Arizona Mountaineering Club

Publication Year: 1995.

Arizona Mountaineering Club. Our club celebrated its 30th anniversary in 1994. A special outing was held at Tom’s Thumb in the McDowell Mountains, where 58 members climbed to the top all at one time. In general, we have an out-of-state trip once a month and three or four within Arizona. A special, demanding event is the annual Death March, hiking the Grand Canyon from rim-to-rim-to-rim, for members only. During the year the club sponsored three members for expeditions to Mount McKinley, Aconcagua and Kenya.

The training and safety committee was active in the Phoenix area. We taught two Basic Rock-Climbing Courses, two ARRS (Anchors and Advanced Ropework School), as well as a lead school and snow-camping school. The Basic Course is open to the public, but the others are for members only.

Another facet of the club is its community service and support of certain non-profit agencies. We are heavily involved in the Access Fund at the national and local level, with one of our members serving on its board of directors. Each year, at the request of the U.S. Park Service, we rappel into the Grand Canyon to pick up trash left by visitors. We have been doing this for six years. Another service we provide is to maintain the trails on Camelback Mountain. We have rebuilt the trails to reduce erosion and have revegetated the area. Trail markers and ropes were put up to keep hikers on the trails. Lastly, we donate money and volunteers to the Phoenix Bouldering Contest.

Kim A. Huenecke