Registration open for American Alpine Club’s Annual Benefit Dinner

This year’s event will honor the 40th anniversary of the first American ascent of K2 (8611m), when Jim Wickwire and Louis Reichardt summited on September 6, 1978, followed on September 7 by their teammates Rick Ridgeway and John Roskelley.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner–an Austrian who became the first woman to summit all 14 8000-meter peaks without bottled oxygen or high-altitude porters when she summited K2 in 2011–is the keynote speaker. She will present her address on February 24 at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel.

Other weekend events are open to the public and begin Friday, February 23, with the annual AAC membership meeting and Climbers Gathering at Central Rock Gym. The Gathering includes a food truck, drinks and a friendly climbing competition featuring plenty of recognizable names and faces. Saturday morning features panel discussions at the hotel that will be focused topics that are affecting the modern climbing community.

The Annual Benefit Dinner begins at 6 p.m. February 24. Tickets start at $250 for Club members and $350 for non-members, and can be purchased by going here to the AAC website.

The AAC press release reports that “in addition to Kaltenbrunner’s keynote address, attendees will enjoy fine dining, beer and wine, live and silent auctions, and acceptance speeches from this year’s awardees.” The event is expected to sell out and tickets are limited. For more information and to reserve your spot, visit americanalpineclub.org/annual-benefit-dinner. Registration closes on February 14, or when sold out.”

About the American Alpine Club

The American Alpine Club describes itself as “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 Mountaineering; cares for the world’s leading climbing library and country’s leading mountaineering museum; manages five campgrounds as part of a larger lodging network for climbers; and annually gives $80,000+ toward climbing, conservation, and research grants that fund adventurers who travel the world. Learn about additional programs and become a member at americanalpineclub.org.”