Front Range Section (CO)
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The Front Range Section of the American Alpine Club draws its members, a thousand strong, from the eastern half of Colorado as well as the southeast corner of Wyoming—between Laramie and Cheyenne. Section members are very active climbers and, due to our location, active supporters of numerous events at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden throughout the year.
Our annual Lumpy Ridge trail building day in Estes Park has seen many members over the years. The development of new annual events is underway but we also are looking for one-time trips, happy hours, BBQ’s and presentations to connect members both new and old. Member ideas for events are always welcome.
Our section is home to many world class climbing destinations: Eldorado Canyon State Park, the Flatirons, Boulder Canyon, Lumpy Ridge and Rocky Mountain National Park are just a few. The accomplishments of Front Range climbers are far and wide, from local ice climbing to the highest peaks on every continent.
If you have climbing-related news or want to share your climbing accomplishment, I encourage you to share for addition to the news and events section. Not already an AAC member? Send me an email to discuss the benefits of membership with you. Even better, go to www.AmericanAlpineClub.org/joinnow and sign up.
Interested in becoming an AAC Ambassador for this section?
Community Ambassadors are climbers who live and are active in their local climbing communities. Like Section Chairs, they promote the AAC in their area. Local communities consist of climbing locales, population centers with significant numbers of climbers, and special interest groups like ice climbers, women or boulderers. Communities are best served by multiple ambassadors, those with time and energy to coordinate with Section Chairs and rally climbers in the area.
Interested? Contact Dana at drichardson [at] americanalpineclub [dot] org for more information.
Section Chair - Chris Pruchnic
Chris is an avid adventurer who is passionate about climbing, scuba diving and foreign travel. When leading trips abroad learning about the local culture and history is just as important as the summit. Thus his adventures often include visits to ancient ruins, markets, museums and other experiences to go beyond just exploring in an attempt to make a cultural and environmental connection with the local people.
A rock climber for years he only discovered ice and alpine climbing a decade ago. Since then his alpine pursuits have lead to attempts on numerous classic climbs in the Cascades, Olympics, Rockies, Alaska Range, Mexico, Ecuador and Bolivia.
He lives in the Denver Metro area but frequently escapes to the mountains to climb, ski or trail run.
If there is an event or activity you feel the Front Range Section members would like to support please contact him using the above link.