American Alpine Institute has been awarded Leave No Trace’s Gold Standard Outfitter and Guide designation.
“Leave No Trace is thrilled to announce the American Alpine Institute as a Gold Standard Outfitter and Guide,” said Dana Watts, Leave No Trace Executive Director. “As one of our course providers, American Alpine Institute has played a critical role in Leave No Trace education. With the expansion of our Gold Standard designation program to include outfitters and guides, American Alpine Institute was a natural fit.”
In order to be designated as a Leave No Trace Gold Standard Outfitter and Guide, organizations must meet the following criteria:
● Formally train staff in Leave No Trace and outdoor ethics and provide education to trip participants before and during guided trips
● Successfully implement Leave No Trace outdoor skills, practices and ethics into management and programs
● Demonstrate a commitment to preserving the health of the areas where trips are held
“The American Alpine Institute is very proud to receive the Leave No Trace Gold Standard Outfitter and Guide designation,” said Erin-Leigh Hardy, Leave No Trace Master Educator & Program Manager. “Since our founding, AAI has been dedicated to protecting the environment and to the fostering of safe and conscientious outdoor recreation. Being good stewards of the lands that we operate on helps preserve them for future generations of climbers and skiers. It is so very important to help build up the awareness of the need for care in these often fragile environments that we recreate and operate in. The more people that we can help educate in this regard, the longer that these places will be here for us all to enjoy.”
About Leave No Trace
The Leave No Trace organization is a national nonprofit organization that protects the outdoors by empowering everyone through science, hands-on training and simple guidelines. The Leave No Trace Gold Standard Site designation recognizes public lands implementing the highest standard of onsite Leave No Trace education. The program aims to achieve a critical mass of Gold Standard designated sites across the country to ensure minimum-impact education is part of every public lands visitor’s experience and thereby alleviate the significant impacts currently affecting these outdoor areas. For more information, visit: www.LNT.org.
About AAI
The American Alpine Institute was founded in 1975 and since then has been dedicated to helping climbers raise their skills, protect the environments in which they climb, develop good judgment, and safely gain access to the great mountains of the world. Though the Institute is especially well known for its advanced training and expeditions, its international reputation is based on its dedication to teaching (at all skill levels from beginners' to masters' levels), its high level of customer service, the outstanding skills of its staff, and its public service in the areas of environmental protection and public lands policy. In its early years AAI was best known for its leadership in alpine guiding, but since the early '80's, the Institute's programming has given equal importance to rock, snow, ice, glacier, and high altitude climbing. AAI also offers nationally recognized programs in wilderness and glacier skiing, avalanche hazard assessment, and technical rescue. AAI offers courses, climbing trips, and expeditions throughout the year in six states and 16 countries.
