The Climbers' Club is the senior rock-climbing club in England and Wales (outside the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

). The club was founded in 1898. The CC one of the largest publishers of

climbing guidebook Climbing guidebooks are used by mountaineers, alpinists, ice climbers, and rock climbers to locate, grade, and navigate climbing routes on mountains, climbing crags, or bouldering areas. Modern route guidebooks include detailed information o ...

s in many of the main climbing areas of England and Wales. The club also owns and operates a number of climbing huts in England, Scotland, and Wales.

Early history

The Club developed from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

's and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

' earliest attempt to formally organize and bring together those who were active in participating and developing the "new" sport of

rock climbing Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...

. In 1870,

C. E. Mathews Charles Edward Mathews (4 January 1834 – 20 October 1905) was an English mountaineer, a leading member of the Alpine Club and writer on mountaineering. In his professional career as solicitor he was active in public affairs in Birmingham. Life ...

founded the '' Society of Welsh Rabbits'', which was a loose association of climbers who were largely English. By 1897, members of the Society saw a need for something more formal, and forty met at the Café Monico in London to discuss forming a new Club. Originally perceived as merely a dining club, meeting once a year in London, one-third of the original members were also affiliated with the venerable

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

- generally more conservative and populated largely by alpinists who had little regard for climbing in Great Britain, except as training for the Alps. The first president, C. E. Mathews, was, himself, a pillar of the AC, but supported this new adventurous but parochial initiative. Not without the wry criticism so fashionable at the time, however, as the arch-conservative mountaineer

Douglas Freshfield Douglas William Freshfield (27 April 1845 – 9 February 1934) was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the ''Alpine Journal ''from 1872 to 1880. He was president of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club. He was ...

punned:Clark, R. W. and Pyatt, E. C. (1957). "Mountaineering in Britain", Phoenix House. :::Why is it to the Alpine Club :::Our C. E. M. no longer keeps? :::Why should he found - himself as hub – :::A Climbers' Club for ''chimney sweeps''.

Huts

The Climbers' Club operates a number of climbing huts.

Wales

* Ynys Ettws (

Llanberis Llanberis () is a village, community (Wales), community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activity, outdoor ac ...

, North Wales) * Cwm Glas Mawr (

, North Wales) * Helyg ( Ogwen, North Wales) * May Cottage ( Pembroke, South Wales)

England

* RO Downes ( Froggatt, Peak District) * Count House ( Bosigran, Cornwall) * Grange Old School (

Borrowdale Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland, England. It is in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, and is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' to distinguis ...

, The

)

Scotland

* Riasg ( Roy Bridge, Central Highlands of Scotland)

References

* Hankinson, Alan (1972). "The First Tigers", J. M. Dent & Sons

External links

* Climbing clubs in the United Kingdom Climbing and mountaineering organizations {{climbing-stub