American Alpine Journal

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American Alpine Journal

Abbreviated title	AAJ
Discipline	Climbing, Mountaineering
Language	English
Publication details
Publisher	American Alpine Club (United States)
Publication history	1929 to present
Frequency	Annual
Indexing
ISSN	0065-6925
Links
[AAJ at AAC Journal homepage]

The American Alpine Journal is the yearly flagship publication of the American Alpine Club. Its mission is "to document and communicate mountain exploration."^[1] It serves as a worldwide journal of record for achievements in climbing, mountaineering, and exploration of mountains. (However coverage of New Zealand and Europe has been far from complete.)

Each issue contains feature stories about notable climbs, written by the participants, as well as a large "Climbs and Expeditions" section containing short notes by climbers about new and noteworthy achievements. Some general articles about mountaineering, mountain medicine, the mountain environment, or other topics are also sometimes included. Each issue includes book reviews, memorials of deceased members, and club activities.

[edit] History

The journal was founded in 1929. In 1957 and 1958, the editor was Francis P. Farquhar. From 1960 to 1995, the editor was H. Adams Carter, 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. 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).

[edit] Similar journals

Other journals of record for climbing include the Canadian Alpine Journal published by the Alpine Club of Canada, the Alpine Journal published by the Alpine Club (of the United Kingdom), the Himalayan Journal, and Iwa To Yuki, a Japanese journal. All of these journals 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 Himalayan peaks are indexed in the Himalayan Index.

[edit] 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.^[2] A complete index is also available for free download. A complete set of the journal on DVD may eventually be available for purchase.