A.A.C., Sierra Nevada Section. It was a very active year for this section of 105 members. Besides the customary involvement in climbs all over the world, many members took great interest in the policies and workings of the Club. At one meeting we had stimulating discussion on the role of the American Alpine Club as a more effective organization in American mountaineering. At another we discussed plans for a Climbers’ Camp in Yosemite Valley with a representative of the Park Service. At yet another we discussed the need for a Western member on the Council to represent and voice the majority opinions of our section and be able to attend at least some of the meetings in the East. As a result Raffi Bedayn was nominated by petition for the Board of Directors.

Our meeting places varied from weekday evenings at city homes to an almost traditional spring meeting in Yosemite Valley, to a fall dinner at the Bedayn home in Orinda. Programs were given by Dick Houston on the Coast Range of British Columbia, Carl Smith on the Hindu Kush, Galen Rowell on Hetch Hetchy, Leigh Ortenburger on Peru, and by guests Murray Jones on the great North Faces of the Alps, and Bob Schneider on Peru.

Mike Hane, one of our most active members, was killed tragically a few feet from the summit ridge of Chacraraju in Peru during the summer. Mike had helped organize a group of our local people who actually went out on weekends to climb together. Unamazing though this may seem, it was indeed unusual, novel, and successful: some members who previously regarded themselves as rugged individualists have rediscovered the enjoyment of occasional group activities in the mountains. This informal group-within-a-group continues to be active and stimulates interest in the Club from other mountaineers.

GALEN A. ROWELL, Secretary