The ''American Alpine Journal'' is an annual

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

published by the

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 24,000 members. Its vision is to create "a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes." The Club is housed in the American Mountaineerin ...

. Its mission is "to document and communicate mountain exploration." The headquarters is in

Golden, Colorado Golden is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States Censu ...

. Subtitled as a compilation of "The World's Most Significant Climbs," the magazine contains feature stories about notable new routes and ascents, written by the climbers, as well as a large "Climbs and Expeditions" section containing short notes by climbers about new and noteworthy achievements. Some general articles about

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

, mountain

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

, the mountain

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

, or other topics are also sometimes included. Each issue includes book reviews, memorials of deceased members, and club activities.

History

The journal was established in 1929. In 1957 and 1958, the editor was

Francis P. Farquhar Francis Peloubet Farquhar (December 31, 1887 – November 21, 1974) was an American mountaineering, mountaineer, environmentalism, environmentalist and author. In his professional life, he was a Certified Public Accountant. Early life Farquha ...

. From 1960 to 1995, the editor was

H. Adams Carter Hubert Adams "Ad" Carter (June 6, 1914 – April 1, 1995) was an American mountaineer, language teacher and was editor of the ''American Alpine Journal'' for 35 years. Biography Carter was born in Newton, Massachusetts in 1914, and made his fir ...

, who brought the journal to international pre-eminence. From 1996 to 2001, the editor was Christian Beckwith. Since 2002, the editor has been

John Harlin III John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

. The overall format of the journal has changed little since at least the 1970s, but current plans include more complete worldwide coverage (particularly including Europe and New Zealand) and electronic/online access (see below).

Similar journals

Other journals of record for climbing include the ''

Alpine Journal The ''Alpine Journal'' (''AJ'') is an annual publication by the Alpine Club of London. It is the oldest mountaineering journal in the world. History The magazine was first published on 2 March 1863 by the publishing house of Longman in London, ...

'' published by the UK Alpine Club, the ''

Canadian Alpine Journal The ''Canadian Alpine Journal'' is the yearly magazine of the Alpine Club of Canada. It serves as a worldwide journal of record for achievements in climbing, mountaineering, ski mountaineering, and exploration of mountains. The magazine is head ...

'' published by the

Alpine Club of Canada The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) is an amateur athletic association with its national office in Canmore, Alberta that has been a focal point for Canadian mountaineering since its founding in 1906. The club was co-founded by Arthur Oliver Wheeler ...

, the '' Himalayan Journal'', and '' Iwa To Yuki'', a Japanese magazine. All of these magazines are often used by climbers planning expeditions, especially those who wish to verify that a proposed route would be a new one. Entries in these journals (and others) concerning major

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

n peaks are indexed in the Himalayan Index.

Online access

In March 2007, the ''American Alpine Journal'' inaugurated free, full, searchable online access for its issues dating back to 1966. All earlier issues will eventually be added. A complete index is also available for free download. A complete set of the journal on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

may eventually be available for purchase.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://americanalpineclub.org/
Searchable online access

Annual magazines published in the United States Sports magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1929 Magazines published in Colorado Mountaineering magazines

History

Similar journals

Online access

See also

References

External links