The American Alpine Club is pleased to announce that The American Alpine Journal—the world’s journal of record for notable climbs—is once again available to the public. In July the Club announced that the Journal in printed form would be available only to AAC Members. More than 100 climbers commented on … Read more…
Golden, CO—The American Alpine Club (AAC) is proud to announce the recipients of the first annual Cornerstone Crag Conservation Grant. This year, $25,000 will go toward multiple local projects: human waste management systems, road and parking improvements, trail work, signage, camping improvements, and more. New for 2011, the Cornerstone Conservation … Read more…
The American Alpine Club’s BMC Winter Meet Selection Committee selected its delegates for the upcoming Winter Meet and it must be said that it was difficult. The last meet—the BMC’s Summer Meet in Wales—was an easy choice, as only a couple of people applied (by the way, thanks Jay Hack, … 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…
Can’t make it to Boulder for the IFSC World Cup Climbing Comp this weekend? Stay tuned to the action by following the Club on Twitter (@americanalpine). Information & Marketing Director Erik Lambert will be tweeting all the details from the event on Sunday night! The Club is a World Cup … Read more…
With the Boulder World Cup approaching fast and The American Alpine Club an IFSC World Cup Partner, our rockstar-intern Ben Mitchell-Lewis caught up with Jeff Lowe, famed alpinist and organizer of the original World Cup events held in the United States. Jeff is a wealth of information on the subject, … 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…
The American Alpine Club is excited to be an official IFSC World Cup Partner for the first International Federation of Sport Climbing Competition held in the United States in 22 years. [Read our interview with Jeff Lowe, who organized the first World Cup event in the States.] Come out and support your … Read more…
The 2011 Copp-Dash Inspire Award, presented to 5 teams this year, allowed the completion of a stunning new route on the Burkett Needle in southeast Alaska. The Copp-Dash Award was established in 2009 to honor Jonny Copp and Micah Dash, two top-notch alpinists that were killed while pursuing a new … Read more…
A couple of years ago we surveyed climbers—Members and non-members alike—to see what was important to them about The American Alpine Club, the climbing community, and climbing in general. We’ve developed a new survey over the last several weeks and we’d like you to take it and share it … 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…
— Update 10/18/2011: Congratulations to Scot and Bayard, our selected to delegates to the BMC Meet! — Every year, the British Mountaineering Council hosts an International Meet, a weeklong gathering of climbers from around the world. The AAC will send two lucky members to this year’s Winter Meet, located in Scotland’s Cairngorms. … Read more…
The American Alpine Club is pleased to announce the launch of its newest informational tool: The AAC Guidebook Finder. Sponsored by Patagonia, an AAC Industry Partner, the Guidebook Finder provides a Google Maps-powered interface to make finding one of the thousands of guidebooks in the AAC Library intuitive, easy, and … Read more…
The American Alpine Club is sad to note the passing of an alpine great, Walter Bonatti. Bonatti died after a long battle with cancer Tuesday evening in Rome. He was 81. Bonatti was known for his pure, clean, and fast style, often climbing solo and in winter. He has left … Read more…
AAC President Steve Swenson was evacuated from Advanced Base Camp after difficulty breathing. He has recovered quickly and completely and sent us a number of reports on his, Mark Richey’s, and Freddie Wilkinson’s successful ascent of Saser Kangri II. We’ve reposted parts of these reports here. After I had a … Read more…
AAC President Steve Swenson was evacuated from Advanced Base Camp after difficulty breathing. He has recovered quickly and completely and sent us a number of reports on his, Mark Richey’s, and Freddie Wilkinson’s successful ascent of Saser Kangri II. We’ve reposted parts of these reports here. August 24. We only … Read more…
AAC President Steve Swenson was evacuated from Advanced Base Camp after difficulty breathing. He has recovered quickly and completely and sent us a number of reports on his, Mark Richey’s, and Freddie Wilkinson’s successful ascent of Saser Kangri II. We’ve reposted parts of these reports here. On the morning of … Read more…
AAC President Steve Swenson was evacuated from Advanced Base Camp after difficulty breathing. He has recovered quickly and completely and sent us a number of reports on his, Mark Richey’s, and Freddie Wilkinson’s successful ascent of Saser Kangri II. We’ve reposted parts of these reports here. We knew that achieving our goals on … Read more…
AAC President Steve Swenson was evacuated from Advanced Base Camp after difficulty breathing. He has recovered quickly and completely and sent us a number of reports on his, Mark Richey’s, and Freddie Wilkinson’s successful ascent of Saser Kangri II. We’ve reposted parts of these reports here. I was uncertain still … 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…
The American Alpine Club Awarded Hayden Kennedy a Mountain Fellowship Grant last fall. This is his account of his trip to Nepal. Thanks Hayden! A lot of people ask me why I go alpine climbing. All you do is suffer, get scared, get cold, get sick, and most of the … Read more…
The American Alpine Club has re-posted this announcement from the British Mountaineering Club. The original story can be read on their website. It is with great sadness that the BMC announces the death of Alan Blackshaw on Thursday 4th August 2011 at Raigmore hospital in Inverness. Alan was diagnosed with … Read more…
Allen Higgenbotham traveled to Nepal to remove waste from Ama Dablam Basecamp. Below is his report on that expedition. He received a Scott Fisher Conservation Grant from the AAC for this trip. Learn more on our Grants page. Arriving in Katmandu for your first time I had an overwhelming feeling … Read more…
The American Alpine Club (AAC) formally announces today that the hard-copy version of the 2011 American Alpine Journal (AAJ)—and future print editions of the AAJ—will be available only to AAC members. This change from past policy was adopted by the AAC Board of Directors in February 2011. Full details of … Read more…