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2014 Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Award Winners Announced

The American Alpine Club is proud to announce its 2014 Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Awards. This grant, made possible by the generous support of Lyman Spitzer Jr., promotes state-of-the-art, cutting-edge climbing through financial support of small, lightweight climbing teams attempting bold first ascents or difficult repeats of the most challenging routes in the world.

This year’s winners are:

Allan Rousseau, Tino Villanueva: The second ascent of Tengi Ragi Tau (Nepal) via its unclimbed west face.

Chris Wright, Scott Adamson: The first ascent of the 6,000′ North Pillar of Teng Kangpoche (Khumbu Himal, Nepal).

Jared Vilhauer, Seth Timpano, Tim Dittmann: The unclimbed Barnaj II (Kishtwar India) via its unattempted north face.

Kyle Dempster, Urban Novak, Hayden Kennedy: A new route up Gasherbrum 4 (Pakistan Karakoram) via the west-facing “Shining Wall” known for its intense difficulty and beauty.

“It feels like every year I comment about the applicant quality, and how difficult it was to select our winners,” said Paul Gagner, Chair of the Spitzer committee. “This year all I can say is ‘Wow.’ We had an incredible pool to pull from with some very bold and inspiring objectives. On behalf of the committee, which also includes Jack Tackle and Jared Ogden, I’d like to congratulate all of the winners, and wish them a safe and successful climb or climbs. We’re looking forward to hearing some amazing stories.”

The AAC offers numerous grants with differing criteria, from the locally administered Live Your Dream grants, to Mountain Fellowship grants for climbers under the age of 25, as well as Cornerstone Conservation Grants that keep our local climbing areas healthy and clean. For a full list of grants visit the American Alpine Club website at americanalpineclub.org/grants.