a day! from Cedar Wright on Vimeo.

Zack Martin bouldering. Photo courtesy of John Parsons.

Zack Martin died just before his 25th birthday on Thanksgiving Day 2002. He was a recipient of AAC grants, the Anatoli Boukreev grant and others. Zack was concerned about the general arrogance and self-serving aspirations of climbers and explorers. He committed that on all future expeditions he would not only climb and explore but more importantly he would perform humanitarian service in the local community. He would “break a barrier” in the alpine environment and “break a barrier” in the heart of man. As Zack often said, “The only barrier holding you back is yourself.”

In his memory, the Zack Martin Breaking Barriers Grant (ZMBB) is a dual-purpose grant fund. The primary objective is humanitarian and the secondary objective is climbing, alpinism and/or exploration in the natural environment. The grantee must meet both objectives and is strongly encouraged to obtain additional funding. The humanitarian objective must be reasonable, and sustainable. Objectives that continue after implementation will receive the highest level of consideration. Focus the objective to affect the greatest human change. The alpine objective should focus on climbing and/or exploration but need not be at the leading edge of climbing or alpinism.

Need inspiration or ideas? Read the trip report from last year’s ZMBB recipient, Clint Estes, here: http://www.americanalpineclub.org/tr/sandbaggedinpakistan

The application deadline for this important grant is rapidly approaching: March 15, 2010. The committee is hoping to award $2000-$3000 worth of funding!

How to apply?
Applying for the ZMBB Grant is a two-step process. The first step is the submission of a short grant proposal abstract. After review of the abstract, the ZMBB grant committee will select three potential recipients. Each of the three selected applicants may be contacted and required to complete and submit the long form grant proposal. Complete the attached abstract proposal and submit it by Mar 15. The three potential grant recipients will be contacted on or before March 30 and may be asked for more information or an AAC long form grant proposal due by April 15. The award will be announced in early May.

The photos below were taken by photographer Dan Gambino at the 2010 Benefit and Awards Dinner. Check these and more photos out on our Facebook fan page as well!

Reign of Terror, new route on Terror Peak just south of Milford Sound, New Zealand.

Terror Peak is an imposing hunk of granite just south of Milford Sound, New Zealand. It is fairly remote, and was only first climbed in 2008. The first ascent was done by Hugh Barnard and Martin Wilson with their route War on Terror, grade 21/10d. My partner, Nick Flyvberg and I did the second ascent of this route in January 2009 with a more direct third pitch, grade 22/11a.

While we were up there, we scoped out some possible other lines. Right when we were nearing the top, foul weather suddenly blew in, as it often does from the coast. We rapped down as quickly as possible (one of our ropes got stuck on the last rappel and we had to leave it). We were picked up in the nick of time by our daring Kiwi friend and helicopter pilot, Jason, who was able to hold the heli with one skid on the side of the mountain as we literally tossed in our gear and took off. Five more minutes and the whole area was socked in- we would have had to bivy for three days with minimal gear if he hadn’t  been able to get us!

That March, Terror peak saw its first base jump by Chuck Berry, Shane McConkey and Miles Daisher. Sadly, Shane, who was a big extreme skier and base-jumper from Whistler, died later that month on a Red Bull photo shoot in Italy.

Shelly Malkin and Nick Flyvberg completed the new route Reign of Terror on Terror Peak in January 2010.

Nick and I returned the following year. It had been a big snow year in the South Island that past winter, and a lot of the peaks were still running wet. We did a recon flight with Jason to see if our line looked dry. It did, so when we were sure of a good weather window, we went for it. The route went quickly and smoothly. The rock was solid (a bit dirty in parts as to be expected) and the protection was good.
It was about 4 full 60 meter pitches: grade 15/5.8, 18/5.9, 21/5.10d, 18/5.9.

Jason picked us up again after the climb with much less drama this time, and we returned to camp to meet my husband and Henare and Bruce, the other fishermen who had caught loads of fish and were celebrating with cold beers!

-Shelly Malkin. Shelly is an AAC member in Greenwich, CT. She submitted her and Nick’s new route upon their return from Fiordlands, NZ in January. Put up something recently, or just had an all-around great trip? Tell the story here.

Coming in right behind the first place video was Tad Hunt with “Pushing Our Limits – Indian Creek – 2009.” Congrats, Tad, and an AAC Ibex Hoody is on it’s way to you!

A little bit of info on this one, according to Tad:
This video showcases the beauty of the ‘Creek interspersed with Colin working Annunaki(*) and me working Way Rambo. Indian Creek is a great place to push our limits and get strong.

(*) – This is the correct spelling according to the plaque at the base — check out the video.

The results of the AAC video contest are in, and we’d like to offer congratulations to first-prize winner Peter Valchev, who submitted “Ice Climbing in the Ghost: Candlestick Maker and Hidden Dragon” and received over 4,000 views. Peter, an Osprey Mutant 38 pack is on it’s way to you!

Here’s a short description of the vid:

Ice climbing in the Ghost River Valley, Canada. Orient Point is a drainage that hosts several high-quality ice climbs that can be combined for a nice day. We climbed the easy approach ice and started off with a short pillar to the left of Hidden Dragon, after which we continued to Candlestick Maker, our real objective. It consists of a short & stout free standing pillar, pouring in front of a large cave. The second pitch is a longer version of the same.

This is a 3-minute compilation I made with my helmet camera to show parts of the experience. Soundtrack is “The Rapture – Sister Saviour (Blackstrobe Remix)”, Creative Commons licensed: creativecommons.org/wired/. Video created with Cinelerra for Linux. Photos & trip report: http://sightly.net/peter/trips/ghost/candlestickmaker2009/

Stay tuned for the 2nd and 3rd place finishers!

The deadline for electronic comments on Yosemite National Park’s proposed Merced Wild and Scenic River Plan has been extended until midnight on February 9. The previous deadline had been February 4, but the NPS experienced technical difficulties because of high volume, and some climbers’ comments were inadvertently rejected.

A notice at Yosemite’s Merced Plan web page states: “If you tried to send an electronic comment on the Merced River Plan and your email was returned to you as undeliverable, please submit your comment again. We will be accepting comments until midnight, Feb 9, 2010. When you resend your comment, please include a note in the subject line that this is a resent comment.”

Click here to learn more about the Merced Plan, which could affect climbing access and camping in Yosemite National Park. The Access Fund’s automated comment-generator is no longer active, but you can still comment online through the NPS’ Merced Plan site. Please note: This extension applies only to electronic comments.

Thanks to the creative efforts of Scott Neel and many talented, comitted athletes, the AAC is proud to unveil a new trailer to share the message and heartbeat of the AAC. Let us know what you think!