The American Alpine Club has over 9,000 members worldwide and each of those members approaches climbing and time in the outdoors differently. For some it’s a career, for some a diversion, for others, an obsession. The Club’s membership spans boulderers, sport-climbers, hikers, skiers, trad-rats, scientists, big-wall aficionados, adventurers, ice-climbers, peak-baggers, explorers, and alpinists. It’s a big tent, but there are a lot of people in love with the mountains excited to fill that tent. 

Telling the stories of our members is important to us because it helps the community understand who makes up that community. Member and Library volunteer Marina Valenzuela has spent hours in the library helping us catalog the thousands upon thousands of cool things that people donate to our archives. She thought that this series of notes, in particular, were really cool!

A month ago I had the rare honor of going through and cataloging the personal climbing notes of none other than Catherine Freer, generously contributed to the American Alpine Club Library by her friend Alison Osius [Also a Past President of the American Alpine Club].

While going through the small box of faded climbing guide photocopies, hand-drawn route maps, and list after list of routes that had been checked-off, I slowly learned to move through the particular geography she inhabited.  I learned which were the hardest routes in the Yosemite Valley, what climbing in Joshua Tree was like, viewed pictures of the Canadian Rockies, and looked with awe at the picture of her summiting Cholatse, her dark shape dwarfed by the shimmering ice peak.

For those who have not heard of her, Freer was truly a legend in her own time.  While maybe not as well-known as Messner, Breshears, or Hill; Freer stood her ground as a respected rock climber and mountaineer. 

Freer started climbing in her teens, and quickly moved up the ranks.  She tackled the hardest routes with an intensity noted by her peers, and constantly challenged her own abilities.  Yet there was an emotional openness to her that drew people in.  Fellow climbers can recall her taking the time during difficult ascents to invite fellow mountaineers to share their thoughts and feelings, laying bare her own fears of failure, even as she encouraged the team to keep going. 

Scattered through her climbing logs, I found traces of this introspection, as she mused on relationships, left route sketches on the back of a poem, and added exhilarated notes on particular climbs.

It is the greatness of heart as much as the deeds that continue to inspire, as Freer died young, another adventurer lost to the mountains. At the age of 37, she and Dave Cheesmond were victims of a collapsed cornice while attempting the second ascent of the Hummingbird Range of Mount Logan. Their bodies have not been found.

In recognition of her lasting contributions to the mountaineering community, the American Alpine Club posthumously awarded her the Underhill Award in 1987.

The objective is to allow the communication of experiences among international climbers, promote climbing—in particular its traditional style—and showcase the Orco Valley, a gem in the climbing world, known for its historical relevance to the development of modern climbing in Italy and it’s natural beauty & stunning granite lines.

Climbers from the all over the world—sponsored by national climbing federations—will be invited, up to 2 per nation, for a maximum of 60 participants. They will be assisted by host climbers in selecting proper climbs and locations.

Climbing days will end with thematic slideshows, open to the public. 

Trad climbing skills are required on most routes, though many of the face routes have fixed gear. Most of the climbs in the valley are multipitch adventures, some up to 500 meters in length, though most not exceeding 200 meters. As a minimum requirement applicant climbers should be able to lead 6b (5.10d) while placing protection.

This Meet will be held September 16 – 23, 2012. Selected Club representatives, chosen by the AAC staff, are responsible for paying airfare and a 100-Euro registration fee. The CAAI will provide food and accommodations during the Meet.

Interested? Become a member of the AAC and follow the application instructions below.

Meet Schedule:

Sunday 9/16—Climbers arrive. Opening ceremonies in Ceresole Reale in the Valle Orco at 7 p.m.

Monday 9/17—Climbing day, with an evening slideshow on historic and modern climbs in the area

Tuesday 9/18—Climbing day

Wednesday 9/19—Climbing day, with an evening slideshow

Thursday 9/20—Climbing day

Friday 9/21—Climbing day

Saturday 9/22—Climbing day and an evening party

Sunday 9/23—Closing ceremonies 

Application Information:

Please send the application materials listed below to the AAC by June 7, 2012. A selection committee will choose from the applicants and contact the CAAI promptly. Final selections will be made by the CAAI and applicants will receive confirmation by the beginning of July.

The Club is hoping for one male and one female climber to represent the Club at this Meet, but final selections will be made based on who applies.

Application Deadline: June 7, 2012

Application Materials: Please submit a one-page climbing resume AND one-page cover letter detailing why YOU should represent the AAC at this event. (To take part in this event climbers MUST have substantial climbing experience. Please detail this in your application.) 

As a minimum requirement applicant climbers should be able to lead 6b (5.10d) while placing protections.

Participants are asked to be equipped with personal climbing gear and sleeping bag.

Application Contact: Luke Bauer, lbauer@americanalpineclub.org

 Read about our members Scott and Bayard who attended a British Mountaineering Council Winter Meet in Scotland this year.

A Personal Experience with Gigapixel Imagery [Part 3]

[Continued from Part 2]…The future holds promise too, for understanding the possible failure mechanisms of various rock formations. Greg Stock also noted in the interview that they “are also starting to use the photos to analyze the cliffs for potential future rockfall activity. This involves identifying potentially unstable structures such as overhanging roofs or detached pillars, mapping them in 3D with laser scanning, and then modeling their stability and possible failure mechanism. We are probably a long way from predicting rockfalls, but with this technique we can start to identify particularly unstable areas.” The image and new knowledge gathered from a rockfall hazard and risk assessment that is close to wrapping up “will help to inform management decisions regarding structures located within hazardous areas.” As Greg also noted, two hundred structures are permanently closed in the Curry Village area after the rockfall off Glacier Point in 2008. This occurring just a few months after the Yosemite Pano Project concluded. 

When asked if any climbing accidents were related to geological failures in 2011 Greg stated the following:

“There were no rockfalls in 2011 that caused major injuries to climbers (that I’m aware of), and in fact the number of climber injuries/fatalities due to naturally-occurring rockfalls in Yosemite is actually low; the last fatality of a climber was in 1999. However, rockfalls are obviously most likely to occur from the steep cliffs, and they can occur at anytime, so climbers should be aware that there are ever-present risks associated with climbing in Yosemite Valley. Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR) has original copies of the xRez panoramas and will occasionally use them to evaluate and document an event.”

John Dill of YOSAR had a little bit to add from the SAR side:

“I believe you’re right [Greg] that natural rockfall is a rare cause of climbing accidents. One climber died this year [2011] when a flake or block he dislodged cut his rope as he fell, but I guess that falls into the category of “rocks that haven’t yet fallen on their own but are trying to”. Deaths and injuries in that category have been fairly common over the years and that is one of our constant messages.
      We do use xRez very often for initial size up, e.g., figuring out an efficient access route to the scene of a climbing or hiking accident, often in combination with other photo sources and local knowledge. The unique advantage of xRez, obviously, is the ability to obtain useful detail from a location in deep background at the edge of the panorama, with a perspective that 95% of other photos lack.”

Greg Stock notes a final point, he leaves the bear chasing to others and from a climbing point of view “Middle Cathedral tends to be overlooked, probably due to its proximity to El Capitan, but it is a really fascinating formation that actually has a lot more character than El Capitan.” Greg’s highlight climbing in 2011 was the North Buttress on Middle Cathedral. [Continued after the extensive gallery...]

Eric Hanson stated in a recent email that this research project “affected the closure of 300 structures at Camp Curry and made sleeping in Curry almost as safe as climbing the walls there!” This occurred prior to the large Glacier Point rockfall event, preventing even more injuries or possibly deaths from occurring.

Eric Hanson and Greg Downing of xRez studios and David Breashears of GlacierWorks have embarked on a new venture that has produced gigapixel imagery of the Himalaya. XRez studios advised David Breashears on an aerial camera array that is made of “7 Canon 5D’s, shooting a partial overlapping panorama every 4 secs in the air,” says Hanson. After the construction, David has traveled to the Himalaya and produced various images from classic locations that have included Concordia, Kala Pattar and Pumori camp.  Some locations were chosen for comparison with archival photographs taken by some of the greatest mountain photographers over the past century. The stark comparison shows the changes that have occurred during the 20th century. This is a research project to investigate the receding glaciers of our largest mountain range. Eric stated in another recent email that “we have a new very high resolution aerial product in development.” 

GlacierWorks was “founded in 2007 by mountaineer, photographer and filmmaker David Breashears” which was developed as “a non-profit organization that seeks to communicate the changes to Himalayan glaciers and the resulting impact on downstream populations through art, science, and adventure.” GlacierWorks has had the exhibit Rivers of Ice: Vanishing Glaciers of the Greater Himalaya on tour since 2009 and it is now on show at Everest Basecamp until May 10, 2012.  Happening almost simultaneously is an opening Rivers of Ice “at the MIT Museum in Cambridge (Massachusetts, USA), a one-year exhibition whose opening coincides with the prestigious Cambridge Science Festival.”

For more information on the Himalayan Glacier project visit xRez, or one of Glacier Works many information outlets like their website, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.

 John Harlin Showcases the American Alpine Journal [Watch on YouTube.com]