McNeill-Nott Award

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The American Alpine Club (AAC), with the help of Industry Partner Mountain Hardwear, has established an annual grant for climbers, the McNeill-Nott Award. With the untimely death of Sue Nott and her partner Karen McNeill on Mt. Foraker in 2006, the AAC and Mountain Hardwear decided to establish this grant in their memory. Sue Nott was a long-time member of the AAC. Sue and Karen were Mountain Hardwear athletes and close personal friends who frequently climbed together. The McNeill-Nott Award seeks to preserve the memory and spirit of these two talented and courageous climbers by giving grants to amateur climbers exploring new routes or unclimbed peaks with small and lightweight teams. Special attention will be given to projects that have strong exploratory and adventuresome mountaineering components, and these components will be weighted more heavily than technical difficulty. Two or three grants totaling nearly $7,000 are awarded annually to the teams that best meet the criteria for the amateur and exploratory scope of the grant. Projects involving climbers who are supported financially by corporate sponsors will not be considered. Proposals from "amateur" climbers that have received financial corporate support for the proposed trip will be considered, but support level should be disclosed.

The application deadline is January 1. Grant applications must be created electronically in MS Word or PDF format. A valid scanned signature and initials must be inserted into the document in the appropriate sections or a hard copy may be mailed in to the AAC office. Late applications will not be accepted and applications are for expeditions departing no later than December 31 of the current year. Applications must be submitted electronically via an emailed Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) attachment. Scanned signatures must be inserted within the submitted proposal. Proposals submitted without signatures on both the waiver and grant application will not be accepted. Please submit relevant photos of your objective along with your application.

Selection Process

A committee of three active climbers reviews the applications, selects the recipients, and decides the amount each recipient receives. The three judges' combined climbing background encompasses a wide range of climbing experience. The grant applicant must be a U.S. citizen, though team members may be foreign citizens. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and complete legal liability releases. All expeditions must be legal and obtain all necessary visas and permits required by local authorities. All expeditions must be conducted in an environmentally conscious and sound approach and with care and respect for the local inhabitants. The judges consider the proposed climbing objectives' compelling nature, remoteness, exploratory nature, and the overall significance. Acceptable objectives could range from a exploring hidden Alaskan gems to a new route in the Himalaya (see past recipients for examples). The team's planned climbing style is considered. Teams climbing with the highest ethical standards and small, lightweight teams using a minimum of fixed ropes, camps, personnel, and equipment are strongly favored. Commercial, professional, and principally cause-related expeditions are ineligible. The judges consider the team's overall experience level, which must match the proposed objective.

Responsibilities

If for any reason the climbing objective is canceled or significantly changed (i.e. a new route attempt on Rakaposhi turns into rock climbing in Thailand) awarded funds must be returned to the AAC. This grant will only be considered once for each objective. Grant funds are disbursed to recipients based upon the cash flow requirements of the endeavor. Within one month of returning, all grant recipients must submit to the AAC a written expedition report (including photographs) for possible inclusion in AAC publications. Successful recipients may be asked to give a presentation on expedition at the AAC's Annual Meeting.

How To Apply

Application Download (PDF) - McNeill-Nott Award