The American Alpine Club calls for applications for climbing and splitboard grants

On November 30, 2018, the American Alpine Club (AAC) will close the application process for this year’s grant cycle for the Cutting Edge Grant, Jones Live Like Liz Award, and Jones Backcountry Adventure Grants to support the efforts of individuals pushing boundaries in climbing and splitboarding.

The AAC has had a long history of supporting individuals who look to expand athletic pursuits and better landscapes and communities through climbing, research and conservation, awarding more than $150,000 annually for eligible projects. This year alone, the Cutting Edge Grant, Jones Live Like Liz Award and Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant will be awarding a combined $40,000 to climbers and splitboarders.

The splitboarding grants, first awarded in 2017, are made possible through collaboration between Jones Snowboards and the AAC. The Jones Live Like Liz Award—created in honor of late mountaineer Liz Dailey—will award grant money to female-specific splitboard expeditions, and the Jones Backcountry Adventure Grants will award money to general splitboard expeditions across the globe. Recipients of both grants will receive $1,500 toward a splitboard, skins, backpack and other mountaineering gear aimed to provide mountaineering necessities for athletes.

In 2018, the Jones Live Like Liz Award was given to Salt Lake City resident Jamie Vincent to fund her exploration of Glacier National Park by bike and splitboard. That same year, the AAC awarded the Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant to Deming, Wash.’s Cory Nolan who used funding to explore the Northwestern Fjord of Kenai Fjords National Park.

The AAC, which has supported climbers and mountaineers for over 100 years, will gift between $5,000 and $15,000 for the Cutting Edge Grant in this giving cycle toward climbing and mountaineering expeditions based on the criteria of “originality of the objective, low-impact style, climbers’ experience, and eligibility,” as stated on the AAC grant website.

Past recipients of the Cutting Edge Grant have included Kurt Ross who used his $6,000 grant money to aid in his first descent of 6,000-meter Karmading Brakk in the Pakistani Karakorum region, and Whitney Clark, who led a female team to India’s Zanskar-Kashmir-Kishtwar region to summit Arjuna’s 6,230-meter West Face.

All grant recipients will be expected to complete their expedition within the 2019 calendar year and criteria for all three grants applications and information about past grant recipients can be found at Americanalpineclub.org.