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 Sunday 18 May 2025
The Aladaglar meet offers alpine style climbing up to 3,800m and rock climbing in a unique mountain setting. Aladaglar is located three hours southeast of Ankara in central Anatolia. The massif is comparable in area to the Mont Blanc massif. It is made up of several peaks above 3,700m. At the foot of the mountains, there are deep canyons the walls of which boast multi-pitch sport and trad routes. On the north faces there are glaciers and jagged peaks. Even though there are much higher peaks in Turkey such as Mount Ararat (5881m) Aladaglar is the heart of Turkish mountaineering due to the number and quality of routes and easy accessibility. You can find an overview of the area's alpine climbing in this folder.
Conditions: The meet is scheduled in May when there is snow on alpine peaks and the snow and ice routes are in best condition. Those who prefer rock routes in the valley could expect to climb in T-shirts.
Indicative Cost: £700 per week per person – inclusive of flights from the UK, car hire and half board accommodation.
Accommodation: We will be based in Aladaglar Bungalows in Nigde (~1500m). Our host, Recep Ince, is the author of one of the guidebooks for the area. The bungalows have ensuite bathrooms and share a kitchen facility. We have the option to book our accommodation as half-board or self catered.
Guidebooks: Descriptions for these routes are available in Turkish/English language guidebooks by Recep Ince and Tunc Findik. In addition, there are many bolted single pitch routes as well as alpine style multi-pitch rock climbing requiring trad gear. Members can warm up on the sport and trad climbing lower down before undertaking some of the ridge traverses and snow couloirs for which the area is known.
Required skills: This is a meet for competent climbers. You should have general multi pitch climbing skills such as setting up an anchor and rope management in addition to alpine mountaineering skills including using crampons, technical ice axes...etc There are no formal arrangements for training in alpine climbing. If you are interested in attending, but unsure about your level of relevant experience, you are very welcome to contact the meet coordinator to discuss. (Aspirant members are welcome to attend.)
Reserve your place: There are 12 places available. Members will book and pay for their flights and we will group into multiple rental cars, which will be used for travelling to climbing locations during the week as well as transport to our base. To book your place please email the meet organiser Efe Tunç at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please, briefly state your climbing experience, preferences and abilities, whether or not you have a climbing partner and any previously attended AC meets.
