Telling the stories of our members is important to us because it helps the community understand who makes up that community.  Member Bo White traveled to Tajikistan once for research and was lured back by the peaks…

My first trip to Tajikistan was in the winter of 2008/09 to collect data for my Master’s research. Though fruitful from an academic standpoint, the trip was torturous as a climber: surrounded by a massive landscape of peaks, valleys, glaciers and desert, yet without gear, partners, or time for adventure. I decided that I needed to return to this place. Fortunately, a Fulbright Research Grant afforded me the opportunity to return to the country for a full year. I moved to Tajikistan in September of 2010, settling in the small town of Khorog, which is located in southeastern Tajikistan on the border with Afghanistan. Though home to only 30,000 inhabitants, Khorog is by far the most populous town in Tajikistan’s sparsely populated Gorno-Badakshan region, and any climber venturing to the Pamirs will likely travel through it. I like to think of Khorog as the Chamonix of Central Asia (but take that with a rather large grain of salt).

Despite being on the backside of the Himalayas and being home to a good number of 6000 and 7000m peaks, the extent of tourism in the Pamirs is almost insignificant compared to that in Nepal, China, India or even Kyrgyzstan. In a typical year the Pamirs might see just 1,000 tourists (with only a fraction being climbers). This was not always the case though. While the Soviet Union was in power Russian mountaineers were very active in Tajikistan and accomplished many groundbreaking ascents on the country’s 6000-7500m peaks. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union and subsequent civil war in Tajikistan, however, climbing activity dropped off markedly. Thus, those looking for a Himalayan climbing experience that is well off the beaten path should seriously consider making a trip to the Pamirs. Other advantages to this region as a climbing destination include incredibly stable weather, many unclimbed 4000-6000m peaks, and significant new route potential on peaks in the 6000-7500m range. This pristine mountain range also has its disadvantages for climbers: the transportation infrastructure is dismal, route information ranges from non-existent to sparse, and there are only a handful of locals with technical mountaineering or climbing experience.

The people of Khorog, and the majority of people in the Pamirs, are Ismaili Muslim. From a theological perspective Ismailis are unique from Muslims of other sects in that they follow an individual known as the Aga Khan, who they believe to be the direct descendent of the prophet Mohammad. The current Aga Khan is Prince Karim—who is also a Harvard-educated ex-professional ski racer and Olympian. Pamiris’ religious devotion sharply contrasts with western stereotypes of Islamic practice. Young unmarried Ismaili women and men walk freely with one another in the street, the women never wear hijab, marriages are always at will and unarranged, education is offered equally to girls and boys and takes place in co-ed classrooms, and Pamiris are typically extremely fond of America(ns).

One of the most rewarding things that I did while living in Tajikistan was to conduct a series of rock climbing and wilderness workshops for young aspiring mountain guides who were studying tourism at the University of Central Asia (UCA). UCA is initiative of the Aga Khan Development Network, which has the aim of establishing a series of world-class universities to serve the greater Central Asia region. Currently, UCA offers training on ‘practical skills’ such as foreign languages, computer literacy and basic programming, business management/entrepreneurism, resource management, architecture/building, and tourism. The university is in the process of building three residential campuses in remote mountain communities in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan; Khorog is the location of the Tajikistan campus. UCA will eventually offer undergraduate and Masters-level courses similar to those found at a liberal arts college in the United States, but focused on the particular characteristics of the Central Asia region. This mission is truly remarkable given the geopolitical characteristics of the region. The university is also one of the best run and most effective ‘development’ organizations I have encountered.

The mountaineering/climbing workshops just covered the basics, but many of these were entirely new ideas for the local students: an introduction to the ecology of the alpine environment, an orientation to the equipment used in wilderness travel and climbing, and the leave-no-trace ethic. The workshops progressed to field trips where the students had the opportunity to use camping and climbing equipment on multiple day and overnight trips. We practiced appropriate emergency procedures during mock emergency scenarios. We took several trips to local “crags” to practice setting up a top rope and to practice climbing and belay technique. The students responded to climbing with incredible enthusiasm and focus. Like the culture of climbing, the Pamiri culture partly stems from an intimate relationship between a group of people and a mountainous landscape. These students were thirsty for the knowledge and tools that would allow them to more fully appreciate their landscape and protect its delicate ecosystems for future generations. It was an honor and a great inspiration to help foster the spirit of climbing in this remarkable place. 

The American Alpine Club is proud to sponsor the Mountainfilm Commitment Grant dedicated to filmmakers, photographers, artists, and adventurers whose projects tell the story of climbing, mountain adventure, and/or mountain culture.

“The stories climbers tell influence safety, open new terrain, and inspire us all,” said Alpine Club Executive Director Phil Powers. “The American Alpine Club is proud to support excellence in telling the climber’s story through a Mountainfilm Commitment Grant.”

This $5,000 grant will be awarded to Allison Otto and Carole Snow’s documentary film Keeper of the Mountains about the legendary Everest historian Elizabeth Hawley. The filmmakers are in the process of filming and interviewing the Grande Dame of the Himalayas about her unique vantage on mountaineering history—she has
helped resolve many controversies and often decided who has earned a summit in the Himalaya.

On Friday, May 25 at 8:45 p.m. at the Sheridan Opera House, Phil Powers and Jimmy Chin will present the Rowell Award for The Art of Adventure to photographer and alpinist Cory Richards, who was featured in the 2011 award-winning film Cold. The award honors an adventurer whose artistic passion illuminates the wild places of the world and whose accomplishments significantly benefit both the environment and the people who inhabit these lands and regions.

AAC members Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk will then premiere House of Cards (still a work in progress), a triumphant film about the Piolet d’Or nominated ascent of the highly technical, challenging, and dangerous granite buttress: the Shark’s Fin on the northeast side of the 6,310-meter peak Meru Central in India that they climbed with Conrad Anker. Be sure to
swing by the Last Dollar Saloon for the after-party hosted by the AAC and Revo Sunglasses.

Take a free ride gondola ride to the High Camp at the Telluride Conference Center in Mountain Village to see The Old Breed, a film about AAC members Mark Richey, Steve Swenson and Freddie Wilkinson’s monumental ascent of Saser Kangri II (7,518 m). Q&A afterward includes team member and former AAC President Steve Swenson. Check out more on this film on mountainfilm.org.

AAC  Past President Jim McCarthy will serve as a judge for the Charlie Fowler Award to determine which climbing film Charlie would have liked for this $1,000 prize. The AAC will also have a table at the Sunday Reading Frenzy, Saturday Ice Cream Social, and the Closing Picnic and Awards Ceremony on Monday in Town Park.

Don’t miss this exceptional event. Get your tickets now. AAC members receive discounted rates on Wilson and Sunshine level passes. Call or email the Club for details: 303.384.0110.

The American Alpine Club has over 9,000 members worldwide and each of those members approaches climbing and time in the outdoors differently. For some it’s a career, for some a diversion, for others, an obsession. The Club’s membership spans boulderers, sport-climbers, hikers, skiers, trad-rats, scientists, big-wall aficionados, adventurers, ice-climbers, peak-baggers, explorers, and alpinists. It’s a big tent, but there are a lot of people in love with the mountains excited to fill that tent. 

Telling the stories of our members is important to us because it helps the community understand who makes up that community. Member and Library volunteer Marina Valenzuela has spent hours in the library helping us catalog the thousands upon thousands of cool things that people donate to our archives. She thought that this series of notes, in particular, were really cool!

A month ago I had the rare honor of going through and cataloging the personal climbing notes of none other than Catherine Freer, generously contributed to the American Alpine Club Library by her friend Alison Osius [Also a Past President of the American Alpine Club].

While going through the small box of faded climbing guide photocopies, hand-drawn route maps, and list after list of routes that had been checked-off, I slowly learned to move through the particular geography she inhabited.  I learned which were the hardest routes in the Yosemite Valley, what climbing in Joshua Tree was like, viewed pictures of the Canadian Rockies, and looked with awe at the picture of her summiting Cholatse, her dark shape dwarfed by the shimmering ice peak.

For those who have not heard of her, Freer was truly a legend in her own time.  While maybe not as well-known as Messner, Breshears, or Hill; Freer stood her ground as a respected rock climber and mountaineer. 

Freer started climbing in her teens, and quickly moved up the ranks.  She tackled the hardest routes with an intensity noted by her peers, and constantly challenged her own abilities.  Yet there was an emotional openness to her that drew people in.  Fellow climbers can recall her taking the time during difficult ascents to invite fellow mountaineers to share their thoughts and feelings, laying bare her own fears of failure, even as she encouraged the team to keep going. 

Scattered through her climbing logs, I found traces of this introspection, as she mused on relationships, left route sketches on the back of a poem, and added exhilarated notes on particular climbs.

It is the greatness of heart as much as the deeds that continue to inspire, as Freer died young, another adventurer lost to the mountains. At the age of 37, she and Dave Cheesmond were victims of a collapsed cornice while attempting the second ascent of the Hummingbird Range of Mount Logan. Their bodies have not been found.

In recognition of her lasting contributions to the mountaineering community, the American Alpine Club posthumously awarded her the Underhill Award in 1987.