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!
Applications to the 2023 GRIT&ROCK First Ascent Expedition Award will close on 28 February. Now in its seventh year, the award provides funding to female-led expedition teams with the aim of encouraging greater female participation in pioneering alpine ascents.
2022 Exploration grant recipients Isidora Llarena, Rebeca Cáceres and Nadine Lehner in Patagonia
The award is split into three categories: Performance which focusses on ambitious high-altitude projects, Exploration which supports smaller-scale projects in remote regions and Apprenticeship which funds initiatives whose primary aim is the development of alpine skills and greater independence.
In total $10,000 US is split between these categories. Past recipients include alpinists Priti Wright, Nasim Eshqui and The French National Female Alpine Team. Applications from mixed gender projects are welcome.
Further details on the categories and the application process can be found via the Grit&Rock website.
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:
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:
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:
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 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:
Ramsden and Miller Make First Ascent of Unnamed 6,563m Peak
AC member Tim Miller has recently returned from Nepal where, alongside fellow AC member Paul Ramsden, he made the first ascent of a previously unclimbed and unnamed peak via a 1,200m route the pair have dubbed 'The Phantom Line'.
In a post on his professional Facebook page, Tim explained that the route follows a single diagonal line of ice across an otherwise featureless face at what he describes as "an amenable grade".
The expedition was supported by both the Alpine Club and the Mount Everest Foundation. Members are reminded that they are entitled to apply for funding from the AC Climbing Fund for their expeditions.
The ascent took the pair five days and they have kindly shared a topo of the route with us which you can see below:
Mountains cover 95% of the territory of Kyrgyzstan and 40% of those are above 3,000 meters high. Many regions remain unexplored and the country offers huge potential for exploratory mountaineering on peaks over 4000m at a reasonable cost. An ideal first major expedition for confident independent climbers with Alpine experience, this exploratory expedition will aim to make first ascents of several virgin 4000m peaks. The size of the expedition is not fixed but should not exceed eight participants..
2022 Exploration grant recipients Isidora Llarena, Rebeca Cáceres and Nadine Lehner in Patagonia
Photo: Helen Farley
Photo: Helen Farley
