A.A.C., New England Section

Publication Year: 2004.

AAC, New England Section. Owing to the conjunction of the AAC’s national meeting in Boston with our Section’s Eighth Annual Dinner, we deferred the Eighth Annual for a year, putting our energies into the national gathering.

In June we offered a cookout and social at Nancy Savickas’s new place in Albany, NH, which drew seven members.

Rick Merritt and Bill Guida traveled west to bag three state summits: Guadalupe Peak (TX), Wheeler Peak (NM), and Boundary Peak (NV).

In July climbers from New England, known as the “Adamant Eight,” enjoyed eight fine days of mountaineering in complete isolation based at the Bill Putnam (Fairy Meadow) Hut in the Northern Selkirks. The weather largely cooperated, the company was great, and some attained eight summits in the eight days. The climbers included Tom Boydston, Tom Carey, Paul Dale (leader), Chris Dame, Richard Doucette, Yuki Fujita, Tom Parker, and Heidi Zinser. We admire the stamina and resolve of the early climbers in the area, such as Bill Putnam, Sterling Hendricks, and Andy Kauffman, and are grateful to Bill for erecting such a wonderful base camp.

Jim St. Jean, Robert Plucenik, and Dale Jancic toured the Santa Cruz Valley in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru. The trio climbed Nevado Alpamayo (5,947m) via the Italian Route after acclimatizing on Nevado Millishraju II (5,500m) and Nevado Loyacjirca (5,600m).

In April, Nancy Savickas with Eric and Zeb Engberg attended the Phoenix Bouldering Competition, where Zeb placed sixth in the elite category. Later in the season Nancy managed two weeks of climbing in the Swiss and Chamonix Alps, doing more rock than snow owing to the unprecedented heat that had effectively closed many of the high alpine routes.

Bill Atkinson, Chair, and Nancy Savickas, Vice Chair