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THE AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB E NEWS August 2005

 

Click the link to view in html format!

This is the best way to view the E News

http://www.americanalpineclub.org/docs/enews_2005_August.htm

 

* * * * * *

Sponsored by Alpinist

 

"Alpinist is a coffee-table book masquerading as a magazine" --Lynn Hill

 

AAC members subscribe for 15% off the regular rate by clicking here

http://www.alpinist.com/aac

 

 

* * * * * *

 

Dear Members,

This month, as I continued to reach out to you all for your thoughts about the

club, I made a short visit to see a few of our members in the Boston area. If I

missed you, don't worry ... I'll be back.

I spent an extremely pleasant afternoon with Brad Washburn and his wife,

Barbara. Among the highlights that day was thanking Brad for the new-route

inspiration that his photos have provided to me and my partners over the years.

Indeed, we were so thankful that we named one route after him: The Washburn Face

on Denali (see the 1992 American Alpine Journal , page 68).

You either have or are about to receive this year's Journal . Former AAJ editor

Ad Carter called it the "book of dreams." Indeed, the photos and accounts by

Washburn and thousands of other climbers in the AAJ have set me to dreaming

countless times. Between this year's beautiful volume and the accompanying

climber's map to Kyrgyzstan, I hope you find plenty of inspiration to explore

new ideas and destinations for your own climbing.

 

Phil Powers

Executive Director

ppowers@americanalpineclub.org

 

 

2005 AAJ, ACCIDENTS ON THEIR WAY

The 2005 editions of the American Alpine Journal and Accidents in North American

Mountaineering are on their way to members. Inserted in the AAJ as a bonus is a

superb, four-color climber's map of Kyrgyzstan, produced by Garth Willis and

Martin Gamache of the Alpine Mapping Guild www.alpinemapguild.com. This map

will be available to non-members through www.mountaineersbooks.org

International members of the AAC will be pleased to learn they should receive

these books very promptly this year. Through an outsourcing decision that was

out of the AAC's control, all of last year's international copies were shipped

via slow boat to India. Though this may have expedited delivery to the one AAC

member living in India, it meant months of delay for our many other

international members. This year, a slight increase in the international

members' postal surcharge will allow us to get books to foreign members about

the same time as U.S. members receive them.

If any member has not received his or her AAJ or Accidents by mid-October,

please contact the office at getinfo@americanalpineclub.org

 

AAJ DISCOVERS SCOTLAND AND NEW ZEALAND!

Elite and worldly mountaineers may be aware that there are mountains in Scotland

and New Zealand. There is even a mountain range spanning Europe that you may

have heard of. But you wouldn't learn any of this by studying the Climbs &

Expeditions section of the AAJ in the last few decades. Exactly how these

ranges sank into oblivion remains a mystery, but it likely had something to do

with space constraints in the AAJ . (If you were on Ad Carter's editorial board

and privy to such discussions, please write to johnharlin@gorge.net with these

and other tales.) Beginning this year, Scotland and New Zealand have entered the

world's journal of record through summaries of significant activity in these

countries' ranges. Perhaps soon, Europe's mystery mountains will emerge from

their fog of obscurity.

 

 

"VERTICAL LIMIT" NOT A GOOD MOVIE AFTER ALL

"Vertical Limit," the 2000 film in which star Chris O'Donnell rescues his

sister high on an ersatz K2, concocted some of the most absurd climbing moves

ever shown on the silver screen. Yet the movie has grossed more than $200

million worldwide. Now it turns out that some movie-goers may have been lured to

"Vertical Limit" under false pretenses. Sony, parent company of the studio that

made "Vertical Limit," has agreed to pay $1.5 million in a settlement of claims

that it invented a fake critic who praised various Sony titles in promos. That's

justice, but we think Sony also ought to pay for convincing "Vertical Limit"

viewers that nitro is part of every mountaineer's standard kit.

 

PLANS SET FOR FLAGSTAFF AAC GATHERING

Please join the Board of Directors of the AAC in Flagstaff, Arizona, for a

weekend of activities. At 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, Conrad Anker will present a

slide show on the Sherpa Climbing School in Nepal at the Lowell Observatory in

Flagstaff. On Saturday, any AAC member is welcome to attend the fall Board

meeting and learn more about the Club's plans, and Saturday evening there will

be cocktails (6 p.m.) and a barbecue (7 p.m.) for climbers in the area. Please

RSVP to getinfo@americanalpineclub.org . On Sunday, join the Board for some

knuckle-wrecking crack climbing on the smooth basalt of Paradise Forks.

 

DISTANCE HIKING RECORDS FALL

Next time you head out for a weekend jaunt on the Pacific Crest Trail or the

Appalachian Trail, consider two speed records set this summer...and weep. David

Horton, 55, from Lynchburg, Virginia, smashed the Pacific Crest Trail

thru-hiking record by an amazing 16 days, finishing on his 67th day of running

and hiking. Fully supported with a crew providing meals and supplies, Horton

averaged about 40 miles a day on the 2,666-mile trail. To see a daily log of

Horton's hike, visit http://www.montrail.com/assets/Misc%20Copy/horton_log.htm.

Meanwhile, on the Eastern Seaboard, 29-year-old Andrew Thompson from New

Hampshire shaved about a day off the record for hiking the 2,174-mile

Appalachian Trail. On his third try at this record, Thompson completed the hike

in 47 and a half days, averaging almost 46 miles a day with support from one

teammate. His account is at www.inov-8.com/TrailDogNews.htm.

 

U.S. YOUTH CLIMBING TEAM HEADS TO CHINA

Forty-three American climbers between the ages of 14 and 19 are attending the

2005 World Youth Championship in Beijing, China, Aug. 25-28. The youths will

compete in three age groups in lead climbing and speed; more than 350 young

climbers from around the world will be competing.

The U.S. team was chosen in early July in Massachusetts at a comp organized by

USA Climbing (www.usaclimbing.org). The AAC, as the U.S. member of the UIAA, is

the sanctioning body for competition climbing in the United States, and has

designated USA Climbing as the sport's governing organization. To see how the

U.S. climbers fared, visit www.icc-info.org

 

NEW MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR JOINS AAC TEAM

That friendly new voice you hear on the phone at the AAC is Dana Richardson, who

brings many years of experience with outdoor nonprofits to the AAC as its new

membership coordinator. Dana most recently worked in the Outdoor Industry

Association's marketing and membership departments. She was hired to fill the

chair vacated by Jason Manke, who has been promoted to a new position,

Membership Manager, at the AAC. Manke, who has worked for the club for more than

two years, will be in charge of all membership recruitment and retention, as

well as the club's increased efforts to promote camaraderie and fellowship among

climbers.

 

AAC GEAR AVAILABLE ONLINE

Brand-new American Alpine Club T-shirts, coffee mugs, and other logo-emblazoned

items are now available for purchase online, thanks to corporate sponsor

Mountain Gear. A percentage of the proceeds from each sale goes directly to the

AAC. Check it out at www.mountaingear.com/AAC.

 

DISCOUNT ON CUSTOM FOOTBEDS

Dr. Thomas Chanin, owner of The Custom Foot in Colorado, is offering a 15

percent discount on custom footbeds and boot fitting to AAC members. He

specializes in telemark/ski boots, mountaineering boots, hiking/walking shoes,

snowboard boots, and foot and gait analysis. Chanin's retail shop is located in

The Bent Gate store in Golden, Colorado (303-279-6500), and his web site is

www.thecustomfoot.com.

 

RECORDING THE AAC'S ORAL HISTORY

The American Alpine Club Library has been invited to contribute several oral

histories to a federally funded project that will yield digital master files and

transcriptions of interviews conducted with Charles Houston, Bob Bates, and

others. "Sound Model: Collaborative Infrastructure for Digital Audio" is a

project of the Collaborative Digitization Program, funded through a grant from

the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Sound Model grant will create

a shared infrastructure that may make it possible to provide web access to the

AAC's mountaineering oral histories, easily create sound modules for the

American Mountaineering Museum, and preserve the original tapes for the future.

The Collaborative Digitization Program web site is www.cdpheritage.org.

 

NORTHWEST MOUNTAINEERING JOURNAL POSTED

The second annual edition of the superb online magazine Northwest Mountaineering

Journal has been released. The new issue, spearheaded by longtime Pacific

Northwest climber and skier Lowell Skoog, contains articles and photos on new

routes, alpine traverses and influential climbers. See it (free) at

www.nwmj.org.

 

COMING EVENTS

September 9-11

Arizona

AAC Board Meeting and gathering in Flagstaff, with Conrad Anker slide show, a

barbecue and climbing. Contact getinfo@americanalpineclub.org

 

September 14 and 15

Colorado

Longtime AAC member David Roberts will speak about the risks of climbing and

read from his new book at the REI stores in Denver (Sept. 14) and Boulder (Sept.

15), 7 p.m. each night. www.rei.com/stores.

 

September 16

Colorado

The 4th annual Avalanche Jam, hosted by Backcountry Access, will bring music,

food and a silent auction to the American Mountaineering Center in Golden, from

5 to 10 p.m., to raise money for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Info at 303-417-1345 or

steve@bcaccess.com .

 

September 18-19

Utah

The 4th annual Climb for Life in Salt Lake City. Join Katie Brown, Nancy Feagin,

Stephanie Forte, Nate Gold, Lisa Gnade, Steve Petro, Alli Rainey, Lisa Rands,

Heidi Wirtz and other top climbers to raise funds and awareness for prevention

and early detection of ovarian cancer. See www.climb4life.org.

 

September 24

Massachusetts

Enjoy ClimbFest, an outdoor climbing competition and festival at the Quincy

quarries near Boston. See www.climbfest.com <http://www.climbfest.com > ;

 

September 30-October 2

California.

The 9th Annual Climb Smart Gathering at Indian Cove group campgrounds, hosted by

Friends of Joshua Tree, features clinics, gear raffles, food and entertainment.

See www.friendsofjosh.org

 

October 15

Texas

The 2005 Granite Gripper climbing and bouldering contests at Enchanted Rock.

Info and registration materials at www.granitegripper.com.

 

February 10-12

New Hampshire

The 2006 AAC Mountain Fest and annual meeting will be based at the Attitash

Grand Summit Hotel, smack in the middle of the White Mountains. Stay tuned for

details at www.americanalpineclub.org

 

E-NEWS POLICIES

In order to protect the interests of our subscribers, we have established the

following E-News policies. The AAC office in Golden is the only source of

outgoing messages to subscribers; recipients cannot respond to or initiate

messages to the list. The AAC will not sell member e-mail addresses to anyone

for any purpose and will have no commercial advertising of any kind in E-News.

 

Send comments, suggestions or news items to dougald5@comcast.net

 

If you know an AAC member who isn't receiving the E-News, it's probably because

the AAC does not have his or her email address. New addresses or address changes

should be sent to getinfo@americanalpineclub.org

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Posted
International members of the AAC will be pleased to learn they should receive

these books very promptly this year. Through an outsourcing decision that was

out of the AAC's control, all of last year's international copies were shipped

via slow boat to India. Though this may have expedited delivery to the one AAC

member living in India, it meant months of delay for our many other

international members.

 

it actually took 10.5 months for my journal to go from colorado to india to chilliwack.

Posted
DISTANCE HIKING RECORDS FALL

Next time you head out for a weekend jaunt on the Pacific Crest Trail or the Appalachian Trail, consider two speed records set this summer...and weep. David Horton, 55, from Lynchburg, Virginia, smashed the Pacific Crest Trail thru-hiking record by an amazing 16 days, finishing on his 67th day of running and hiking. Fully supported with a crew providing meals and supplies, Horton averaged about 40 miles a day on the 2,666-mile trail. To see a daily log of Horton's hike, visit http://www.montrail.com/assets/Misc%20Copy/horton_log.htm.

 

Meanwhile, on the Eastern Seaboard, 29-year-old Andrew Thompson from New Hampshire shaved about a day off the record for hiking the 2,174-mile Appalachian Trail. On his third try at this record, Thompson completed the hike in 47 and a half days, averaging almost 46 miles a day with support from one teammate. His account is at www.inov-8.com/TrailDogNews.htm.

 

I'm faster_than_you grin.gif

Posted

Why can't they compile all the accidents that happen in 2005 and wait until say February of 2006 (or however long it takes to publish) to release a copy? Why publish the 2005 accidents before 2005 has ended?? wazzup.gif

Posted

U.S. YOUTH CLIMBING TEAM HEADS TO CHINA

Forty-three American climbers between the ages of 14 and 19 are attending the

2005 World Youth Championship in Beijing, China, Aug. 25-28. The youths will

compete in three age groups in lead climbing and speed; more than 350 young

climbers from around the world will be competing.

The U.S. team was chosen in early July in Massachusetts at a comp organized by

USA Climbing (www.usaclimbing.org). The AAC, as the U.S. member of the UIAA, is

the sanctioning body for competition climbing in the United States, and has

designated USA Climbing as the sport's governing organization. To see how the

U.S. climbers fared, visit www.icc-info.org

 

 

 

Lead climbing as a competitive sport wazzup.gifhellno3d.gif

 

That seems kinda baked thumbs_down.gif

Posted
U.S. YOUTH CLIMBING TEAM HEADS TO CHINA

Forty-three American climbers between the ages of 14 and 19 are attending the

2005 World Youth Championship in Beijing, China, Aug. 25-28. The youths will

compete in three age groups in lead climbing and speed; more than 350 young

climbers from around the world will be competing.

The U.S. team was chosen in early July in Massachusetts at a comp organized by

USA Climbing (www.usaclimbing.org). The AAC, as the U.S. member of the UIAA, is

the sanctioning body for competition climbing in the United States, and has

designated USA Climbing as the sport's governing organization. To see how the

U.S. climbers fared, visit www.icc-info.org

 

 

 

Lead climbing as a competitive sport wazzup.gifhellno3d.gif

 

That seems kinda baked thumbs_down.gif

 

Yeah, human-dog speed climbing is a much better choice! hahaha.gif

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