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

06/19/2026

Here's the scenario: Your climbing partner took a leader fall, they are unconscious, and unresponsive.

What do you do?

Jason Antin is back to show you ONE way to rescue an unconscious leader while on a multi-pitch climb. 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 international rescue coverage.

Learn more in the full analysis: https://bit.ly/4oymkkf

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

Hannah Provost: Why is there a need for something like The American Climbing Journal [ACJ]—why should it exist if we hav...
06/18/2026

Hannah Provost: Why is there a need for something like The American Climbing Journal [ACJ]—why should it exist if we have the internet? I.e., what’s the argument for your relevance, Matt?

Matt Samet: I think it’s important to have a journal of record for rock climbing, just as it’s been important to have a journal of record for alpinism, like we’ve had with The American Alpine Journal [AAJ] for 97 years now. Rock climbing in the last 40 years has become just as relevant as alpinism, I think. For years, the magazines functioned in that capacity with news departments, features, articles about areas, and profiles on climbs. The magazines were the keepers of that record. Before the internet, they were the only way you could find out what had been done.

Continue reading, "An Interview with American Climbing Journal Editor," by Hannah Provost originally published in Guidebook XVIII for a full preview of what to expect in our upcoming publication, ACJ 🔗 https://bit.ly/4vhs9Fe

📷 1: American Climbing Journal editor Matt Samet showing love to his cockatiel, Gandalf. Photo by AAC staff Foster Denney
📷 2: Matt Samet examining a boulder at his local gym. Photo by AAC staff Foster Denney

This shirt won’t be around for long… Oscar Mitchell’s artwork is inspired by the adventures that keep us coming back: lo...
06/17/2026

This shirt won’t be around for long…

Oscar Mitchell’s artwork is inspired by the adventures that keep us coming back: long days, new challenges, and good company in the mountains 🏔️

This month only, join or renew your AAC membership (or donate $30) and use promo code QUEST to receive this limited-edition shirt for free while supporting the AAC’s year-round work.

Head to the link below to join, renew, or donate and claim yours ⬇️
https://bit.ly/4u09UCH

📸 Foster Denney

06/11/2026

Your support powers our stories, reports, and lessons.

This month only, join or renew your AAC membership (or donate $30) and use promo code QUEST to receive a free, limited-edition t-shirt with artwork by Oscar Mitchell 👕

Head to the link below to join, renew, or donate and claim your shirt ⬇️
https://bit.ly/4u09UCH

📸 IFMGA/AMGA Guide Jason Antin, Sierra McGivney (Editor), and Foster Denney (Videographer)

For many of us, each climb we undertake is a private sparring session. Because such battles can be painful, frustrating,...
06/11/2026

For many of us, each climb we undertake is a private sparring session. Because such battles can be painful, frustrating, or even sometimes break us, you’d think we’d engage only reluctantly. But it seems that we climbers, more than anything, are easily disposed to spiritual possession.

But some climbs collectively haunt. At crags in Rumney, New Hampshire, there are some climbs that take hold of their victims and seldom let go.

Jaws II (5.15a) lures its victims with one important ingredient: the temptation of the impossible.

China Beach (5.14b) asks climbers to go deep into microbeta and tactics. It’s a climb that asks you to linger.

Predator (5.13b) is everywhere—stalking you, ready to possess your body and swallow your soul.

Continue reading, "Small Hauntings," by Hannah Provost, originally published in Guidebook XVIII at the link 🔗 https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2026/5/5/small-hauntings

📷 1 & 2: AAC Board President Nina Williams breaks the beta on the top crux of China Beach, to suit her short frame. Photos by AAC member Jordi Llauradó i Vilà
📷 3: AAC member François Lebeau

06/09/2026

Guide-approved and desert-tested 👕

This month only, join or renew your AAC membership (or donate $30) and use promo code QUEST to receive a free, limited-edition t-shirt with artwork by Oscar Mitchell.

Head to the link below to join, renew, or donate and claim your shirt ⬇️
https://bit.ly/4u09UCH

📸 IFMGA/AMGA Guide Jason Antin, Sierra McGivney (Editor), and Foster Denney (Videographer)

What percent of climbers THINK they always observe safety practices….vs. actually do? What are the unique risks for indo...
06/08/2026

What percent of climbers THINK they always observe safety practices….vs. actually do? What are the unique risks for indoor climbers? Are climbers even interested in training, and is the training equipment climbers use reflective of what the climbing media loves to yap about? Has who climbers are—the demographic make-up of climbing—changed much in the last 7 years? Do indoor climbers even want to climb outside? What are the most popular disciplines of the sport, indoors and outdoors?

Some answers will surprise you…

Click the link to listen in and find out 🔗 https://open.spotify.com/episode/1WHLtR4Q6zANf72snVEL3B?si=dWZA0_9fSTWjwfviuWB6qg

06/06/2026

The Club is in Vail, CO this weekend, climbing, chatting, and cheering on athletes (including the furry ones 🐕) at the GoPro Mountain Games.

Come find us in the village, tell us what trips you're planning, or ask about our work!

Thanks to our friends at the Vail Valley Foundation for inviting us out.

📸 AAC staff Patrick Bodnar and Heidi McDowell

Six months after the accident, it was time for me to return to Colorado, to pick up a life I had left behind. I was only...
06/05/2026

Six months after the accident, it was time for me to return to Colorado, to pick up a life I had left behind.

I was only a few hours into my journey when I took an unexpected pause in the Nevada desert. I found comfort in the familiar landscape of Red Rock Canyon and was thankful to be in the presence of close friends. The gentle curves of the smooth sandstone put my nervous system at ease, the long, quiet nights reduced the sleep deficit I had been accumulating, and the pink glow of the walls at sunrise restored my confidence in the beauty of new beginnings. It was there, in the desert, surrounded by both the softness of the rock and the fierceness of the vegetation, that new questions began surfacing.

Will I ever be able to climb again, or would fear overtake me?

Originally published in Guidebook XVIII, "An Unforeseen Path," by Michelle Voelker, describes the complexities of caregivers in the aftermath of a climbing accident.

Click the link in bio to continue reading Voelker's story 🔗 https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2026/5/5/an-unforeseen-path

If you or someone you know is a survivor or has witnessed a climbing accident, or has lost a family member or friend, is processing a debilitating injury, or is a caregiver for someone who is healing from an accident, consider applying for the climbing Grief Fund. Learn more at the link.

📷 1: A determined Michelle Voelker clipping bolts in Kalymnos, Greece. AAC member Laura Szanto
📷 2: AAC member Jess Glassberg / LT11 image

Unsure how his climbing competition experience would translate to the outdoors, Beckett Hsin set the goal of climbing V1...
06/04/2026

Unsure how his climbing competition experience would translate to the outdoors, Beckett Hsin set the goal of climbing V12 before he turned thirteen. When he sent Spatial Awareness (V12) and Spatial Awareness Low (V13) soon after, he continued to push his limits.

On September 6, 2025, Hsin sent Creature from the Black Lagoon (V16), Rocky Mountain National Park, after five days, becoming likely the youngest person to climb V16/8C+, at age 15.

Since then, he has made the third ascent of No One Mourns the Wicked at Thunder Ridge, becoming the youngest person, at age 16, to send V17/9A.

Want to read Hsin's full story about the send? Click the link for a sneak peek of the American Climbing Journal (ACJ)!https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55830fd9e4b0ec758c892f81/t/69e0023598ad6f5e8a7c8b17/1776288309435/ACJ26_Sampler.pdf

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!

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Golden, CO
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