From the 2010 Annual Report.
The A
merican
A
lpine
C lub
From the 2 0 1 0 Annual Report. 2010: The birth of a new AAC. As we continued to grow m em bership and deliver on our mission, we also devoted extraordinary effort to the foundations of o u r new Five-year Strate gic Plan. Indeed, “Double D u ty” is the phrase that best defines fiscal 2010 for The A merican Alpine Club. 2010 was an extremely busy year in the policy arena. We worked with Yosemite National Park on the M erced River Plan an d found clim ber-friendly solutions to the cliff closures in Minnewaska State Park, New York. Denali and Rainier National Parks both proposed substan tial increases to their special-use clim ber fees. We w orked very h a r d —an d successfully—to obtain a public process to debate those intentions. Rainier finally settled on $43, an increase at the lowest end o f their proposed range. We are still w orking hard on the Denali issue and will continue to press for m ore transparent and iterative processes when climbers are singled out for special fees. C ra g g in ’ Classics m u ltip lie d o u t to th ree n ew location s (N ew P a ltz, C h a tta n o o g a , Truckee), an d we con tin u ed to learn that local eng agem ent is the m ost essential ingredient to successful events. At o u r 2010 A nnual Benefit D in n e r we a n n o u n c e d that future benefit din ners would move a ro u n d the co un try (2011 Seattle & 2012 Boston) as part of o u r goal to deliver more programs locally. Climber and business leader Jim Collins was o u r 2010 keynote speaker. His remarks were particularly fitting as the AAC enters this exciting time of change. T h e A m e r i c a n M o u n t a in e e r in g M u s e u m h o ste d its first Hall o f M o u n t a in e e r in g Excellence Gala a n d Awards Dinner. Bob Craig an d Yvon C h o u in a rd were in du cted as the first recipients o f this new aw ard along with p o s th u m o u s inductees Bob Bates an d Charlie Houston. Ed Viesturs was the keynote speaker for a wonderful evening that also raised $15,000 and led to a year in which the m u seum was fully self-funded. Just next door, the AAC Library shelved the first half of its new 30,000-volume Central Asia Library, plus new guid ebo ok s an d on e-o f-a-k in d archives. W ith the help o f volunteer Jason A lb ert, th e A AC Story P ro j e c t— a co lle ctio n o f p o d c a s t in te rv ie w s w ith n o tab le climbers’—launched in Septem ber 2010, heralding o ur efforts to put more resources online. T h e G ra n d Teton C lim b ers’ Ranch had a very g oo d year in w hich its total revenues completely covered its direct expenses. Part I o f o u r climbers’ exchange with Iran was hosted in the Tetons a n d was a t r e m e n d o u s success, a n d G T C R W ork Week again pulled in eager climbers w ho im proved basic am enities. 2010 was John C legg’s last year as R anch Manager. T he torch passes to his A ssistant M anager, the en th u s ia stic R o b ert M o n tag u e. T he Ranch also sup p o rte d o u r co ntinu ed d istribution of free Restop bags in the Tetons as p a rt o f o u r larger conservation work. The year’s conservation highlight was hosting Exit Strategies: a co n feren ce on m a n a g in g h u m a n waste in W ild ern ess. Roger R o bin son was tireless in organizing a gathering o f scientists, land m a n a g ers an d N G O leaders from over 17 countries to talk
about this im p o rtan t issue in a th ree-d ay conference held in G olden. AAC Research G rants, along w ith th e Nikw ax A lpine Bellwether G rant, gave away a total o f $11,700 to 18 researchers for research w ork in 2010. A nd AAC C lim bing G rants totaled $27,700 to 23 individuals. 2010 also c e m e n te d th e case fo r s u b s ta n tia l change at the AAC. We had an o th e r year in w h ich — w hile m e m b ersh ip revenu e grew by 5% — re te n tio n w aned, and we spent a greater share o f o u r total b u d get acq u irin g new m em bers to replace th e old. This, com bined w ith expenses associated w ith the outreach to build the Strategic Plan, led to an op eratin g loss of $75,596. 2010 was financially difficult a n d a terrib le year for no n -p ro fits. I do not, how ever, attrib u te o u r loss to the econom y. Instead, it is a clear statem en t th a t th e A A C ’s relevance to th e clim bing c om m unity and value for m em bers was n o t w hat it needed to be. T hat had to change.
Looking Ahead 2009 was th e year we solidly d e te rm in e d it w as tim e to rem ak e th e AAC to be m o re relevant for to d ay ’s clim bers. 2010 was th e year we decided w hat to do a b o u t it. T h ro u g h o u t the year, we spent staff an d v olunteer tim e asking: H ow should we rebuild A m erica’s national clim bing organization? A fter reaching out to over 2,000 clim bers th ro u g h surveys an d focus groups, we b uilt a d raft Five-year Strategic Plan an d su b m itted it to th e b o ard as th e 2010 fiscal year cam e to a close. T he effects o f the final plan, ratified in February 2011, have been positive and sweeping. Now o u r staff stru c tu re is u n ited th ro u g h five groups: M em bership, C o m m u n ity P rogram s, Inform ation & M arketing, C o n serv atio n & Policy, an d D evelopm ent. Each group’s leader and staff are focused on the m ost critical parts o f the AAC m ission: p u ttin g o u r m em bers and the places we clim b at the forefront. The plan breaks dow n into the follow ing strategies: 1. Im prove m em ber benefits 2. D evelop com m un ity program s 3. Regain leadership as a clim bing in fo rm atio n resource 4. Im prove and create new grants 5. Strengthen co m m itm en t to co nservation th ro u g h co m m u n ity p rogram s & grants 6. Provide lodging facilities w here needed at clim bing d estinations 7. Build a separate strategy for the A m erican M ountain eerin g C enter T he full plan is available for dow nload at am ericanalpineclub.org/p/5-year-plan Now, as the AAJ goes off to the printer, we are lau n ch in g th at p la n —a plan th at builds o u r AAC like never before. Phil Powers E xecutive D irector
merican
A
lpine
C lub
From the 2 0 1 0 Annual Report. 2010: The birth of a new AAC. As we continued to grow m em bership and deliver on our mission, we also devoted extraordinary effort to the foundations of o u r new Five-year Strate gic Plan. Indeed, “Double D u ty” is the phrase that best defines fiscal 2010 for The A merican Alpine Club. 2010 was an extremely busy year in the policy arena. We worked with Yosemite National Park on the M erced River Plan an d found clim ber-friendly solutions to the cliff closures in Minnewaska State Park, New York. Denali and Rainier National Parks both proposed substan tial increases to their special-use clim ber fees. We w orked very h a r d —an d successfully—to obtain a public process to debate those intentions. Rainier finally settled on $43, an increase at the lowest end o f their proposed range. We are still w orking hard on the Denali issue and will continue to press for m ore transparent and iterative processes when climbers are singled out for special fees. C ra g g in ’ Classics m u ltip lie d o u t to th ree n ew location s (N ew P a ltz, C h a tta n o o g a , Truckee), an d we con tin u ed to learn that local eng agem ent is the m ost essential ingredient to successful events. At o u r 2010 A nnual Benefit D in n e r we a n n o u n c e d that future benefit din ners would move a ro u n d the co un try (2011 Seattle & 2012 Boston) as part of o u r goal to deliver more programs locally. Climber and business leader Jim Collins was o u r 2010 keynote speaker. His remarks were particularly fitting as the AAC enters this exciting time of change. T h e A m e r i c a n M o u n t a in e e r in g M u s e u m h o ste d its first Hall o f M o u n t a in e e r in g Excellence Gala a n d Awards Dinner. Bob Craig an d Yvon C h o u in a rd were in du cted as the first recipients o f this new aw ard along with p o s th u m o u s inductees Bob Bates an d Charlie Houston. Ed Viesturs was the keynote speaker for a wonderful evening that also raised $15,000 and led to a year in which the m u seum was fully self-funded. Just next door, the AAC Library shelved the first half of its new 30,000-volume Central Asia Library, plus new guid ebo ok s an d on e-o f-a-k in d archives. W ith the help o f volunteer Jason A lb ert, th e A AC Story P ro j e c t— a co lle ctio n o f p o d c a s t in te rv ie w s w ith n o tab le climbers’—launched in Septem ber 2010, heralding o ur efforts to put more resources online. T h e G ra n d Teton C lim b ers’ Ranch had a very g oo d year in w hich its total revenues completely covered its direct expenses. Part I o f o u r climbers’ exchange with Iran was hosted in the Tetons a n d was a t r e m e n d o u s success, a n d G T C R W ork Week again pulled in eager climbers w ho im proved basic am enities. 2010 was John C legg’s last year as R anch Manager. T he torch passes to his A ssistant M anager, the en th u s ia stic R o b ert M o n tag u e. T he Ranch also sup p o rte d o u r co ntinu ed d istribution of free Restop bags in the Tetons as p a rt o f o u r larger conservation work. The year’s conservation highlight was hosting Exit Strategies: a co n feren ce on m a n a g in g h u m a n waste in W ild ern ess. Roger R o bin son was tireless in organizing a gathering o f scientists, land m a n a g ers an d N G O leaders from over 17 countries to talk
about this im p o rtan t issue in a th ree-d ay conference held in G olden. AAC Research G rants, along w ith th e Nikw ax A lpine Bellwether G rant, gave away a total o f $11,700 to 18 researchers for research w ork in 2010. A nd AAC C lim bing G rants totaled $27,700 to 23 individuals. 2010 also c e m e n te d th e case fo r s u b s ta n tia l change at the AAC. We had an o th e r year in w h ich — w hile m e m b ersh ip revenu e grew by 5% — re te n tio n w aned, and we spent a greater share o f o u r total b u d get acq u irin g new m em bers to replace th e old. This, com bined w ith expenses associated w ith the outreach to build the Strategic Plan, led to an op eratin g loss of $75,596. 2010 was financially difficult a n d a terrib le year for no n -p ro fits. I do not, how ever, attrib u te o u r loss to the econom y. Instead, it is a clear statem en t th a t th e A A C ’s relevance to th e clim bing c om m unity and value for m em bers was n o t w hat it needed to be. T hat had to change.
Looking Ahead 2009 was th e year we solidly d e te rm in e d it w as tim e to rem ak e th e AAC to be m o re relevant for to d ay ’s clim bers. 2010 was th e year we decided w hat to do a b o u t it. T h ro u g h o u t the year, we spent staff an d v olunteer tim e asking: H ow should we rebuild A m erica’s national clim bing organization? A fter reaching out to over 2,000 clim bers th ro u g h surveys an d focus groups, we b uilt a d raft Five-year Strategic Plan an d su b m itted it to th e b o ard as th e 2010 fiscal year cam e to a close. T he effects o f the final plan, ratified in February 2011, have been positive and sweeping. Now o u r staff stru c tu re is u n ited th ro u g h five groups: M em bership, C o m m u n ity P rogram s, Inform ation & M arketing, C o n serv atio n & Policy, an d D evelopm ent. Each group’s leader and staff are focused on the m ost critical parts o f the AAC m ission: p u ttin g o u r m em bers and the places we clim b at the forefront. The plan breaks dow n into the follow ing strategies: 1. Im prove m em ber benefits 2. D evelop com m un ity program s 3. Regain leadership as a clim bing in fo rm atio n resource 4. Im prove and create new grants 5. Strengthen co m m itm en t to co nservation th ro u g h co m m u n ity p rogram s & grants 6. Provide lodging facilities w here needed at clim bing d estinations 7. Build a separate strategy for the A m erican M ountain eerin g C enter T he full plan is available for dow nload at am ericanalpineclub.org/p/5-year-plan Now, as the AAJ goes off to the printer, we are lau n ch in g th at p la n —a plan th at builds o u r AAC like never before. Phil Powers E xecutive D irector
