news blog

Up Close with Cathy O’Dowd

Interview by Adele Long

Hi Cathy, thanks for agreeing to do this interview. Starter question, how long have you been a member of the AC?

Since 2012.

What made you join?

The honest answer is because Sandy Allen had invited me on his Nanga Parbat expedition, and he thought we could get some money from the AC. Obviously I was aware of the existence of the AC, but had a weird set of slightly contradictory stereotypes; first that it was full of Victorian gentlemen and only a certain type of chap or chappess would be eligible to join, second that it was full of people who were incredibly hard core and ordinary alpine climbers were not invited. Neither of which is fair or true. And then of course, I don’t actually live in England so how useful is the Club if you don’t live in England or possibly even London? Those are all the things that stopped me from joining and it was Sandy and the Nanga Parbat expedition that made me think, ‘well okay let’s give it a go’.

Up Close with Lindsay Griffin

Interview by Adele Long

How long have you been a member of the AC?

I became a member of the Alpine Climbing Group in 1972, which was then part of the AC. It wasn't until 1977, when someone asked me to propose them for the AC and the membership secretary at the time said ‘you can't do that, mate, you’re not an AC member!’, that I joined the AC.

Up Close with Becky Coles

Interview by Stuart Worsfold

How did it all start for you with climbing? Did your parents climb as well or were they just walkers?
I got into the outdoors through walking with my parents, but they didn't do any climbing. Walking up Snowdon would be an extreme expedition for them. In fact, I didn't really like walking when I was small, especially if I could see how far I had to walk, so they find what I do now quite amusing. 

An End to Weekly Reports?

14/05/2025

La Chamoniarde, whose regular conditions reports we used to translate for this news page, have moved away from weekly reporting and instead are providing a continuously updating feed.

While we assess how best to keep providing regular English language reports on mountain conditions in the Mont Blanc Massif, the new feed can be found here.