Win Funding for Your Next Pacific Northwest Adventure

If you’re planning on completing a big objective in the Coast Mountains of the Pacific Northwest this year, don’t miss out on your chance to apply for the VIMFF Coast Mountain Adventure Grant to fund your expedition. Presented by Arc’teryx, the grant has an award total of $3,000 and is open to residents of British Columbia and Alberta. The application deadline is fast approaching – it’s due at the end of this month on January 31, 2024.

Eligible expeditions must take place between March and December this year and must be “exploratory in nature and take place in the Pacific Coast Range of Western North America.” A wide range of activities fit under the funding – cycling, hiking, trail running, climbing, skiing, paddling, and more. The 2024 grant winner will be announced at the 27th annual VIMFF next month in February. For application guidelines and more details on how to apply, visit here.

Last year, Ethan Berman and Matteo Agnologi were awarded the VIMFF Coast Mountain Adventure Grant for their high alpine circumnavigation of the Waddington Range. You can read Berman and Agnologi’s summary for their VIMFF Coast Mountain Adventure Grant below:

The Waddington Range is comprised of the highest and most technical peaks in BC, including the tallest in the province, Mount Waddington (4,019m). The range has a history of cutting-edge alpine climbing, with major ascents dating back to the 1930s. Due to the range’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean, it experiences extreme weather and climbing trips are commonly associated with epic stories. Our main objective is to complete a circumnavigation of the nine major peaks in the range, including the five Serra Peaks, Tiedemann, Asperity, Combatant, and Waddington. These peaks form a horseshoe, and although they have been traversed before twice, no team has ever completed a full circumnavigation, starting and finishing at the same location, as a complete loop. We also plan to climb in the reverse direction as the other two teams, adding some level of new terrain to the traverse. We expect our objective to take 5 days, involving 24 km of complex mountain travel, 4500 m of elevation gain, and climbing grades up to 5.9 WI4 M5.