American Alpine Club Grants

Publication Year: 2007.

The American Alpine Club provides resources for climbers and explorers to attempt new challenges, conduct scientific research, and conserve mountain environments. The AAC gives out more than $35,000 annually, although the size and number of awards vary from year to year. In 2006, the Zack Martin Breaking Barriers Grant was awarded for the first time; this grant goes to an expedition that combines a serious climbing objective with a humanitarian mission. For more information on all the grant programs, please visit www.americanalpineclub.org.

Grant recipients’ original objectives are reported below; in some cases, they may have decided to attempt other objectives. Expeditions labeled with an asterisk (*) are reported in this Journal.

LYMAN SPITZER CUTTING EDGE AWARDS (2006)

Mike Libecki, Salt Lake City, Utah*

Attempts on new routes in remote valleys in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan $2,500

Will Mayo, Northfield, Vermont*

Attempt on new line on the south face of Mt. Foraker in Alaska $1,500

Mike Schaefer, Snohomish, Washington*

Attempt on the direct east face of Uli Biaho in Pakistan $5,000

Josh Wharton, Rifle, Colorado*

Attempt on the north ridge of Shingu Charpa in Pakistan $3,000

MOUNTAIN FELLOWSHIP AWARDS (FALL 2005)

Michael Buchanan, Salt Lake City, Utah

Attempts on new routes on Peak 11,300' and the northwest face of the Rooster Comb, Alaska $800 (John R. Hudson Fund)

Adam Fruh and Aaron Thrasher, Bozeman, Montana

Attempt on the south face of Kichatna Spire, Alaska $900 each

MOUNTAIN FELLOWSHIP AWARDS (SPRING 2006)

Alison Criscitiello (Winchester, MA) and Jessica Drees (Seattle, WA)

Climb the three highest peaks in Ecuador $500 each (REI Challenge Fund)

Elena Mihaly and Jeremy Roop, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Attempt on a new route in the Cirque of the Unclimbables, Northwest Territories, Canada $800 each (REI Challenge Fund)

Mark Thomas, Berkeley, California

Attempt on a new route on Peak 11,300' and ice lines on the northwest shoulder of the Rooster Comb in Alaska $700 (Boyd Everett Jr. Fund)

Tim Tormey, Fort Collins, Colorado

Attempt to link the North and South Howser Towers in Canada's Bugaboos in a push $800 (REI Challenge Fund)

Dave Turner, Sacramento, California*

Major objectives in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru and Paine region of Patagonia $600 (Rick Mosher Fund)

2006 RESEARCH GRANTS

The Arthur K. Gilkey Memorial Research Fund, the William Putnam Research Fund, and the Bedayn Research Fund

Tana Beus, Bellingham, Washington

Decline of mountain goats in their historic range in the North Cascades $400

Keith Bosak, Boone, North Carolina

Mountain tourism, information technologies, and womens empowerment in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Garhwal Himalaya, India $500

Monica Bruckner, Bozeman, Montana

Biochemical changes in alpine catchments in response to glacial retreat $1,000

Teresa Chuang, Berkeley, California

Species shift as a result of climate change in the Sierra Nevada $1,000

Adam French, Missoula, Montana

Analyzing local livelihood needs and crafting strategies for community-managed protected areas in the Cordillera Huayhuash of Peru $500

Jason Gulley, Richmond, Kentucky

Subglacial and englacial conduits of the Matanuska Glacier, Alaska $500

Micah Jessup, Blacksburg, Virginia

Updated high-resolution map of the Everest region $1,000

Sarah Laxton, Cincinnati, Ohio

Reconstruction of late Holocene glacier activity in the Lahul and Garhwal Himalaya, India $1,000

Koren Nydick, Silverton, Colorado

Alpine plants in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado and their response to climate change $600

Kurt Refsnider, Madison, Wisconsin

Glacial and paleoclimate history of the Sangre de Cristo Range, Colorado $600

Clint Rogers, Piedmont, California

Subsistence trade in the borderlands of Nepal-Tibet $1,000

ZACK MARTIN BREAKING BARRIERS GRANT (2006)

Adam French, Missoula, Montana

Attempt on the east ridge of Huantsan in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca and construction of a composting toilet in the Ishinca Valley in Huascarán National Park $2,500