A mountaineer viewing the Grand Canyon for the first time is struck by the inverted nature of the climbing involved: long downhill descents followed by extended traversing and route-finding just to get to the actual climbing, which itself is often crumbly and broken but with awe-inspiring pitches near the summit caps.  One must then reverse the route and expend considerable energy at the end of the effort just to climb the vertical mile back to The Canyon’s rim.  All set in a desert environment, where large amounts of water must often be carried to get to the peaks and return.

Jim  was first introduced to the Grand Canyon at age 6, begging his father to let him walk down into the depths to see where The Hermit Louis Boucher had lived, not understanding that it was a 24 km hike!  It wasn’t until he was 16 that he was able to actually take that first hike, and in the early 1970s he became interested in climbing the many summits within The Canyon, making first known ascents of the more technical peaks.  Like the siege expeditions of early Himalayan climbing, reconnaissance trips were often made just to determine viable access routes and dependable water supplies.  Extended trips of several weeks’ duration resulted in many ascents of the more remote peaks.  In all, Jim has spent more than 450 nights out hiking in the canyon, and has climbed over 150 of the named summits.

Doors open at 7 for socializing with the feature presentation starting at 7:30.  We normally wrap up around 9pm.