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Jason_Martin

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Posts posted by Jason_Martin

  1. Between 1911 and 1913, a race was run between Bellingham and the summit of Mount Baker. The Mount Baker Marathon allowed racers to use whatever means necessary to get to the trailhead, and then from there, the racers would run to the top of Mount Baker and back. The winner would collect $100 in gold, which was no small change in the early nineteen hundreds.

     

    After one a racer's suffered a fatal training accident, another racer was responsible for a train derailment, and another racer survived a crevasse fall, the Mount Baker Marathon ended.

     

    Now, 100 years later, a documentary film is being made about the race.

     

    We at the American Alpine Institute have helped the documentary people a bit with some logistics for their film and have even provided some (very bad) period acting on Baker. And though they have been filming quite a bit this summer, they are far from finished. They are still searching for information.

     

    If you have any first hand knowledge of the relatives of runners, relatives of judges, or have any ideas about where to find archival footage of Mount Baker or the Cascades, please feel free to send me a PM. I will forward your contact info and your ideas to the documentary filmmakers.

     

    Jason Martin

  2. There is still room for mock students in the guide assessment tomorrow. If you are interested or you know anybody who is interested in a FREE day of training with aspiring guides, please give me a call.

     

    You can call me at 206-459-8753 anytime today.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Jason

  3. The iconic climbing area, Red Rock Canyon or Red Rocks, is under threat from developers. Log onto www.saveredrock.com to sign a petition to help stop them from building thousands of houses on Blue Diamond Hill. This hill is directly across the street from this beautiful climbing destination and will alter the experience of desert climbing forever.

     

    You should be aware that there is a alternate website (www.saveredrockdotnet) which is being run by the housing developers. This site has faulty and misleading information. Please sign the petition at:

     

    Save Red Rock

     

    At the end of the petition it does ask for money for the ipetition website. You don't have to do this to have your petition count.

     

    The hearing about this is tomorrow. So please, sign this petition right away!

     

    Please forward this, retweet it, facebook it, and get it out there. Help us save Red Rocks!

     

    Jason

  4. The American Alpine Institute is looking for an intern to do a "writing-oriented" project. This project will involve interviewing our guides and writing detailed bios on them for our website. The length of the project could easily be dictated by the intern as this will likely be an ongoing project. We are willing to work with you to make sure that you get the hours that you need for your school or college. It may be possible to do this internship remotely, though if you are interested in the outdoor business, it might be better to come into our office in Bellingham.

     

    We are willing to compensate a potential intern with instruction from our world class guides. We have trips that are as short as three days and are as long as 22 days that have a variety of values. If an intern is willing to put in a lot of hours, we would be more than happy to offer them a position on a longer trip.

     

    To apply for this position, please log onto:

     

    http://www.aai.cc/Employment/

     

    We would also like you to send a writing sample with your application.

     

    To learn more about the American Alpine Institute, please log onto:

     

    http://www.aai.cc/about/

     

    We would like to fill this position soon, so if you're interested, please apply right away.

     

    If you have any questions, I can be reached at jason@aai.cc or at 360-671-1505.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Jason Martin

    Operations Manager

    American Alpine Institute

  5. It's important to remember that you get what you pay for. Little warnings about a government run guide service should probably present you with a number of red flags.

     

    You will definitely get the best training from professional western guides who have spent their lives honing both their crafts and their teaching skills...

     

    Jason

  6. I've already posted this in the events forum, but the UN General Assembly has identified December 11th as International Mountain Day. The American Alpine Institute is doing a series of events (rock rescue clinics and a party) in Bellingham to celebrate the day and to raise money for Index. If you're interested in the event, click here.

     

    But if you're not interested in the AAI event, it's still worth knowing about the International Mountain Day and trying to take some time out of your day to think about the value of mountains not just as recreation resources, but also as engines of water production and the home to many distinct mountain cultures.

     

    Obviously as climbers we already value mountains and see what they provide. But International Mountain Day is a good time to promote the mountains and their value to your non-climber friends. It's also a good time to donate to the mountain causes that you care about, but have kept putting off...whether it's the WCC, the Access Fund, or a cultural charity for mountain people, it's just a good time to think about that stuff...

     

    Anyway, I probably sound like an NPR fundraising drive, but I do think it's cool that there has been a day dedicated to the mountains and mountain people. I think that it's something that we all should try to embrace and promote...

     

    What do you guys think?

     

    Jason

  7. We're looking for more people for our rescue clinics! This is a great opportunity to learn what to do if something goes wrong in the mountains. And you simply can't beat the pay-what-you can price.

     

    To register, go to:

     

    International Mountain Day Rock Rescue

     

    If you don't know if you can make it, it's okay to just show up without registering. The clinics will be 8-10, 10-12 and 1-3 at the YMCA in Bellingham.

     

    And of course, we have an awesome evening event planned with phenomenal raffle prizes set-up to start at 8 at New York Pizza...!

     

    If you have any questions at all, please email info@aai.cc or call 360-671-1505.

     

    Jason

     

     

  8. IntMtnDayPosterFinalWeb.jpg

     

    The International Mountain Day Index Benefit is almost on us. Our festival will run next week in Bellingham at the YMCA and at New York Pizza.

     

    Rock Rescue Clinics

     

    Our two-hour rescue clinics have a value of $80 each. We will be asking for a pay-what-you-can donation to attend the clinics, with a recommended donation of $25. Space is limited in the clinics and so we would like attendees to pre-register. This can be done at our International Mountain Day website at:

     

    http://www.aai.cc/imd

     

    You will see a red button on the left-hand side, which says “Register Online.” Click on that to Register.

     

    New York Pizza Party

     

    At 8pm on December 11th, Alasdair Turner and Alan Kearny will do slideshows. Both of these individuals are absolutely fantastic mountain photographers and the slideshows will be nothing less than awesome.

     

    Alasdair’s slideshow will be on “Ascents in the Alaska Range" and Alan’s show will be “The First Ascent of McMillian Spire’s Northeast Buttress and Climbs in the Pickets.”

     

    Our auction will be very limited. We are going to auction off three guides who can work with you on whatever skills you’d like to work on. Each of them are donating a day to the cause. Two of the three are ski guides as well as mountain guides. All are proficient in teaching skills as varied as rock rescue to multi-pitch transitions to basic rock or ice. And all three are awesome people to hang out with. The value of a guide day with one of these individuals is $350.

     

    The guides that we will be auctioning off are Forest McBrian, Kevin Hogan and Justin Wood.

     

    Everybody who purchases one or more raffle tickets on site will get an evening ski pass for Stevens Pass as long as supplies last. However, if you would like to participate in the auction from afar, this is possible. Just give us a call at 360-671-1505.

     

    Raffle tickets will be $5 each.

     

    --Subscriptions to Rock and Ice

    --Registration to Red Rock Rendezvous

    --Matted Picture of Denali by Photographer Alasdair Turner

    --AIARE Avalanche I Course

    --Three Day Mount Baker Skills and Ascent

    --Signed Copy of Classic Climbs of the Northwest

    --Signed Copy of Washington Ice: A Climbing Guide

    --Signed Copy of Fun Climbs Red Rocks: Topropes and Moderates

    --Kayland Apex Rock Mountaineering Boots

    --Petzl Rope and Harness

    --Night at the Icicle Inn with 4 lift tickets package, Stevens Pass

    --Day Pass Lift Tickets to Stevens Pass

    --Ski gloves

    --Giro Helmet

    --TBD Nate Doggg Snowboard

    --Headlamps

    --More stuff from Black Diamond, Egear, and Alpine Aire.

     

    We are getting more and more cool stuff donated to this event every day.

     

    Current Event Sponsors Include:

     

    Rock and Ice, Red Rock Rendezvous, New York Pizza, the YMCA, the Access Fund, Alpine Aire, Stevens Pass, Black Diamond, Egear and Petzl.

     

    You can just show-up to either of the events, but be aware that space is limited.

     

    If you have any questions, email info@aai.cc or call 360-671-1505 or log onto:

     

    International Mountain Day Index Benefit

     

    Jason

     

  9. I just came across this on Supertopo this morning:

     

    Sean McCabe of Winthrop, WA passed away this morning after a courageous battle with thyroid cancer. His wife Laura and his 2 beautiful little girls Novie and Dashe were at his side. Sean was an accomplished alpine and rock climber, loving husband and father, high school art teacher, and artist whose work has been featured in Alpinist magazine and BD and Patagonia catalogs. A memorial is planned for Sunday November 15 at 1:30 pm at the Liberty Bell High School in Winthrop, WA.

    While I didn't really know Sean, I met him a couple times and he was a really nice guy. What a terrible thing for his family.

     

    Jason

     

     

  10. Most people have no idea what the International Mountain Day is. We didn't know either. That is, until we got an email from the UIAA at the American Alpine Institute, reminding us about this important day.

     

    How could we not know about this?

     

    How could we not know that there is an entire holiday dedicated to the world's mountains, and by extension, to the world's mountaineers and climbers?

     

    So we thought, how better to celebrate International Mountain Day than by putting on a climbing oriented event and party? And what better thing to support with the money generated by the event than the Washington Climber's Coalition and the fund to buy Index in order to make it a permanent climber's park?

     

    The details are still scarce, but the American Alpine Institute will be sponsoring an array of events in Bellingham on December 11th. We will be running rock rescue clinics at the rock wall at the YMCA in Bellingham all day on December 11th. The two-hour clinics -- with a market value of of over 70 dollars each -- will be run on a donation basis with all proceeds going to the Index fund. We are going to ask for a "what-you-can-afford" donation, with a recommendation of $25 per person.

     

    We will be putting together a webpage to preregister for the clinics over the next week or so.

     

    In the evening, we will have a slideshow/auction/raffle/party at New York Pizza and Bar in Bellingham. All proceeds from the raffle and the auction will go to the Index fund. In addition to that, 10% of all the food and alcohol receipts from the night will also be donated!

     

    The details of this event are still coming together. We're hoping to bring you a lot more information on our International Mountain Day Festival and fundraiser in the very near future.

     

    If you have any questions about the event, please feel free to call us at 360-671-1505 or email info@aai.cc.

     

    Jason

  11. The American Alpine Institute runs courses in Ouray with Dawn Glanc, the winner of last year's ice festival in the women's division. To read about all of our ice options, check out:

     

    Ice Courses

     

    Going to an ice festival is a good way to get a little experience for a little money. But climbing festivals tend to be high guide to climber ratio events. You'll get a lot more bang for your buck if you hire a guide for a few days.

     

    Jason

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