Greetings Climbers,
We hope you are having a great summer and that you have already had the opportunity to get to the crags or mountains.
Where do the months go? It seems like only yesterday that we were sending our first expeditions to Alaska and preparing for
the season here in the Cascades, and now we're already well into a great season in the Cascades, Sierra, Bolivia and the
French and Swiss Alps. Time flies when you are having fun.
Our last Alaska program for '04 starts July 17 in the St. Elias Range where we are hoping to do some first ascents in
this very remote area. We have completed our May-June season in the Alaska Range, where despite some less than favorable
conditions, we had an excellent string of successes. This season has brought the lowest overall success rate for climbers
in the Alaska Range for many years, but despite the terrible weather and relatively poor climbing conditions, our clients,
guide staff, and office staff have participated in multiple successes on Denali (including the technical West Rib) and the
only successful climbs of Foraker, Hunter, and Huntington.
In this newsletter you will find a trip report and slideshow from an exciting climb of Mt. Hunter in the Alaska Range. Shortly
we'll have another newsletter out with stories and photos of some of the other major ascents. We hope you enjoy the reports,
and thanks to everyone that has climbed with us and made our 2004 season such a great one so far.
AAI ON OLN! - TV SPECIAL ON THE OUTDOOR LIFE NETWORK
The Outdoor Life Network in cooperation with Outside Magazine is
airing a special on the top 10 adventure schools in the US. Their show, Ultimate Top 10 Adventure Camps, will be shown this
Sunday July 18th at the times listed below. AAI will be featured as the best choice for
climbing-based adventure trips. Our segment will include climbing footage and action shots from a rock and glacier climbing
course. Especially if you've never taken a trip with us, we hope you have a chance to check it out.
Air Times (Eastern time): 11:30am-12pm, 3pm-3:30pm, 6:30pm-7pm all on Sunday, July 18
TRIP REPORT: ALASKA AND MT. HUNTERS WEST RIDGE
Mt. Hunter is the third highest mountain, and some say that it's the most
dramatic of the peaks known as The Big Three in the Alaska Range: Denali, Hunter and Foraker. AAI staff members Seth Hobby
and Coley Gentzel returned to Alaska this April for an attempt on Mt. Hunter. Check out the report and
slideshow from their trip.
ON-LINE EQUIPMENT CATALOG @ guideschoice.com
AAI conducts extensive international field testing of equipment and
presents the Guides Choice award to manufacturers producing the best gear in each product category. Check out the list
of award recipients. And if you are in need of advice on gear or need to purchase climbing
equipment or clothing, you should take a look at our Guides Choice web site. We also
feature a weekly special on a handful of items at substantial discounts. This week's special is listed below.
WEEKLY SPECIAL for the week of July 18-24, 2004
- VALANDRE Freja sleeping bags.
- Small - Sale Price = $557 (20% off; reg $619)
- Medium - Sale Price = $584 (20% off; reg $649)
- Large - Sale Price = $613 (20% off; reg $682)
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