Scott Fischer Grant To Support Patagonia Trail Work
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Posted: May 28, 2009
The annual Scott Fischer Memorial Conservation Grant from the AAC has been awarded to climber Cullen Kirk, 26, to support his work on an AAC-backed trail-rebuilding initiative in Patagonia. Kirk volunteered for six weeks last season on the trail project, which was organized by Rolando Garibotti and sponsored by Patagonia Inc. The trail crew made major improvements to one of the main climber-access trails in Los Glaciares National Park, home to Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. During his time in Patagonia, Kirk also made ascents of Aguja Mermoz and Cerro Torre.
The $450 Scott Fischer Grant will enable Kirk to return this fall and continue work on the Patagonia Sustainable Trails Project, bringing along his years of trail-building experience in Grand Canyon and Grand Teton national parks. The project will focus again on improving trails from the Rio Blanco and De Agostini camps to the massif's spectacular peaks. "Due to the increasing use of these trails and camps by both climbers and hikers, heavy erosion has taken place, threatening access to both user groups," Kirk wrote in his grant application. "By establishing better trail and camping structures in key areas, we can maintain access while mitigating further environmental degradation."
As for climbing goals—taking breaks from trail work during brief windows of good weather—Kirk said, "I hesitate to plan for specific objectives in a range that is so notorious for uncertain conditions, [but] it is obvious that there is a lifetime of climbing projects in the El Chalten massif left to explore, and I can only hope that I am as fortunate with weather and partners as I was last year."
These AAC conservation grants are awarded in memory of Scott Fischer, who died on Mt. Everest in 1996. The grants are made annually, with an application deadline of March 1. For more information, click here.
In the photo: Climbing the west face of Cerro Torre during a break from the Patagonia Sustainable Trails Project. Photo by Cullen Kirk.