Cascade Section. We had an active year in the Cascade Section starting off in January with our annual dinner at the Red Hook Brewery, where we were treated to several excellent presentations. Steve Swenson—then-vice president of the American Alpine Club and now president—presented “The Road Ahead: New Initiatives to Grow and Strengthen the American Alpine Club.” Jessica Lundin and Erin Whorton, recipients of the AAC McNeill/Nott Award, showed “Arctic Adventures: Two New Routes in Greenland.” Chad Kellogg, recipient of the AAC McNeill/Nott Award, treated us to “Qionglai Mountains: Two First Ascents in Sichuan China.”

In March our very own Jim Henriot, president of the AAC from 1977–1979, received the prestigious Angelo Heilprin Citation, which was established in 1976 and is awarded annually to an individual who has shown exemplary service to the Club. Jim is also the seventh American to climb Aconcagua and led the first American post-war expedition to Mt. Elbrus.

In April we had a meeting at the Wilde Irish Rover Pub and were treated to a presentation by Colin Haley, recipient of the AAC Robert Hicks Bates Award, titled “Torre Traverse: A Four-Day Ridge Traverse of Cerro Standhardt, Punta Herron, Torre Egger, and Cerro Torre.”

Also in April the Section hosted a dinner in Ashford with the National Park Service and several leading guiding companies to discuss the progress and efforts to redevelop Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier.

In May the Cascade Section co-hosted an event in Seattle where Royal Robbins, one of the world’s greatest adventurers, shared his incredible climbs in the Washington area and how they impacted his legendary career as a climber. Attendees also had a chance to view the film, The West Face, written and narrated by Barry Corbet and featuring Royal Robbins and Yvon Chouinard’s ascent of the west face of Sentinel Rock in Yosemite National Park.

On National Trails Day in June, Section volunteers turned out to repair trails and structures in Mt. Rainier National Park that had sustained enormous damage in the previous fall’s floods.

In December the Section co-hosted an ice-fest at Stone Gardens welcoming climbers for an evening of dry tooling and competitions for best male and female dry-toolers. In addition, there was a demo area where attendees could try out equipment from different climbing companies. Finally, the evening concluded with a slideshow by Dylan Johnson and Chad Kellogg on their first ascent of the southwest ridge on Mt. Siguniang.

Looking ahead, we will continue to push forward on installing rescue litters at popular climbing crags in Washington and assist in the Camp Muir Redevelopment Project. Volunteers are always welcome!

Alfred “Al” Schumer, Chair, Section Leadership Committee