You’ve probably heard of Matt Samet—he’s a climbing lifer, and as a writer and editor in the climbing industry for 25+ years, he’s left his mark on climbing media. Recently, the AAC hired him to help create the all-new American Climbing Journal, a journal of record documenting the most significant climbs in rock climbing each year—with stories written almost entirely from the first person POV of the climbers themselves. For 97 years, we’ve documented the cutting-edge of alpine climbing in the AAJ, and it’s been high-time the AAC has done the same for bouldering, sport-climbing, single-pitch trad climbing, and performance big-wall ascents. The ACJ also includes profiles on new areas and major local ascents from all across the US and the world.

In this episode, we sit down with Matt Samet to chat about some of the behind the scenes secrets of creating the book, why it matters to have a collected “yearbook” of climbing when we have the internet, the fickle nature of recording climbing history as it happens, a sneak peek into the unique stories behind the big ascents in the book, as well as a fairly long sidebar about AI. Dive in to nerd out about hard rock climbing.

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AAC members at the Partner, Leader, or Advocate level are eligible to get a copy of the ACJ as a member benefit! Keep your eyes peeled for AAC emails, so you can ensure you’re opted-in!

Not a member? Join or renew before July 1 to ensure you get this year’s copy!

Supporter level member? Upgrade by July 1 to get your copy.

Learn more about the ACJ and our other publications at americanalpineclub.org/publications