Big expeditions require preparation. Hours studying topos and trip reports, training with our climbing partners, and dreaming of the summit. After much work—and many conversations with key stakeholders, board members, and staff—the American Alpine Club is ready for our next expedition. We have done the research and preparation and we are equipped with the topo of the route—our three year Strategic Plan leading up to the AAC’s 125th anniversary.

In this critical first year of the Strategic Plan, we’re reinvesting in our foundational programs and focusing on organizational sustainability. We are excited to implement a new website and new customer relationship management software, both of which will dramatically impact our ability to deliver the highest caliber programs for you, our members and donors.

Our Strategic Plan focuses the AAC’s work, streamlining our impact into three programs: Member Services, Advocacy, and Education. Your support now, at the launch of this plan, will help us achieve our vision of helping climbers thrive.

GIVE TODAY. Your gift drives advocacy and education, building a vibrant climbing community and leaving a lasting legacy for future generations.

What’s the Plan?

Member Services.
Our true north is addressing the needs of our members. Through our grants, lodging network, and unparalleled rescue benefit, we will continue to offer the resources and support you need to thrive and pursue your passion for climbing. As an example of this commitment, this year we are deepening our support for the Climbing Grief Fund, distributing up to $25,000 in grants in recognition of the many climbers who need critical mental health support after the death of a loved one in the mountains.

Advocacy.
We know that advocating for climbing landscapes, public lands, and climbing access is important to you, and advocacy work is fundamental to the AAC’s mission. Together we are poised to strengthen the Club’s position as a thought leader in policy, research, and advocacy. Our additional investment in advocacy initiatives will give the climbing community critical insights into legislative matters, policy issues, and the evolving landscape of climbing access and conservation.

A key objective in the coming year is to launch policy research and whitepapers that break down complex legislative topics affecting climbers, such as public land use, environmental conservation, climbing access, and safety regulations. These documents will be essential tools, making policy information accessible and actionable for advocates. Moreover, these well-researched, data-driven whitepapers will bolster the AAC’s advocacy work by equipping policymakers with the information needed to influence decisions that affect the climbing community. We’ll also reinvigorate our research grants to focus on climbing-related research, particularly around conservation, safety, and the impact of climate change on climbing environments.

Education.
It is undeniable that one of the AAC’s greatest legacies is our rigorous reporting and inspiring storytelling, whether it’s about the cutting edge of our sport, expert accident analysis, or preserving climbing history. Through our world-renowned publications, which you make possible, we are able to educate and inspire climbers.

As industry leaders in this space, it is our responsibility to innovate and make our education work more accessible and useful. To further the reach of Accidents in North American Climbing (ANAC), we are investing in instructional videos to accompany our monthly accident analysis. Additionally, we are modernizing and expanding the database for ANAC and the American Alpine Journal, to ensure that decades of first-ascents and accidents related data are available to researchers, cutting edge climbers, and amateur climbers alike. Finally, we are updating the infrastructure of the American Alpine Club Library to ensure the wealth of climbing history you have helped preserve is more accessible for both researchers and climbing history enthusiasts.

Thank you for being a solid belay partner. Now it’s time to embark on this next expedition together.

Your contribution will significantly impact 26,000 AAC members—whether they are learning how to avoid accidents through our updated database, using research funding to analyze melting ice caps and the changing heights of iconic mountains, or pursuing first ascents around the world. Your gift makes these things possible.

Our Impact | The 2024 AAC Impact Report

At the AAC, we believe in the power of climbing to change lives. We are driven by the potential to support every climber that we can, to use the AAC’s expertise and legacy to deliver resources that climbers can lean on—that’s why we are so proud of this Impact Report. Each grant recipient we inspired, each lodging guest we launched into adventure, each climber who has learned how to climb a little more safely, is what drives our work.

How does it all break down?

Support This Work

Learn more about becoming a member of the Piolet Society, which honors those who remember the AAC in their estate plans, by emailing us at [email protected].