Bozeman, MT – The Board of the Hans Saari Memorial Fund has announced the winners of its 2010 Ski Exploration Grants. The Exploration Grant program was created in 2008 exclusively for ski mountaineers to encourage expeditions that expand the limits of ski mountaineering. This year marks the third for the program, and according to Fund trustees was the most competitive year for applicants with many quality projects and teams.nThe Hans Saari Memorial Fund is dedicated to the memory of ski mountaineeer Hans Saari, his passion for skiing, his desire to learn, and his belief in careful planning and safety. Saari died in 2001 at age 30, after falling while skiing in the Gervisuiti Couloir on Mont Blac de Tacul, in Chamonix, France.
The Fund this year awarded a cumulative $15,000 to the following recipients:
- Sara Campbell, Jake Christina, Eric Larson: Cloud Peak Ski Mountaineering. This expedition received a grant to ski the East Face Couloir of the 13,165-foot Cloud Peak in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains.
- Jamie Musnicki, Molly Loomis, Ann Piersall: Women’s Krygystan Expedition. These three women will be exploring the seldom visited Jetim-Bel Range of the Tien-Shan Mountains. The expedition’s primary goal will be a second descent of the historic solo route by Ella Maillart of Sari Tor (4481m). In addition, the team will look at additional descents off the numerous 4,000 and 5,000-meter peaks neighboring Sari Tor.
- Drew Pogge and Clark Corey: Tombstone Range Expedition. Pogge and Corey will be spending two weeks exploring this remote Yukon Range that is better known for the 19th century gold rush that established Dawson City, than it is for the impressive ski potential of its mountains.
- Nathan Rowland and Ollie Nieuland-Zlotnicki: Krygystan Exploration 2010. This expedition received a grant to explore the Al-Dytrr and Kary Sars Glaciers in Northeastern Kyrgystan. Rowland and Nieuland-Zlotnicki will spend 18 days going light and fast with the hope of maximizing ski descents off the numerous and deserving sub-17,000-foot, technical ski descents in this seldom visited area near Khan Tengri.
- Courtney Phillips: Revelation Mountains Exploration. Phillips will be traveling to Alaska to explore the Revelation Mountains, a largely unskied range southeast of the Alaska Range. His team will spend 20 days focusing solely on ski descents off peaks adjacent to the Revelation Glacier.
- Jonathan Mingle: Indian Himalaya Ski Traverse. Mingle received a grant from the Hans Fund last year for this expedition. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete his trip last year due to complications with logistics that could not be reconciled. Mingle will be heading back to India this year, and the Fund will again support his efforts.