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
 

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.

Events Calendar

Rick Allen Skills Award Lake District Training Weekend
From Friday 02 May 2025
To Monday 05 May 2025
Contact Nick Hurndall Smith & Tom Davis-Merry
Friday 02 May 2025


This meet, held at the George Starkey Hut, is open to all members and will coincide with a training weekend for recipients of the 2025 Rick Allen Skills Award (RASA). Recipients of the award will spend the weekend on training, and some hut-based elements of this will be open to all.

 

Rick Allen Skills Award 

The training weekend based at the George Starkey Hut will be led by Nick Kekus. It will be used to confirm participants’ ability, experience, and fitness, and will serve to help with preparation for the main alpine component. Topics will include bivouac skills and moving together, and an explanation of the gear required (lightweight sleeping bag etc) for a two-day Alpine route involving a bivouac. The weekend will include a bivouac on a Lakeland multi-pitch route. Participants are expected to bring bivvy kit and should plan to use it. The goal will be to hit the ground running once in the Alps, to make the best use of weather windows right from the start.

RASA participants will receive their booking details via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. once they are accepted onto the 2025 programme. 

Others who wish to attend for the weekend and/or sit in on some of the hut-based sessions should contact Tom Davis-Merry at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

The hut-based sessions are likely to consider ropework techniques for glacier travel, tips for moving more quickly in alpine terrain, and wider discussions on topics such as equipment and clothing choices. Topics around managing bivvies, planned and unplanned, will also be covered.

There are 30 spaces booked in the hut, with four allocated to RASA recipients. 
 
This will be a friendly, informative meet in a well-equipped (and warm!) hut in the heart of the Lake District.
 
Please contact Tom Davis-Merry (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) for further information and to book your place.
Location George Starkey Hut
Patterdale
england