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! 

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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.

Expedition: Nov 2015 Khumbu Valley - supported by Climbing Fund 

Jon Gupta and Will Harris have recently returned from a five week trip to Nepal’s Khumbu Valley. After acclimatising on Lobuche East they unsuccessfully attempted new routes on Kangshung (6061m) and Kyajo Ri (6186m).

 

Upon reaching their basecamp on Kangshung they were met with three days of unseasonably heavy snowfall, resulting in a change of objective from the mountains rocky south-east ridge to its snowy west ridge. Unfortunately the fresh snow remained unconsolidated on the western aspect, giving dangerous conditions and resulting in retreat from approximately 5750m.

Following several rest days the team relocated to the village of Machermo. They had hoped to attempt to make an ascent of an unclimbed line on the north face of Pharilapcha, but the mountain looked to be in far drier condition than in photos previously seen. Instead, they attempted the unclimbed north ridge of Kyajo Ri, accessed via the mountains north-east face. From their camp at the base of the mountain they climbed ice to access the hanging glacier which dominates the face, with progress slowed by unconsolidated snow. From here they ascended steep snow slopes and mixed ground, enjoying a character-building bivi on a small ledge chopped at 5800m. The next day they climbed steep mixed ground to a junction with the north ridge at 5900m. Shortly after this a dropped rucksack, containing the teams stove, led to the decision to retreat. The North Ridge remains unclimbed, and would make and good objective for a future trip.

It is worth noting that after April’s earthquake it was business as usual in the Khumbu, with trails and lodges back in action. Visitor numbers were roughly half of normal levels, giving pleasantly quiet trails but having a negative effect on local businesses. By Will Harris