A.A.C., Southern California Section

Publication Year: 1994.

A.A.C., Southern California Section. Historically, Hollywood and the alpine world have come together with mixed results. And this was the case once again with the highly touted release in 1993 of the Sylvester Stallone movie, Clijfhanger. Ted Vaill and the Section chairman worked with Tri-Star pictures to arrange for A.A.C. members to attend preview showings of the film, which ultimately proved to be quite successful at the box office. More than 50 members and guests attended the première on two separate evenings, alternately laughing out of control at the more outrageous “climbing” scenes and applauding, particularly at the end during the marathon credits listing climbers familiar to Southern Californians who had worked on the film.

The annual dinner was rescheduled from the fall to the spring. A feature of the 1994 event was to be the first presentation of the Charles H. Wilts award to a Southern California climber who has exhibited an extraordinary interest in, love for, and contribution to the mountain environment, alpinism and rockcraft. The award was created in memory of Wilts, a pioneering Southern California climber who died in 1991 while hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains. Members of the Wilts family have been asked to assist in the selection process.

Severe cuts in the Los Angeles County budget have resulted in curtailment in the opening hours of the library branch in Malibu, which houses the A.A.C.’s Arkel Erb collection of mountaineering literature and periodicals. For a while in 1993, it appeared the branch might be closed entirely. Closure was averted, but by the end of 1993, the library was open only 21 hours a week, on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The collection holds more than 3000 volumes, and when the county library system has sufficient funds, it adds to the collection with newly published books and magazines. The library also has a good selection of videotapes on mountaineering and rock climbing.

Section member Kurt Wedberg, an R.M.I. guide, will be a member of the 1995 Mount Everest expedition to be led by Paul Pfau with David Tollakson as deputy leader. In January Kurt was in Argentina for two ascents of Aconcagua, including one with R.J. Secor, who is compiling a climbing guide of Aconcagua for Mountaineers Books.

Bill Stall, Chairman