Dear Members:
I’ve been an AAC member for about 10 years, but I keep learning new
things about the club. Frankly, I’m a little embarrassed that I didn’t
understand one membership benefit until very recently --I didn’t know
that the AAC’s insurance policy for rescues up to 6,000 meters extends
automatically to all members. You don’t have to sign up for it, fill out
any forms, or pay an annual premium. It just comes with your annual
membership. I’m not planning to get rescued anytime soon, but it’s
comforting to know the coverage is there if I need it.
Similarly, I had visited the AAC’s incredible library in Golden
many times, but I’d never paid any attention to the video collection.
Turns out we’ve got more than 500 videos and DVDs, from avalanche primers
and expedition narratives to hard-core bouldering flicks with the latest
techno soundtrack. As a member, all you have to do is go online and search
the catalog (www.americanalpineclub.org/knowledge/aaclibrary.asp),
and you can get videos mailed to you for a midwinter film festival in your
own home. Fire up the popcorn!
Take a long look around the AAC web site someday (www.americanalpineclub.org).
You just might be surprised what you’ll find.
Dougald MacDonald
E-News Editor/Interim Executive Director
dougald5@comcast.net
P.S.--We know it's November. Due to technical issues in the
office we're only now able to get this out. You can expect your
November E-News to be on time. We apologize for any confusion.
REMEMBERING PETE SCHOENING
Newspapers from around the world ran obituaries for Pete Schoening, who
died in September at the age of 77. Most writers focused on The Belay, the
incident in 1953 when Schoening managed to stop five falling climbers high
on K2. But AAC Past President Jim Henriot, a longtime friend, said
Schoening also should be remembered for his enthusiastic commitment to
international climbing exchanges. Schoening led the American contingent to
the first International Climbing Camp in the Pamirs in 1974, and the
friendships he made on that trip led to numerous exchanges of American and
Soviet climbers. Schoening often hosted the visiting climbers at his home
in Seattle.
“One year 10 Soviets (including their KGB manager) stayed with Pete,”
Henriot remembers. “He had them water skiing within one hour of their
arrival in front of his Lake Washington home. They had never water skied
before, and they just held on to the ski line and were pulled around the
lake half-submerged. Very strong guys!”
Nick Clinch, Schoening’s partner on several expeditions, recalled, “His
strength had other useful expedition benefits besides climbing and
belaying. It also was good for labor relations. In 1958, on the approach
march up the Baltoro Glacier to Hidden Peak, Pete and I frequently walked
in the porter column. Back at Skardu we had carefully weighed the 60-pound
loads, but at one rest stop a porter began complaining loudly that his
load was too heavy. The other men started murmuring. With one hand, Pete
grabbed the Balti's box by the goat-hair ropes, picked it up, extended his
arm out to its full length, and handed the box to the Balti. His fellow
porters began laughing. The crisis was over and we had no further
difficulties regarding the weight of the loads.”
A full obituary will appear in the next American Alpine News
BE A STAR FOR A DAY
Been climbing? The AAC E-News plans to feature a different member’s
interesting climbs each edition. You can read all about amazing first
ascents in the American Alpine Journal and the climbing magazines, but the
E-News will focus on ordinary climbers’ great days out. Send a short
report (250 words or less) on your latest and greatest climb, and you
could be featured in the next E-News. Digital photos also are welcome.
Contact:
dmacdonald@americanalpineclub.org.
ATHEARN ADDRESSES
WILDERNESS CONFERENCE
AAC Deputy Director Lloyd Athearn addressed the 40th Anniversary
National Wilderness Conference in Lake George, New York, in mid-October.
The conference brought together about 250 public- and private-sector
leaders to discuss the future of America’s wilderness system on the 40th
anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Athearn was part of an opening-day
panel addressing wilderness protection, and he used the opportunity to
make the case for climbing’s vital role in the genesis of the wilderness
movement and in the development of future wilderness activists. Info:
lathearn@americanalpineclub.org.
ARTIST NEEDED
The AAC is looking for a skilled artist or designer to volunteer his or
her talents and create a poster for the 2005 Annual Meeting and Mountain
Fest, featuring Reinhold Messner. The festival will be in Ouray, Colorado,
March 4-6, 2005. If you’re interested in lending a hand, contact
ebyerly@americanalpineclub.org.
DIAMOND
ANNIVERSARIES
There’s an old saying that there are “old climbers and bold climbers,
but no old, bold climbers.” But don’t be so sure. Seven climbers
celebrated their 50th year as members of the American Alpine Club in 2004.
They are: Nick Clinch, Palo Alto, California; Frederick Dunn, San
Francisco, California; Robert Goodwin, Ridgway, Colorado; Don Gordon,
Seattle, Washington; Thomas Miller, Seattle, Washington; Peter Robinson,
Trondheim, Norway; and Robert West, Madison, Wisconsin. Congratulations to
the club’s diamond-anniversary members!
PORZAK BAGS FIFTH 8,000-ER
AAC Past President Glenn Porzak climbed Cho Oyu in late September, his
fifth 8,000-meter peak. The 56-year-old lawyer from Boulder, Colorado, has
previously climbed Everest, Makalu, Shishapangma, and Lhotse. Four of the
five members of Porzak’s team, all 50 or older, reached the summit of
26,940-foot Cho Oyu with their Sherpa partners. “Many people are familiar
with “Into Thin Air,” Porzak told the Boulder Daily Camera. “We referred
to our 50-something expedition as ‘Into Gray Hair.’”
UPHILL RACER
Andrew McClean, the U.S. delegate to the International Ski
Mountaineering Council, has prepared an extensive Q&A on the burgeoning
sport of ski-mountaineering races for the AAC web site. If you’re curious
about these up-and-down ski races and what it takes to participate, visit
www.americanalpineclub.org/community/ismc.asp. At least half a dozen
ski-mountaineering races are slated for North America this winter,
including a World Cup outside Salt Lake City and the North American
Championships at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, both in March.
SQUAMISH UPDATE
The Squamish District Council has rejected a proposal to build a gondola
to the second summit of Stawamus Chief, the enormous granite monolith that
draws climbers from around the world. The gondola would have ferried
thousands of tourists a year to an observation deck atop the Chief. The
decision still leaves the door open to a tourist gondola located elsewhere
in the Squamish area. Info:
http://casbc.bivouac.com.
THE FINAL
SUMMIT
The American Alpine Journal is looking for a volunteer editor for its In
Memoriam section. The editor will need to solicit and/or edit obituaries
for AAC members who have climbed their final summit. If you have an
interest in climbing history and those who made it, and if you enjoy
working with words (and the people who write them), please get in touch
with John Harlin, the AAJ editor, at
JohnHarlin@gorge.net.
BOZEMAN
EVENT
In conjunction with the Barrel Mountaineering Ice Festival on the weekend
of November 19-21, the AAC Northern Rockies Section is planning an
organizational meeting for members in central Montana. Immediately
following the ice festival slideshow at the Emerson Cultural Center
(corner of Babcock and Grand) on Saturday evening, members, potential
members, and interested parties are welcome to meet at the Montana Ale
Works, 611 E. Main Street, for a short organizational meeting. The meeting
is expected to start around 9 p.m., and the goal is to find a volunteer to
assist with organizing an annual AAC event in the Bozeman area and to
serve as a local contact for new and existing members.
To participate in the ice festival, sign up through Barrel Mountaineering
at 406-582-1335. If you have any questions about the AAC section meeting,
or would like to assist with organizing an annual event for central
Montana members, contact Doug Colwell at
dcolwell@harrisdean.com;
please mention the AAC somewhere in the subject line.
COMING
EVENTS
November 6-7
Utah
Chicks on Cracks in Moab will offer instruction and
self-rescue techniques, inspirational slideshows and more, led by some of
America’s best female climbers. For women only. Info:
www.moabdesertadventures.com.
November 6
Oregon
Members of the Oregon Section will be meeting at the Smith Rock
parking lot on Saturday at 9 a.m. We will be collaborating with the Oregon
State Parks staff, Traditional Mountaineers, and the Access Fund to
construct a rescue litter shelter at Monkey Face pinnacle. Be prepared to
pack construction materials to Monkey Face pinnacle and bring carpentry
tools and cordless tools. Contact Bob McGown Oregon Section chair
bobmcgown@comcast.net.
November 11
Washington
In The Shadow of the Himalayas: How People Live In Nepal.
This is a 30-minute free screening at 7 p.m. at the Seattle Mountaineers
Clubhouse, 300 Third Ave. West in lower Queen Anne. In the Shadow of
the Himalayas features fifth-grade students at Hamilton Middle School, who
have a sister-school in the Katmandu Valley, learning about Nepal.
Filmmaker Tamara Plush will join for a Q&A session. Questions:
tamarafilm1@yahoo.com.
November 20
New York
Filmmaker and distinguished climber David Breashears will be the guest
speaker at the AAC New York Section’s 25th annual dinner. The black-tie
event will be at the Union Club in Manhattan. Contact:
philiperard@nysalpineclub.org.
November 23 to 28
Mexico City
The North American Continental Championships for both adults and young
climbers, in difficulty, bouldering, and speed. Info:
www.usaclimbing.org.
November 29
Washington
Steve Swenson presents a slideshow on the Charakuza Valley of Pakistan and
the Mazeno Ridge on Nanga Parbat to benefit the Central Asia Institute. 7
p.m. at Alpine Experience in Olympia. Contact 360-956-1699.
December 2
Washington
Steve Swenson presents a benefit slideshow on the Charakuza Valley of
Pakistan and the Mazeno Ridge on Nanga Parbat. 7:30 p.m. at the HUB
Auditorium at University of Washington, Seattle.
December 17-18
Nevada
The second annual Lake Tahoe Adventure Film Festival. Keynote speaker:
Royal Robbins. Info:
www.laketahoefilmfestival.com.
E-NEWS POLICIES
In order to protect the interests of our subscribers, we have established
the following E-News policies.
The AAC office in Golden is the only source of outgoing messages to
subscribers; recipients cannot respond to or initiate messages to the
list. The AAC will not sell member e-mail addresses to anyone for any
purpose and will have no commercial advertising of any kind in E-News.
Send comments, suggestions or news items to
dougald5@comcast.net.If you know
an AAC member who isn’t receiving the E-News, it’s probably because the
AAC does not have his or her email address. New addresses or address
changes should be sent to
getinfo@americanalpineclub.org.
To unsubscribe please contact
getinfo@americanalpineclub.org
