Welcome to the

Alpine Club


    
    

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! 

Becoming a Member
 

The AC Archives contain a wide-ranging collection of documents going back to the earliest days of mountaineering, and as such form an invaluable resource for researchers. 

Archive Contents

  • Diaries, personal accounts of expeditions and ascents, and correspondence, including, for example, the first letter to be written from the summit of Mont Blanc, and Mallory's last letter to Odell from Camp 6 on Everest.
  • The original Fuhrerbucher/Carnets of leading alpine guides.
  • The archives of the Ladies Alpine Club
  • Newspaper cuttings from the mid 19th century to the present time.
  • Minutes of the Alpine Club meetings and newsletters from the foundation of the Club in 1857 to the present day (restricted access)
  • Membership application papers (restricted access)
  • Presidential and Secretarial papers (restricted access)

Access to material

There is an electronic catalogue of the Archives, accessed through the Hon. Archivist and/or Librarian, and also through the National Archive Discovery site. 

The Archives are normally open two days a week (Tuesday and Thursday). If you wish to visit please check first with the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and copied to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The Hon Archivist and Librarian can also be contacted by telephone on +44 (0)207 613 0745.

We can provide photocopies or scanned images of archive documents on request.

The Eileen Healey Diaries


Eileen Healey was a very active climber, a member of the Ladies Alpine Club, and subsequently of the AC. After her death in 2010 her family discovered boxes in the attic containing a remarkable series of climbing diaries, starting with family holidays with the Holiday Fellowship in the 1930s, through to her honeymoon in Norway in 1958. They had not previously known of their existence. The diaries include detailed descriptions of her rock climbing in the UK, and also of climbing in the Alps starting in the late 1940s, soon after the Alps became accessible again following the war.

The family presented the diaries to the AC, and we scanned them. Eileen’s husband Tim arranged for them to be transcribed, and their son Jamie edited them into their current form. It was a condition of the gift to the AC that the diaries be made as accessible as possible, and you can read them all here.

Eileen was a member of the all-female expedition to Cho Oyu in 1959, and we also have archive material from this expedition, including a film made by Eileen.

Mandalay and Beyond

Produced for publication by Cathy Woodhead and Charles' wife Denise Evans, 'Mandalay and Beyond: An Army Doctor’s Diary' chronicles the experiences of Charles Evans as a newly qualified doctor in Burma (now Myanma) during the 1944-1945 conflict.

Unusually observant and perceptive, Evans writes with humour and compassion in a simple, direct style.

The full manuscript can be accessed in pdf format by clicking on the image of the book cover oppopsite.

Mumm's Register

The Alpine Club Register, commonly known as 'Mumm's Register' is a complete record of all Alpine Club members elected from 1857 to 1890, compiled in 1907 by its then Honorary Librarian A.L. Mumm, and published in 3 volumes 1923-1928. These full accounts of AC members include their personal details, their routes, climbs and ascents, including first ascents or passages, climbing companions, arranged chronologically, their articles printed in the Alpine Journal and elsewhere, and their published books.

The original edition of the Register is now a rare and expensive work, but remains an indispensable resource for researchers and all those interested in the 19th century Alpine Club pioneer climbers in the Alps and Himalaya. The Alpine Club Library is delighted to be able to make the complete 3-volume work available online, free of charge. The complete scan of this document was prepared and donated to the library by Marcel Fischli of Switzerland, alpine historian, friend of the Alpine Club and Library, and donor of his published works to our library shelves.

To access pdf files of each of the three volumes, follow the links below.

Alpine Club Register Vol.1 (1857-1863)
Alpine Club Register Vol.2 (1864-1876)
Alpine Club Register Vol.3 (1877-1890)

Charges

For personal visitors to the Archives we suggest a minimum donation of £10 per visit, (free for AC members).

Standard photocopy fee 50p per sheet
AC members and students  25p per sheet
Postage Charged at cost

For research carried out on your behalf by the Archives' staff, please request a quotation.

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Expeditions

Use the boxes below to explore the expeditions section

Questions

Any questions relating to expeditions ? send us an email.

Funding

The AC and the MEF can provide funding for certain expeditions, the AC also has a climbing grant for AC teams

Reports

The AC holds a vast library of material relating to expeditions both online and on paper

Expeditions

Expeditions are at the core of the Alpine Club's purpose and culture. Use the boxes on the left to navigate the expedition section.


Questions

Any questions relating to expeditions? Send us an email.


Funding

The AC and the MEF can provide funding for certain expeditions, the AC also has a climbing grant for AC teams


Reports

The AC holds a vast library of material relating to expeditions both online and on paper.