The Alpine Club, the world’s first mountaineering club, was founded in 1857.  For over 150 years, members have been at the leading edge of worldwide mountaineering development and exploration. 

With membership, experienced and aspiring alpinists benefit from a varied meets programme, regional lectures with notable guest speakers, reduced rates at many alpine huts, opportunity to apply for grants to support expeditions, significant discounts at many UK retailers, extensive networking contacts, access to the AC Library and maps - and more! 

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Expeditions

The Alpine Club, the world's first mountaineering club, has members from around the world. Since it was founded in 1857, members have been at the leading edge of worldwide mountaineering development and exploration. We aim to be the club of choice for all mountaineers, providing a forum for sharing experiences and information.

Alpine Club members are constantly researching, organising and participating in expeditions to mountains around the world, so it will come as no surprise to find that amongst our members there is a massive wealth of knowledge about remote areas and expedition organisation. The Alpine Club provides a number of resources that will be useful for those planning or researching expeditions. This page provides links to these resources, and to other sites that are invaluable to expedition planners.

The Alpine Journal is a substantial annual record of mountaineering achievement, if you are planning an expedition it should be on your reading list.

Alpine Club Expeditions

The Alpine Club organises annual expeditions, which are often to remote and little-known mountain areas. These expeditions are open to all members, subject to qualifying criteria and numbers. They can be subsidised by the Montane Alpine Club Climbing Fund. This fund also supports expeditions privately organised by club members. .

Read more about Expedition Reports

The Himalayan Index is a key resource, it has been compiled from journals, magazines and books in the Alpine Club Library

Many expeditions will have been awarded Mount Everest Foundation grants and provided reports. There are some details on the MEF website but the MEF does not hold actual copies. These are distributed to the AC and the organisations listed below (but not the Kew archives).

Royal Geographical Society

The RGS holds copies of all MEF reports as well as many others. Searching is very straightforward and summaries are provided. Reports cover the period 1965 onwards and are very comprehensive. They can be consulted by visiting the RGS library, or copies can be e-mailed.

National Archives at Kew

Not the easiest source of information. The National Archives holds many older documents deposited there from multiple sources.

British Mountaineering Council

This is still in beta form but has some impressive features. It is easy to search although not comprehensive. It includes summaries, and you can download many complete reports as PDFs. The BMC is currently the only readily available source of this information.  The AC is working towards publishng a comprehenve expeditions database which will be be available on-line in due course.

Alan Rouse Sheffield Library

Sheffield library holds a comprehensive archive of mountaineering material, including copies of MEF and other expedition reports. There is a PDF catalogue which can be searched; one of the best ways of quickly identifying peaks and leaders. At present it is up to date only to 2010.

 

Overall this was a highly successful and harmonious expedition that was blessed by excellent weather.

By Derek Buckle, expedition leader.
After gathering together in Lima, the sprawling capital of Peru, we travelled in style by private limo to Huaraz, the climbing capital of the Cordillera Blanca. At 3,100m Huaraz was something of a shock to the system and we spent two days acclimatising there before transferring to base camps in one of two distinct valleys. The first day was easy – a visit to the hot springs at Chancos – but was followed by a more demanding walk up Q. Shallap to the attractive, emerald green Laguna Shallap, nestling at 4,250m.

Our first foray was to Q. Quilcayhuanca where the primary targets were San Juan (5,843m) and Chinchey (6,309m), which we hoped to attempt after further acclimatisation. Fortunately both Quilcayhuanca and its side valley, Cayash, offer plenty of more readily accessible objectives, which was a blessing considering the lean snow conditions this year. Following a few exploratory forays by various members of the team, Chris & Phil successfully climbed Quimarumi (5,455m) via its NE ridge while Dave, Melanie & Rafal persevered on steep scree before finally reaching the attractive summit of Chopiraju (5,518m) via its S face and W ridge. From a high camp Dave, Derek, Melanie & Rafal then climbed Jatunmontepuncu (5,421m) via its S ridge and this peak subsequently became the focus of Chris & Phil and Nick B & Catriona, who completed the round trip in a single day from base camp.

With youth and determination on their side, Chris & Phil were the only pair to successfully climb Chinchey, which they managed in a very long day via the W face after finding the normal route on the N ridge inaccessible. Both Nick B & Catriona and Nick K & Derek climbed to the high glacier camp but were deterred from continuing on account of either unattractive conditions or the effort involved. Before returning to Huaraz (where Nick B, Catriona and Melanie departed), most members of the team climbed Maparaju (5,424m), ascending via its SW and W slopes.

The second foray was to Q. Ishinca, where Tocllaraju (6,032m) was the key objective. After positioning a high camp on the glacier Chris & Phil climbed the challenging W face while Dave, Derek, Nick K & Rafal ascended via the NW ridge. For many this was the highlight of the trip, but we had hoped to attempt Ranrapalca (6,162m) before returning home. Prudence dictated against this as the NE face was in a dangerous condition, so we consoled ourselves with the classic traverse of Ishinca (5,530m), climbing the NW slopes and descending via the SW ridge before finally leaving for Huaraz.

Overall this was a highly successful and harmonious expedition that was blessed by excellent weather.

Participants: Nick Berry, Dave Broadhead, Derek Buckle (Leader), Catriona Clusas, John Hudson, Nick King, Phil Leadbeater, Rafal Malczyk, Chris Petrauska, Melanie Windridge