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
 

Expedition Essentials for Women Explorers - Additional Resources

Many thanks for attending Expedition Essentials for Women Explorers. We hope that the event was useful to you. For this inaugural event we had 45 delegates in attendance along with a further 20 staff, speakers and sponsors. It was a wonderful demonstration of the passion that so many women have for exploratory climbing, skiing and endurance sports. 

Photo: Helen Farley

We very much hope that the weekend was the beginning rather than the end of a process that will see more women taking part in and organising their own expeditions. The post-event WhatsApp group is already extremely active and many of you, we're sure, have made connections that will lead to some fantastic adventures in the future. In the spirit of EE4WE being the start rather than the end, below are a selection of resources to assist you with the planning and running of expeditions.

 

Speaker Slides

Firstly, here are the presentations from our EE4WE speakers in case you need to look up some of the points from the weekend:

EE4WE Speaker Biographies
Introduction to Expeditions | Susan Jensen & Iona Pawson
The Female Aspect of Expeditions | Susan Jensen & Iona Pawson
Resources for Staying Safe on Expeditions | Sarah Wysling & Isla Wormald
Psychology for Expedition Success | Dr Rebecca Williams
Nutrition Essentials for Women Explorers | Rebecca Dent
Fundraising | Paul Ramsden
Planning an Expedition on Skis | Iona Pawson
MEF Funding | Duncan Sperry
Tips for Expeditions Workshop | Paul Ramsden
Planning Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Expeditions | Marta Mills

 

Expedition Reports

Reports from past expeditions are a fantastic source of information. They can help you generate ideas for objectives, offer advice on access to specific areas or even give you a detailed breakdown of a route you'd like to repeat. The best places to find english-language expedition reports are:

The Mount Everest Foundation Expedition Reports Archive
Alpine Club Expedition Reports Archive
The Alpine Journal
The American Alpine Journal
Alpine Club Library Catalogue
BMC Expedition Reports

 

Photo: Helen Farley

 

Expedition Advice

There are lots of individuals who will be able to offer you specific advice on expeditions, but it's also useful to read pieces that cover all aspects of expeditions so you know everything you need to consider. Some of the best examples are listed below:

RGS-IBG Expedition Handbook
The Alpine Club Expedition Information Centre
UIAA - Women at Altitude (2018)
UIAA - Medical Advice for Women at Altitude (2023)
Expedition and Alpine Climbing - Information and Beta | Tom Livingstone

 

Mountain Databases

Finding a mountaineering objective can be one of the most challenging parts of expedition planning. That is, if you don't know where to start. Mountain databases list peaks along with associated information like if they've been climbed, by who and by what route. They're a great way to find unclimbed peaks/routes and they may also direct you to past expeditions where you can find more information. The main databases for the Himalaya are:

The Himalayan Index
The Himalayan Database
Nepal Himal Peak Profile

 

Grants

The grants you can apply for will depend on the type of expedition you plan to undertake. While most grants place limitations on the composition or purpose of expeditions, there are so many grant-giving bodies out there that you'll almost certainly be able to find some funding. The most important UK grants are listed below along with a link to a further list of grants which may be less relevant to UK mountaineers, but which are worth checking out in case you happen to qualify for them:

The Mount Everest Foundation (Including the Alison Chadwick Memorial Grant)
Grit & Rock (A video with tips on G&R applications is included below).
The Montane Alpine Club Climbing Fund
BMC Grants (Including the Julie Tullis Memorial Grant)
List of Other Grants