news blog

Alpine ClubCast 12 – 23rd June at 19:30

The Six Great North Faces - Part 1

The Rucksack Club and Alpine Club, two of Britain’s oldest mountaineering clubs, combine to take you up the classic six great north faces of the Alps, with accounts from 6 different members. As ticklists go this is short, sweet and an easy one to remember, but containing formidable and historic routes, it's not such an easy one to complete and has become the ticklist for the serious alpinist. It's the Matterhorn, Grandes Jorasses, Eiger, the Petit Dru, Cima Grande di Laveredo, and Piz Badile.  Tonight in part 1, we are hosted by the Rucksack Club to celebrate what has become known as "the trilogy": Matterhorn, Grandes Jorasses, and the Eiger, with speakers Andy Kirkpatrick, Martin Cooper, Nick Wallis, Bill Deakin and Cec Rhodes.

As usual, we will finish with a Q&A.

Alpine ClubCast 11 – 16th June at 19:30

Artists of the Alpine Club

William Mitchell, John Colton, Ben Tibbetts

We are celebrating mountaineering artists past and present:

First, William Mitchell, an art dealer, climber, and writer, who has written the first book in English about Gabriel Loppé. As a prolific artist and mountaineer, Gabriel Loppé (1825-1913) was the first painter to have depicted what the French call ‘la haute montagne’.

We are joined by John Colton, who discovered the wild places of Yorkshire and a love of drawing from an early age. By the time he was twenty this had developed into serious mountaineering and painting combined. John has previously exhibited at the Alpine Club in 2013 and was described as the first exhibitor who actually draws whilst engaged on serious Alpine climbs. These include the Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses and the Innominata route on Monte Bianco.

Finally, we have Ben Tibbetts who last year published ‘Alpenglow’, the result of an obsessive project involving 10,000 hours of climbing, to reach all the highest summits of the Alps. It is a book full of meticulous historical research, inspiring photography, intricate and beautiful drawings, and writing that captures the essence of each route. We’re not clear yet about what Ben will show, but we can expect some of his drawings of the mountains and routes shown in Alpenglow, and the stories of the climbs that inspired them.

Followed by a Q&A

A reminder: 79 images from the AC Collection can be viewed here:

https://artuk.org/shop/featured-collections/the-alpine-club-collection.html

where you can order your own print, for which the Alpine Club receives payment

Alpine ClubCast 10 – 9th June at 19:30

The Playground of Europe: Forbes, Tyndall and Le Blond

A celebration of three mountaineers of the Golden Age, with a scientific slant. Nanna Kaalund, Roland Jackson and Rachel Hewitt talk about the achievements of three great Victorians.

Followed by a Q&A.

Alpine ClubCast 9 – 2nd June at 19:30

A Kangchenjunga Special

We will be marking the 65th anniversary of the first ascent of Kangchenjunga which, at 8586m, is the third highest mountain in the world.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner is the first woman to climb all the 8000m peaks without the use of supplementary oxygen.  She talks about her ascent of Kangchenjunga in 2006 via the South-West Ridge and is joined by Stevan Jackson, who led the second British ascent of the SW Face in 2000, 45 years after Joe Brown and George Band.  Mick Conefrey also joins us to talk about his new book on the subject, ‘The Last Great Mountain’.  Finally, Leo Dickinson will show some unseen footage of Joe Brown describing the final stages of the first ascent. 

Followed by a Q&A.