See all the photos from the event in our Media Galleries. On Thursday, December 8, Outerlocal presented “From Cleated Boots to Ski Descents: The Past, Present and Future of Teton Guiding” in Jackson, Wyoming. Over 300 climbers and skiers jammed into the cozy Snow King Lodge Room and over 400 … Read more…
AAC Board Member, accomplished climber, and Friend of the Club Pete Takeda spent some time talking to our Northwest Regional Coordinator, Eddie Espinosa about the recent Bozeman Ice Festival. [Watch the Trailer] The 15th annual Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival, ran from Dec. 7 to Dec. 11, 2011 in the town of … Read more…
What began as a friendly favor to help fund a small medical clinic in rural Nepal has changed the lives of thousands residing in impoverished mountain villages all over the world. When Scott MacLennan realized $1 per person per year can staff a basic clinic in Nepal’s Rasuwa District, he … Read more…
In June and July 2011, the Deep South Section of The American Alpine Club spearheaded an environmental mountaineering expedition to Peru’s highest mountain range. The Cordillera Blanca contains the highest concentration of mountains higher than 6,000 meters (19,685 ft.) in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the highest mountains in the Tropics. Section … Read more…
This year, The American Alpine Club is proud to partner with The North Face for their Speaker Series. The majority of featured speakers are proud AAC Members and all proceeds from the October 19, Jackson, WY event featuring Mark Synnott will be donated to the Grand Teton Climbers’ Ranch! This year, supporting the Climbers’ … Read more…
[Update. November 1, 2011: Team member Chad Butrick recently sent the AAC a link to his blog which features a great trip report from this expedtion up the Grand. Check it out!] A team from Veterans Expeditions, with support by Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, summited the Grand Teton on September … Read more…
AAC Member David Falt and his partner Helen Manancourt recently completed a bold repeat of the Swiss Route on Cima Ovest. This peak, part of the Tre Cime trio, features a handful of routes up its north face. David and Helen climbed until dark, and then spent an unplanned bivy … Read more…
Last week we posted some snippets from Steve Swenson’s blog posts on the first ascent of Saser Kangri II. The team consisted of Swenson (the current AAC President), past club President Mark Richey, and renowned alpine climber Freddie Wilkinson. Mark recently provided the AAC a full write-up, complete with pictures! … Read more…
This project, created by AAC Northeast Regional Coordinator Sarah Garlick, tells the story of her 2010 expedition to southern Greenland, where she and teammates Jim Surette, Danika Gilbert, and Dave Nettle established a new route on a remote, 600-meter granite wall. Reflections of Greenland is supported in part by the … Read more…
Thanks to American Alpine Club President Steve Swenson for this latest post. It is a re-post from his own blog, steveswensonsblog.blogspot.com. Welcome back to my blog after a period of inactivity. I’m going to get back into it with some stories of my latest alpine adventure – our second attempt to … Read more…
Jerry Gallwas was, with Royal Robbins and Mike Sherrick, the first to complete a Grade VI route in the United States: Half-Dome’s Regular Northwest Face (VI 5.9 A1 or 5.12). Jerry recently provided the AAC with a thorough multimedia compendium of the momentous climb. The report contains personal accounts from … Read more…
“In June 2010, American author and adventurer John Harlin set out on a three-month journey to follow the entire Swiss border under his own power, a 2,000km odyssey with more than 170,000m of climbing—but tragedy struck early. Barely a week in, he broke both of his feet in a mountaineering … Read more…
In less than a week, 12 injured soliders and 10 Everest climbers will attempt two Himalayan summits as part of Soldiers to the Summit: “Among the many tragedies of war are the serious injuries inflicted upon our soldiers. When they return home, these heroes often have disabilities that may seem … Read more…
For this belated Climbs and Climbers post, check out an expedition heading out soon after this Labor Day weekend. Chad Hagan also operates as the AAC Section Chair for the Deep South, tirelessly organizing sweet events in and around the Atlanta area, and he’ll take off on Tuesday for Bolivia. … Read more…
Need to be quick today, so here’s a few climbing blogs we love, for your Wednesday hump-day reading pleasure: 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 … Read more…
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, … Read more…
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 … Read more…
Just about every day I stumble upon a new climbing blog or expedition report, or some other venue online where climbers are doing major things and reporting in on their progress. Many of the ones that come through the AAC office are from grant winners, attempting big routes with AAC … Read more…
Below is an important message from Linda McMillan, committee chair for the AAC’s Yosemite Committee as well as a representative for the AAC on the UIAA’s Protection Commission. AAC Members, In February, we helped submit comments during the scoping period for Yosemite’s Merced Wild and Scenic River Plan. There will … Read more…
We’d love to point you over to a film project in the works by Oakley Anderson-Moore, “The Last Wild Mountain: Portrait of the American Climber.” Oakley and her team have spent the last three years traveling around the country interviewing climbers– young, old, big name and everyday– to gather the … Read more…
The AAC can nominate two US climbers to take part in the First International “Trad” Climbing Meeting, organized by the Club Alpino Accademico Italiano (CAAI, a national section of Club Alpino Italiano). The deadline is June 14, so we need you to act quickly to represent the AAC in Italy. … Read more…
We celebrate climbing every day – from the Alpinist to the local boulderer, from the “accomplished” veterans that inspire us all to the young up-and-coming climbers setting new standards. One of the greatest resources of the AAC (not to toot our own horn) is the access to the history of … Read more…
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 … Read more…
When I received my invite to the AAC Annual Dinner, my initial thought was, “Do I belong?” I was under the impression that I had no place attending a fancy dinner with some old crusty climbers. Then I started thinking about what it would mean to be in a room … Read more…
In this post back in September , we let you know about Majka Burhardt’s film project, “WayPoint Namibia.” The film is now officially out on DVD, so check it out when you get a chance. The bonus? 5% of your purchase of “WayPoint Namibia” will be donated to the Integrated … Read more…