The creation of Alaskaiceclimbing.com began out of the sole purpose to share, respect, and preserve not only ice climbing for all, but every aspect of ice climbing in Alaska. We here at Alaskaiceclimbing.com have for years pondered the ways in which to enhance that purpose, of which a large part is reverence for the land, water and environment that allows pursuit and happiness in the sport.
Over the years many ideas of resolution and promotion were batted around, yet nothing took hold until recently when Alaska Airlines introduced their X̱áat Ḵwáani Salmon Livery plane artwork created by Crystal Worl of Trickster. Such a beautiful work of art, but more than that, for us we felt and saw it as a spectacular to way to share and take pride in the lands that many call home. It’s this feeling that led us to reach out to Rico Worl, co-founder of Trickster Company and brother to Crystal.
Soon to follow was an honest, humble, and open dialogue with Rico about why Alaskaiceclimbing.com was created, why we continue to maintain and manage the website, and most of all what the website means to us (Chris and Burrell). Not at all skirted was the topic of cultural appropriation. It was agreed that Trickster Company would produce a new logo that carried the sentiments of why Alaskaiceclimbing.com was created. Towards the end of the logo project, Rico provided the following statement.
This logo was designed by Ultraprimary, an Alaska Native design group with Rico Worl as lead designer. The design is a blend of Alaskan landscape based imagery depicted in minimal illustrative style flowing into Tlingit style formline design. In the negative space, one can see the silhouette of a pick axe.
The design was made with a number of core ideologies that Alaska Ice Climbing wishes to showcase. A respect for the landscape, a respect for indigenous peoples relations to that same landscape, the heritage of ice climbing as represented by the ice pick design being based off the first ice climbing pick. And the care that ice climbers strive to take in leaving a minimal impact on the environment they explore, as represented by the subtlety of the ice pick within the designs greater flow.
Rico Worl is Tlingit and Athabascan based in Juneau, Alaska and is a also a founder of Trickster Company.
From us here at Alaskaiceclimbing.com, we hope you continue to climb and when doing so, maintain respect for and keep in mind the history, the heritage, the culture, the environment, the need to preserve, and the acceptance of those in the future.