The American Alpine Club

The American Alpine Club Our mission is to share and support our passion for climbing and respect for the places we climb.
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Welcome to the American Alpine Club’s online community—we are committed to providing climbers with the opportunity to engage with each other in respectful discussion and debate on our platforms. Learn more: https://americanalpineclub.org/community-guidelines

Serious adventures in the Alaska Range aren’t limited to mountaineering and high-end alpinism. In May 2025, AAC member R...
05/28/2026

Serious adventures in the Alaska Range aren’t limited to mountaineering and high-end alpinism.

In May 2025, AAC member Roo Streba and frequent ski partner Shawn Jordan pulled off a nine-day traverse involving skiing, trekking, and packrafting—and likely the first ski descent of a 7,000-foot line.

There wasn’t room in the upcoming 2026 American Alpine Journal for more than a brief mention of the trip, so we’re sharing the full story in The Line ✍️

"Shawn Jordan and I are Tahoe-based skiers who have adventured together throughout the Sierra. The climbing and expedition history of the Alaska Range have interested both of us for much of our lives. During a visit to the north side of the range in 2023, we conceptualized a trip that would marry aspects of old-school expedition-style mountaineering with modern, lightweight gear and skiing techniques, and that we could pull off in the limited time our lives and work allowed. We flew up to Anchorage in May 2025..."

Click the link to keep reading Roo Streba's account: https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2026/5/27/the-lineold-school-adventure-in-alaska

📷 1: Slogging up Mt. Crosson at the start of the nine-day traverse. Begguya (Mt. Hunter) is prominent in the back, above Kahiltna Base Camp. Photo: Roo Streba Collection

📷 2: The line of the ski descent off the northwest side of the Mt. Crosson group, seen from the Foraker Glacier. Photo: Roo Streba Collection

📷 3: Shawn setting out for the 12,800-foot summit of Crosson. Mt. Foraker and the Sultana Ridge are in the background. Photo: Roo Streba Collection

Happy Memorial Day from the AAC! Where are you climbing this summer? Comment below! 📷: Jan Novak
05/25/2026

Happy Memorial Day from the AAC! Where are you climbing this summer?

Comment below!

📷: Jan Novak

In this episode of Undercover Crushers, we talk to AAC members Vasya Vorotnikov and Nadya Vorotnikova about how exactly ...
05/20/2026

In this episode of Undercover Crushers, we talk to AAC members Vasya Vorotnikov and Nadya Vorotnikova about how exactly they crush so hard.

In this discussion, the siblings describe learning to climb in Russia when they were little, immigrating to the United States and starting to compete in junior level competitions in the early 2000s, and what has shaped them into the climbers they are now.

We dive into sandbagging, breaththroughs, climbing as coping, coaching yourself, and being the kind of climbing partner that won’t bail—even when you end up climbing in a snow storm. Nadya shares about turning to trad climbing to push her mental limits, after being burnt out from competitions, and what motivates her to give back to the climbing community. Plus, Vasya describes his volume goal from last year, when he set the goal to climb 365 NEW routes 5.12s and harder, 100 new 5.13s and harder, and 10 new 5.14s and harder, all on outdoor rock. Turns out, he far surpassed his goal…

Click the link to listen to the podcast! https://open.spotify.com/episode/14EOciSAcx5gQ7PMJxQK1L?si=e7-wQU-ZQlaPpXpK2tWRWQ

05/18/2026

In 2024, a climber was knocked unconscious while leading the second pitch of Ma*****na in Red Rocks, Nevada.

His partner swooped into action, effecting a self-rescue and getting them both safely off the wall. Jason and Pete are back to share some knowledge about what to do if your leader is knocked unconscious.

Want to learn more? Click the link to read the full analysis and May Prescription 🔗
https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2026/5/13/the-prescriptionleader-fall-on-rock

We recommend taking a course with an IFMGA/AMGA guide to learn more about rock rescue and joining the AAC at the partner level or higher to get up to 300K in rescue coverage.

Credits:
Pete Takeda, Editor of Accidents in North American Climbing; IFMGA/AMGA Guide Jason Antin; Producers: Shane Johnson and Sierra McGivney; Videographer: Foster Denney; Editor: Sierra McGivney; Location: Boulder Canyon, Boulder, CO.

It’s May, and we’re fully into the spring season. We have the first installment of a two-part series that demonstrates w...
05/14/2026

It’s May, and we’re fully into the spring season. We have the first installment of a two-part series that demonstrates what to do if the leader falls and is knocked unconscious. It is not an uncommon scenario, as we see in an accident we reported in the 2025 ANAC.

The accident report reads, “On November 10, I, Eric Chaudhary, and a partner (male, 26) were climbing Ma*****na (5 pitches, 11c) in the Black Orpheus Amphitheater. He was leading the second pitch (10b). It exits hard left off a hanging belay with one bolt for protection about six feet above and ten feet to the left of the belay. The route then cuts back right to a roof/bulge move where I believe he placed a BD #0.3 Z4 cam. He did the move, mantled up, and was getting his stance when his foot slipped, and he fell.”

Read the report and the accident analysis in the May Prescription at the link: https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2026/5/13/the-prescriptionleader-fall-on-rock

📷: Red Rock Canyon lies just outside the Las Vegas metropolitan area. This proximity belies the remote wilderness setting in which rescues are often complex and hazardous. Photo by BLM Nevada.

Last chance to apply for the AAC Mentorship Program Alpine Track 🚨 Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take your climbi...
05/14/2026

Last chance to apply for the AAC Mentorship Program Alpine Track 🚨 Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take your climbing to the next level. Applications close on May 21.

The AAC Mentorship program is presented by Arc'teryx

To learn more or apply, click the link → https://americanalpineclub.org/mentorship

📷 1: Matilda Braidwood
📷 2: Taylor Shaffer
📷 3: William Woodward

The Duality of Man (5.15d) isn't just a groundbreaking ascent, it's outlandish—a massive roof on drippy, Spanish-style l...
05/12/2026

The Duality of Man (5.15d) isn't just a groundbreaking ascent, it's outlandish—a massive roof on drippy, Spanish-style limestone to a white- and orange-streaked headwall, its rock porcelain smooth.

On March 6, 2025, Sean Bailey sent America's first 5.15d, Duality of Man, in Celebrity Cave, Dry Canyon, Arizona.

On Sean Bailey’s send go, only the second time he’d made it through the headwall’s V11/12 crux and well into the V15, he told himself, “[A]ll right, this is finally the f***ing moment. I can finally take control of the situation again, and I’m just going to make it happen.”

Want to read Bailey's full story? Click the link for a sneak peek of the American Climbing Journal (ACJ): https://americanalpineclub.org/publications

The American Climbing Journal is the inaugural journal of record for significant rock climbs. This new book tells the stories of groundbreaking ascents—in the disciplines of bouldering, sport climbing, single-pitch trad, and performance big-wall—almost entirely from the first-person POV of the climbers themselves, supplemented by deeply researched and reported writing.

If you are an AAC Partner level member or above, you can get this book in the mail as part of your member benefits! Be sure to open upcoming AAC emails to ensure you’re opted-in to receive this exciting new book.

Join the Club by July 1 to get this year’s copy!

Enter for a chance to win an epic climbing vacation to the Red River Gorge at the link! https://www.summitjournal.com/pa...
05/07/2026

Enter for a chance to win an epic climbing vacation to the Red River Gorge at the link! https://www.summitjournal.com/pages/win-climbing-vacation-red-river-gorge

We're stoked to partner with Summit Journal to give away spots for two people on an epic climbing vacation to the Red River Gorge, courtesy of the Silos! This year’s prize also includes over $4,000 worth of gear from our partners, and $500 of airfare.

One winner will get a 4-night at any of the Silos’ modern, gorgeous and oh-so-comfortable cabins — just a short jaunt away from the Motherlode crag! Plus over $4,000 worth of gear and resources!

The Red is famous for having some of the best stone in the Lower 48 — hell, in the world, for that matter. From moderate sandstone cracks and clip-ups to overhanging pumpfests on bullet sandstone, there’s a reason many climbers return for years on end.

Red River Gorge Silos is a different kind of basecamp—repurposed grain silos tucked in the woods, minutes from the Red’s best climbing. Close enough to chase good conditions, with a solid place to reset when you’re worked.

**1 Grand Prize Package**
• 4-night stay in any cabin at The Silos in the Red River Gorge, Kentucky (Must be redeemed before May 10, 2027. Based on availability. Exclusions apply, see rules.)
• Airfare up to $500 USD from Summit Journal
• One 1-year Leader-Level American Alpine Club membership and a $100 AAC Gift Card from American Alpine Club
• Rope, Quickdraws, Harness, Belay Device, Lockers, Helmet, chalkbag, and chalk from Camp USA
• A full apparel kit, with shorts, pants, shirt, and puffy from Berghaus: Outdoor Clothing & Equipment
• Lifetime membership to Alpinesavvy.com — the largest and most detailed collection of alpine climbing tips available.
• One half-day of private guided rock climbing for two and one via ferrata tour for two from
• One dinner for two (2) at the Red River Rockhouse
• One year’s supply of non-alocholic beer from Athletic Brewing
• One Summit Journal subscription and $100 in Summit Journal merch

Sweepstakes ends May 3, 2026.

Katie Lamb on becoming the first woman to climb V16 twice. In this episode of the Cutting Edge podcast, we sat down with...
05/06/2026

Katie Lamb on becoming the first woman to climb V16 twice.

In this episode of the Cutting Edge podcast, we sat down with Katie Lamb to chat about The Dark Side, an unrelenting V16 on small crimps and dire slopers on the Thriller Boulder in Camp 4.

In March 2025, the Bay Area–based climber Katie Lamb snagged the fourth ascent of Yosemite's most difficult boulder problem, in so doing, she became the first woman to climb the grade, but there's a catch: Back in summer 2023, Lamb had already done a V16, a problem called Box Therapy in Colorado—it's just that it was later downgraded to V15.

In a complex and nuanced discussion on the state of the art in bouldering—and the evolution of the grading scales we use to classify these ascents—host Jim Aikman talks with Lamb about the passion, hard work, and tactics that went into her ticks. And he interviews The Dark Side's first ascensionist Carlo Traversi, a driving force behind modern Yosemite bouldering, as well as American Climbing Journal Editor Matt Samet, who worked with Lamb on her feature in the upcoming journal, "A Walk on the Dark Side."

Click the link to take a walk on the Dark Side with Katie Lamb: https://open.spotify.com/episode/11YsRkmDf70cfbAKBBCwWH?si=ys4UyDUPTLmVMNpdGqpwdg

📷: Katie Lamb on the sloper rail on The Dark Side (V16), Thriller Boulder, Camp 4, Yosemite Valley. Photo by Eric Bissell

You’ve probably heard of Matt Samet—he’s a climbing lifer, and as a writer and editor in the climbing industry for 25+ y...
05/04/2026

You’ve probably heard of Matt Samet—he’s a climbing lifer, and as a writer and editor in the climbing industry for 25+ years, he’s left his mark on climbing media.

Recently, the AAC hired him to help create the all-new American Climbing Journal, a journal of record documenting the most significant climbs in rock climbing each year—with stories written almost entirely from the first person POV of the climbers themselves. For 97 years, we’ve documented the cutting-edge of alpine climbing in the AAJ, and it’s been high-time the AAC has done the same for bouldering, sport-climbing, single-pitch trad climbing, and performance big-wall ascents. The ACJ also includes profiles on new areas and major local ascents from all across the US and the world.

In this episode, we sit down with Matt Samet to chat about some of the behind the scenes secrets of creating the book, why it matters to have a collected “yearbook” of climbing when we have the internet, the fickle nature of recording climbing history as it happens, a sneak peek into the big ascents in the book, as well as a fairly long sidebar about AI.

Dive in to nerd out about hard rock climbing at the link --> https://open.spotify.com/episode/2MAWaoLw5pjKFF8zaLd2Fz?si=H2z0i3KGSXOKX4hnh8HwFw

The AAC Podcast is presented by Patagonia

Learn how to get your hands on the ACJ ⬇️

AAC members at the Partner, Leader, or Advocate level are eligible to get a copy of the ACJ as a member benefit! Keep your eyes peeled for AAC emails, so you can ensure you’re opted in!

Not a member? Join or renew before July 1 to ensure you get this year’s copy!

Supporter level member? Upgrade by July 1 to get your copy.

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