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.

Alpine Club Library 

 

The Alpine Club Library, housed in the Club's premises, has an unrivalled collection of over 30,000 books, magazines, club journals, expedition reports and rare historic material. Some modern guidebooks, photographs (see AC Photo Library) historic diaries, press cuttings and correspondence (see AC Archives).

Many books can be borrowed by AC members, the exceptions being guidebooks and valuable items. Books can be borrowed in person or by post within the UK. Photocopies can be requested in person, by post or email.

 

Using the Alpine Club Library and Opening Hours 

The Alpine Club Library is normally open from 10.00am to 5.00pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, except during the month of August and for the Christmas / New Year period.

For Alpine Club members, the Library remains open until 7.00pm on lecture evenings. If travel from afar is involved, please check the opening times in advance.

 

Members of the AC, ABMSAC, and Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society may use the Alpine Club Library free of charge.

Other users are invited to make a financial contribution to running costs.

 

Members of the Alpine Club may borrow items from the main library collection - apart from guidebooks.  Books can be borrowed in person or by post (within the UK). Photocopies can be requested in person, by post or email.

AC members may use the Royal Geographical Society Library free on production of their AC membership card.

 

If visiting the Alpine Club Library to conduct research then it's worth emailing the librarian with details of your area of interest so they can retrieve items ahead of your visit.  Please note that the library may need prior notice if you want to consult  items held in the library store, archives or photo collection in order to have sufficient time to retrieve them.

 

You can access the Alpine Club Library catalogue online here or by using the search box below:

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Contact the Alpine Club Library


Telephone:-  020 7613 0745 

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Address: - Alpine Club Library, 55 Charlotte Rd, London, EC2A 3QF

Annual Reports

The Alpine Club Library not only maintains the Club's collection of books and maps but also takes responsibility for organising exhibitions.

To discover what the library have been up to, you can read our most recent annual report.

Historic reports from 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 are also available to view. 

 

New Books

Cover of Walter Haskett

 

 

 

World Maps

The Alpine Club has world maps to help members plan their expeditions. Typically we have numerous maps in electronic format that can be emailed on request. Please provide either the map reference number or the specific location of interest. The following regions are available:

Himalaya, Karakorum; Hindu Kush; China – Tibet; China – Central; China – Xinjiang; Pamirs; Fann Mountains; Tien Shan; Altai; Sayan; Kamchatka; Iran; Caucasus; Turkey; Morocco; Ethiopia and South America.

Harish Kapadia Collections - Himalayan Image Library and Oral History Project

Harish Kapaida is a renowned Himalayan mountaineer and author. He has written extensively on the Himalayas as well as being an Editor of the Himalayan Journal.

Harish donated a substantial collection of Himalayan images to the club which can be accessed in the library. The collection of over 1700 images has been scanned and captioned using captions provided by Harish.

In 2023 Harish also donated an archive of video interviews he had conducted over a number of years with notable mountaineers. This archive can be consulted in the library but is also being made publicly available on the club's YouTube channel and via our website.

You can find more information about Harish on his website.

History

The Alpine Club Library was founded in 1858, in the first year of the Club. In 1972 it was established as a separate charitable trust, managed by trustees appointed by the British Mountaineering Council and the Royal Geographical Society as well as the Alpine Club.

The Alpine Club Library relies greatly on financial donations and legacies, as well as gifts of books, photos or artifacts. Diaries, correspondence, and press cuttings are welcomed as gifts or deposits to the Archives. The Honorary Treasurer of the Library will readily advise on procedure for making bequests and tax-effective covenanted donations.