Leo Houlding to Receive Mountaineering Ireland's Lynam Award

AC member Leo Houlding has been announced as the 2022 recipient of the Lynam Award. The award is presented annually by Mountaineering Ireland in memory of renowned Irish mountaineer Joss Lynam. Recipients are those who are considered to have a record of outstanding achievement and contributions to mountaineering.

Leo will officially receive the award and present the annual Lynam Lecture in a special event at the Chartered Accountants Ireland Lecture Hall, Dublin on 08 December. Further details on the event are available here. 

Leo's first book 'Closer to the Edge', an autobiography of his life as a climber, mountaineer and explorer, has recently been released and is already enjoying its second print run.

Silvo Karo to Receive Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award

The Piolets d'Or committee have announced that Slovenian alpinist and honorary Alpine Club member Silvo Karo will receive the 14th Walter Bonatti - Piolets d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the 2022 ceremony.

Karo is one of a generation of Slovenian alpinists who, in the 1980s, set a new standard in the greater ranges by pioneering technically difficult new routes on iconic peaks. He is perhaps best known for his 1988 first ascent of the south face of Cerro Torre, but his resumé extends far beyond this singular achievement with many notable ascents in the Himalaya and Karakoram.

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This year's Piolets d'Or ceremony will take place from 18-20 November in Briançon. Further details are available via the Piolet d'Or website.

Loppé Exhibition Opens on Monte Bianco Skyway

Over 20 scale reproductions of the works of famed mountain artist Gabriel Loppé have gone on display in the Pavillion Station of the Monte Bianco Skyway. The exhibition, 'Gabriel Loppé: A Life on Mont Blanc' is a collaboration between the Skyway, The Association Amis de Gabriel Loppé and AC member William Mitchell.

Loppé was the earliest pioneer of high altitude painting and the first non-Britain to be made a member of the Alpine Club.

His most enduring working relationship was with Mont Blanc, which he was estimated to have climbed some 40 times, painting numerous scenes from its summit. Given his history with the mountain, there is perhaps no better place for an exhibition of Loppé's work than in the panoramic space of the Pavillion Station at 2,200m.

The exhibition will run until the Summer of 2023 and is open to visitors whenever the cable car is operating. Tickets are available to book via the Skyway website.  

AC member William Mitchell, who has curated the exhibition, has produced an accompanying 60-page catalogue which is available in English, French and Italian. French speakers can also enjoy an interview in which William discusses the exhibition on TGR Rai.

The Death of HM Queen Elizabeth II

The Alpine Club Committee was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. For seventy years she had been a rare constant in the life of our nation, serving as a source of comfort and pride to many. With the news of Hillary’s and Tenzing’s ascent of Everest reaching the streets of London on the morning of her coronation, 2nd June 1953, she had a special place in the hearts of mountaineers. 

With her husband HRH The Prince Philip, who was an honorary member of the Club, she attended a number of Alpine Club events, including our 1957 centenary celebrations (pictured). She was also a regular attendee at anniversary celebrations for the first ascent of Mount Everest adding, in the words of former AC President Stephen Venables, "lustre" to those occasions.