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.
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
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.
Events Calendar
To mark 100 years since the British Everest expedition of 1924, on which George Mallory and Sandy Irvine were lost high on the mountain, the Alpine Club will be hosting a new exhibition, Everest 1924, which will profile the personalities at the centre of the expedition, including some of the local workers who made the venture possible, and consider the lasting legacy of one of the earliest bids for the "roof of the world".
As part of the exhibition's official opening, we will be holding a special evening event which will include the premiere of a new film about the 1924 Expedition. The film, titled Everest Revisited 1924-2024, uses extensive historical footage, as well as interviews with Everest scholars and mountaineers to tell the story of 1924 and to ask questions about what the mountain means to climbers and Nepalis 100 years on from this famous expedition.
The 1924 Everest base camp. Photo courtesy of the Royal Geographical Society.
The exhibition will run from 4 June to 25 July 2024, with this official opening taking place from 7PM on 11 June 2024. The offical opening is a free event and you can sign up to attend using the form below.
55/56 Charlotte Road
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