2011 Mugs Stump Award Opens for Applications October 1, 2011

10/5/10 – From October 1, 2010, through December 15, 2010, the 2011 Mugs Stump Award will be accepting grant applications from small climbing teams with fast and light alpine objectives. Established in 1993 to honor the late Mugs Stump, each year the Mugs Stump Award awards grants to a select number of individuals and teams whose proposed climbs present an outstanding challenge—a first ascent, significant repeat, or first alpine-style ascent—with special emphasis placed on climbers leaving no trace of their passage.

Sponsored by Alpinist Magazine, Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd., Mountain Gear, Patagonia, Inc., and W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc., the Mugs Stump Award encourages men, women and teams from North America to submit their applications for a part of this year’s $25,000 in grant funding.

Mugs Stump was one of North America's most prolific and imaginative climbers until his death in a crevasse fall in Alaska in May 1992. Best known for his first ascent of the Emperor Face on Mount Robson in the Canadian Rockies and his triptych of brilliant Alaskan climbs—the East Face of the Moose's Tooth, the Moonflower Buttress on Mount Hunter, and a one-day solo of Denali's Cassin Ridge—Mugs was the complete climber, adept at all forms of the game. Climbers who share Mugs' vision of climbing as a celebration of boldness, purity, and simplicity are encouraged to apply.

Past recipients include both well-known and relatively unheard-of alpinists pursuing objectives in Alaska, Patagonia, the Himalaya, the Rocky Mountains, Greenland, and more. Details can be found at http://www.mugsstumpaward.com/winners.html. Also available for the first time this year is the 2011 Mugs Stump Award Calendar, proceeds from which will help support this year’s grants: http://www.mountaingear.com/pages/product/product.asp/imanf/Mountain+Gear/idesc/Mugs+Stump+Calendar+2011/Store/MG/item/219878/N/0.

Further information and applications are available at www.mugsstumpaward.com. Climbs taking place between February 1, 2011, and March 1, 2012, are eligible. Applications must be submitted via email to mugs_stump_award@patagonia.com (subject line "2010 Mugs Stump Application").

Awards will be announced by January 31, 2011.