AAC and Jones Snowboards offer $40,000 in grants to support your next adventure

October 17, 2018

Applications Open for 2019 AAC Cutting Edge Grant, Jones Live Like Liz Award, and Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant

Golden, CO (Oct 17, 2018) — The American Alpine Club (AAC), America’s oldest and largest non-profit organization for climbers, is pleased to accept applications for more than $40,000 in financial support for climbers and backcountry snowboarders with an epic adventure in mind. The grants, designed to help offset the costs of remote expeditions, support the AAC’s tradition of backcountry exploration and personal challenge.

Back for a second year, The American Alpine Club and Jones Snowboards are thrilled to offer snowboard-specific mountain exploration grants to support amateur backcountry snowboarders and their dreams of mountain adventure and winter exploration. Applications for the Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant are considered based on objective remoteness, exploratory nature, carbon footprint, creativity, and must be American Alpine Club members. Project locations must be in North America and be completed in 2018.

Open exclusively to female applicants, Jones Live Like Liz Award operates under the same criteria as Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant. The Live Like Liz Award is named in honor of aspiring mountain guide Liz Daley, a Jones ambassador who was killed in an avalanche accident in Argentina in September 2014. This award is dedicated to Liz and the radiant passion for splitboard exploration for which she was known.

Both Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant and the Jones Live Like Liz Award provide $1500 in financial assistance and gear including a new Jones splitboard, skins and backpack. Objectives may be a single line/peak or a tour/traverse of a wider region.

The American Alpine Club’s Cutting Edge Grant supports ambitious climbers in pursuit of world-class climbing and mountaineering objectives. Awards typically fall in the $5,000 to $15,000 range with final allocations based on project and budget. Proposals for the Cutting Edge Grants are evaluated upon originality of the objective, low-impact style, climbers’ experience, and eligibility (the grant is limited to U.S. citizens and members of the American Alpine Club).

ALL GRANT APPLICATIONS ARE DUE NOV 30, 2018

American Alpine Club 2019 Cutting Edge Grant application:
https://americanalpineclub.org/cutting-edge-grant

Jones 2019 Adventure Grants application:
https://americanalpineclub.org/jones-splitboarding-grants

2018 AAC Cutting Edge Grants:

Kurt Ross ($6,000) visited a seldom traveled region in the eastern Pakistani Karakoram to establish a first ascent on the unclimbed peak, Karmading Brakk — a beautiful 6000m peak, only recently released from military control. With government-issued permits, Kurt and his team successfully made Karmading Brakk’s first ascent. TRIP COMPLETED

Alan Rousseau ($6,000) to attempt the remote north face of Chiling II (6400m), in Zanskar-Kashmir- Kishtwar region of Himal India. With a difficult, mostly unsupported approach and hard climbing at altitude, this objective represents a step forward in Alan’s climbing and likely one of the harder north faces he and his team have ever attempted. TRIP IN PROGRESS

Whitney Clark ($5,000) to lead an all-woman team to the Zanskar-Kashmir-Kishtwar region of Himal India to attempt the main summit of Arjuna’s (6230m) West Face. Their chosen route takes the team up a steep 1400m unclimbed buttress, which lies to the left of all current established routes. The peak is accessed via a complex icefall, followed by technical high-alpine climbing. It is their goal to climb the route free and operate in a fast, light ethic. TRIP IN PROGRESS

Ryan Johnson ($3,000) to travel to the Alaska Range to attempt the East Face of Mt. Hayes (4215m). Ryan attempted the line in 2013 but extreme cold and illness shut down the expedition. The line on Hayes is primarily an ice hose, with a 600m steep mixed section. TRIP CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER

2018 Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant:

Cory Nolan of Deming, WA was awarded the 2018 Backcountry Adventure Grant to explore the Northwestern Fjord of Kenai Fjords National Park. Corey is a Washington State resident and a kayak guide in Alaska in the summer. Last spring Corey and a crew set up a kayak-accessed base camp on the water’s edge and explored the glaciers towering above them on splitboards. Bad weather kept them in camp for a solid spell, but a couple days of glorious sunshine allowed them to ride unexplored lines right down to the ocean.

2018 Jones Live Like Liz Award:

Jamie Vincent of Salt Lake City, UT, used her grant to explore Glacier National Park by bicycle and splitboard. A substitute teacher as well as coach the Westminster Snowboard Team, Jamie pedaled up the Going-To-The-Sun road before the road was open to cars. At the bicycle road closure she strapped into her splitboard to travel higher into the mountains and explore the national park for her first time.

ABOUT AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB

The American Alpine Club is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose vision is a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes. Together with our members, the AAC advocates for American climbers domestically and around the world; provides grants and volunteer opportunities to protect and conserve the places we climb; hosts local and national climbing festivals and events; publishes two of the world’s most sought-after climbing annuals, the American Alpine Journal and Accidents in North American Climbing; cares for the world’s leading climbing library and country’s leading mountaineering museum; manages the Hueco Rock Ranch, New River Gorge Campground, Samuel F. Pryor Shawangunk Gateway Campground, and Grand Teton Climbers’ Ranch as part of a larger lodging network for climbers; and gives $100,000+ annually toward climbing, conservation, and research grants that fund adventurers who travel the world. Learn about additional programs and become a member at www.americanalpineclub.org

ABOUT JONES SNOWBOARDS

Jones Snowboards, founded by legendary big mountain rider Jeremy Jones, has crafted the ultimate quiver of freeride boards and backcountry packs that reflect not only Jeremy’s passion for the sport, but also his demand for performance, durability and sustainability. Jones boards are made in Austria, using the highest quality and most sustainable materials possible. Jones is a proud supporter of Protect Our Winters, 1% for the Planet, Brands For Goods and Green Room Voice. For more information about Jones Snowboards: www.jonessnowboards.com