The Alpine Club was founded in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1857 and is the world's first mountaineering club. The primary focus of the club is to support mountaineers who climb in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

and the Greater Ranges of the world's mountains.

History

The Alpine Club was founded on 22 December 1857 by a group of British mountaineers at Ashley's Hotel in London. The original founders were active mountaineers in the

and instrumental in the development of alpine mountaineering during the

Golden Age of Alpinism The golden age of alpinism was the decade in mountaineering between Alfred Wills's ascent of the Wetterhorn in 1854 and Edward Whymper's ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865, during which many major peaks in the Alps saw their first ascents. Promin ...

(1854–1865). E. S. Kennedy was the first chairman of the Alpine Club but the naturalist, John Ball, was the first president. Kennedy, also the first vice-president, succeeded him as president of the club from 1860 to 1863. In 1863, the club moved its headquarters to the Metropole Hotel. The Alpine Club is specifically known for having developed early mountaineering-specific gear including a new type of rope. The goal was to engineer a strong and light rope that could be carried easily. A committee of the club tested samples from suppliers and prepared a specification in the early 1900s. The official Alpine Club Rope was then made by John Buckingham of Bloomsbury. It was made from three strands of manila hemp, treated to be rot proof and marked with a red thread of

worsted Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham ...

yarn. The present Alpine Club members remain extremely active in the Alps and the Greater Ranges, as well as in mountain arts, literature and science. For many years it had the characteristics of a London-based Gentlemen's club, including a certain imprecision in the qualification for membership (said to have been 'A reasonable number of respectable peaks'). Until 1974, the club was strictly for men only, but in 1975, within months of membership being opened to women, a merger with the

Ladies' Alpine Club The Ladies' Alpine Club was founded in London in 1907 and was the first mountaineering club for women. It merged with the Alpine Club of Great Britain in 1975. History In December 1907 a group of ladies who were climbers in the Alps met in Lon ...

was agreed, and the Club thus gained about 150 new members. George Band, ''Summit: 150 Years of the Alpine Club'' (London: Collins, 2006, ), pp. 236–237 By the last quarter of the 20th century, the club had evolved into Britain's senior mountaineering club, with a clear qualification for membership, for both men and women, and an 'aspirant' grade for those working towards full membership. However, it still requires prospective members to be proposed and seconded by existing members. The club's history has been documented by George Band in his book ''Summit: 150 Years of the Alpine Club'', and its artists in ''The Artists of the Alpine Club'' by Peter Mallalieu.

Current activities

Though the club organizes some UK-based meets and indoor lectures, its primary focus has always tended towards mountaineering overseas. It is associated more with exploratory mountaineering than with purely technical climbing (the early club was once dismissed as doing very little climbing but "a lot of walking steeply uphill"). These higher technical standards were often to be found in offshoots such as the 'Alpine Climbing Group' (ACG), founded in 1952. The club has produced a suite of guidebooks which cover some of the more popular

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

mountaineering regions. It also holds extensive book and photo libraries as well as an archive of historical artefacts which are regularly lent out to exhibitions. Its members' activities are recounted annually in the club's publication the '' Alpine Journal'', the world's oldest mountaineering journal, and interim newsletters are produced during the year. The club continues to encourage and sponsor mountaineering expeditions through its membership and is specifically focused on connecting with younger mountaineers. It maintains an online "Himalayan Index" of articles about Himalayan mountaineering activities recorded in the journals, magazines and books in its library.

Presidents

*1858–1860: John Ball *1861–1863: E. S. Kennedy *1864–1865:

Alfred Wills Sir Alfred Wills (11 December 1828 – 9 August 1912) was a judge of the High Court of England and Wales and a well-known mountaineer. He was the third President of the Alpine Club, from 1863 to 1865. Early life Wills was the second son of W ...

*1866–1868: Leslie Stephen *1869–1871: William Matthews *1872–1874: William Longman *1875–1877:

Thomas Woodbine Hinchliff Thomas Woodbine Hinchliff (5 December 1825 – 8 May 1882) was an English mountaineer, traveller, and author, from 1875 to 1877 the seventh President of the Alpine Club. After qualifying as a barrister, Hinchliff abandoned the law and took to a ...

*1878–1880: Charles Matthews *1881–1883: Thomas George Bonney *1884–1886:

Florence Crauford Grove Florence Crauford Grove (12 March 1838 – 17 August 1902) was an English mountaineer and author, sometimes known as F. Crauford Grove. He led the first expedition to ascend the higher summit of Mount Elbrus and was at one time president o ...

*1887–1889:

Clinton Thomas Dent Clinton Thomas Dent FRCS (7 December 1850 – 26 August 1912) was an English surgeon, author and mountaineer. Early life The fourth surviving son of Thomas Dent, he was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. Alpinism Along ...

*1890–1892:

Horace Walker Horace Walker (1838–1908) was an English mountaineer who made many notable first ascents, including Mount Elbrus and the Grandes Jorasses. Alpinism Born in 1838, Walker was the son of Liverpool lead merchant and mountaineer Francis Walker ...

*1893–1895: Douglas Freshfield *1896–1898: Charles Pilkington *1899–1901: Dr James Bryce (later Viscount Bryce) *1902–1904: Sir Martin Conway (later Lord Conway of Allington) *1905–1907:

George Forrest Browne George Forrest Browne (4 December 1833 – 1 June 1930) was an English bishop, the first Anglican Bishop of Stepney from 1895 until 1897 when he was appointed Bishop of Bristol. Early life Browne was born in York 1833 and educated at St Peter ...

, Bishop of Bristol *1908–1910: Hermann Wooley *1911–1913: W. E. Davison *1914–1916: William Pickford *1917–1919:

John Percy Farrar Captain John Percy Farrar (25 December 1857 – 18 February 1929), also known as Percy Farrar and as J. P. Farrar, was an English soldier and mountaineer. He was President of the Alpine Club from 1917 to 1919 and a member of the Mount Everest ...

*1920–1922: J. Norman Collie *1923–1925: Charles Granville Bruce *1926–1928: Sir George Henry Morse *1929–1931: Claude Wilson *1932–1934: Sir John Withers *1935–1937: Edward Lisle Strutt *1938–1940: Sir Claud Schuster GCB (later Lord Schuster) *1941–1943:

Geoffrey Winthrop Young Geoffrey Winthrop Young (25 October 1876 – 8 September 1958) was a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering. Young was born in Kensington, the middle son of Sir George Young, 3rd Baronet (see ...

*1944–1946: Leo Amery *1947–1949: Tom George Longstaff *1950–1952:

Claude Aurelius Elliott Sir Claude Aurelius Elliott Order of the British Empire, OBE (27 July 1888 – 21 November 1973) was an English schoolmaster who became head master of Eton College at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in Berkshire, and was later Provost (education), pr ...

*1953–1955: Edwin Savory Herbert *1956–1958: Sir John Hunt (later Lord Hunt) *1959–1961: George Finch *1962–1964: Howard Somervell *1965–1967:

Eric Shipton Eric Earle Shipton, CBE (1 August 1907 – 28 March 1977), was an English Himalayan mountaineer. Early years Shipton was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1907 where his father, a tea planter, died before he was three years old. When he was eig ...

*1968–1970: Charles Evans *1971–1973: A. D. M. Cox *1974–1976: John "Jack" Longland *1977–1979: Peter Lloyd *1980–1982: J. H. Emlyn Jones *1983–1985: R. R. E. Chorley *1986: A. K. Rawlinson (died in office) *1986: Lady Denise Evans *1987–1989: George Band *1990–1992: Lieutenant Colonel H. R. A. Streather '

Tony Streather Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Reginald Antony Streather (24 March 1926 – 31 October 2018) was a British Army officer who served in the Gloucestershire Regiment, and mountaineer who first-ascended the third-highest mountain in the world, on the ...

' *1993–1995: Mike Westmacott *1996–1998:

Sir Chris Bonington Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL (born 6 August 1934) is a British mountaineer. His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest. Early life and expeditions Bonington's father ...

*1999–2001: Doug Scott *2002–2004: Alan Blackshaw *2005–2007:

Stephen Venables Stephen Venables (born 2 May 1954) is a British mountaineer and writer, and is a past president of the South Georgia Association and of the Alpine Club. Mountaineer In 1988, Venables became the first Briton to ascend the summit of Mount Everest ...

*2008–2010: Paul Braithwaite *2011–2013: Mick Fowler *2014–2016: Lindsay Griffin *2017–2019: John Porter *2020–: Victor Saunders

Premises

The club's first premises were at 8 St Martin's Place,

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

, where it rented rooms in 1858. In 1895 the club moved to 23 Savile Row, and in June 1907, the Scottish artist

Sholto Johnstone Douglas Robert Sholto Johnstone Douglas (3 December 1871 – 10 March 1958), known as Sholto Douglas, or more formally as Sholto Johnstone Douglas, was a Scottish figurative artist, a painter chiefly of portraits and landscapes. In 1895, he stood surety ...

held an exhibition of his portraits at the Club. From 1937 to 1990 the club was based at 74, South Audley Street, in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...

, London. In 1936–1937, the surveying firm of Pilditch, Chadwick and Company had converted the ground floor of the building into suitable premises for the club. The club's library was at the back of the building, in what was once the picture gallery of Sir William Cuthbert Quilter. In 1990 the club sold its lease of 74, South Audley Street and briefly shared quarters with the Ski Club of Great Britain at 118, Eaton Square. In 1991, the Alpine Club acquired the freehold of a five-storey Victorian warehouse at 55, Charlotte Road, on the edge of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, and this building remains its current headquarters.HQ
at alpine-club.org.uk, accessed 3 March 2010. The club's lecture room, bunk-house, library, and archives are all housed there.

References

External links

Official websiteA fully digitized 1864 sketchbook
from an Alpine Club voyage to Switzerland and Tyrol {{DEFAULTSORT:Alpine Club (UK) 1857 establishments in the United Kingdom Sports clubs established in 1857 Alpine clubs Climbing organizations Gentlemen's clubs in London Mountaineering in the Alps Mountaineering in the United Kingdom