The first Alpine Club, founded

Alpine Club (UK)

The Alpine Club was founded in London in 1857 and was probably the world's first mountaineering club. It is UK mountaineering's acknowledged 'senior club'.-History:...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1857, was once described as:

a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of which have successfully addressed themselves to attempts of the kind on loftier mountains. (The Nuttall Encyclopaedia 1907)

Today, Alpine clubs stage climbing

Climbing

Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...

 competitions, operate alpine huts and paths, and are active in protecting the Alpine environment

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

. The oldest is the UK Alpine Club, originally founded as a gentlemen's club

Gentlemen's club

A gentlemen's club is a members-only private club of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Today, some are more open about the gender and social status of...

 (see List of London's gentlemen's clubs). With around 815,000 members the German Alpine Club

German Alpine Club

The German Alpine Club or DAV is the largest climbing association in the world and the eighth largest sports union in Germany. It is organised into 354 legally independent branches with a total of around 815,000 members...

 is the largest Alpine club in the world.

List of Alpine clubs

Club	Abbreviation	Country	Founded
Academic Alpine Club of Innsbruck	AAKI	Austria	1893
Academic Alpine Club of Munich	AAVM	Germany	1892
South Tyrol Alpine Club	AVS	Italy	1946 (1869: as DAV branch)
Alpine Club	AC	Great Britain	1857/58
Alpine Club of Canada Alpine Club of Canada The Alpine Club of Canada is a mountain club with a National Office in Canmore, Alberta that has been a focal point for Canadian mountaineering since its founding in 1906. The club was co-founded by Arthur Oliver Wheeler, who served as its first president, and Elizabeth Parker, a journalist for...	ACC	Canada	1906
Alpine Club of Haller	AGH	Austria	1905
Alpine Club of Krummholz	AGK	Austria	1879
Alpine Club of Peilsteiner	AG?	Austria	1894
Alpine Club of Preintaler	AGP	Austria	1885
Alpine Club of Reißtaler	AGR	Austria	1881
Alpine Association of Berne	AVB	Switzerland	1909
American Alpine Club American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club, or AAC, was founded in 1902 by Charles Ernest Fay, and is the leading national organization in the United States devoted to mountaineering, climbing, and the multitude of issues facing climbers...	AAC	USA	1902
Appalachian Mountain Club Appalachian Mountain Club The Appalachian Mountain Club is one of the United States' oldest outdoor groups. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., with 12 chapters stretching from Maine to Washington, D.C...	AMC	USA	1876
Associazione Sentieri Alpini Calanca	ASAC	Switzerland	1978
Belgian Alpine Club	BAC CAB	Belgium	1883
Club Alpin Monégasque	CAM	Monaco	1911
Club Alpin Français Club alpin français The Club alpin français, usually referred to as the CAF, is a federation of club promoting mountain sports. It offers multiple training and courses to help people understand mountains....	CAF	France	1874
Club Alpino Italiano Club Alpino Italiano The Club Alpino Italiano is the senior Italian alpine club which stages climbing competitions, operates alpine huts, marks and maintains paths, and is active in protecting the Alpine environment...	CAI	Italy	1863
Clubul Alpin Roman	CAR	Romania	1936
Den Norske Turistforening	DNT	Norway	1886
German Alpine Club German Alpine Club The German Alpine Club or DAV is the largest climbing association in the world and the eighth largest sports union in Germany. It is organised into 354 legally independent branches with a total of around 815,000 members...	DAV	Germany	1869
Federación Española de Deportes de Montaña y Escalada Federación Española de Deportes de Montaña y Escalada The Federación Española de Deportes de Montaña y Escalada , loctaed in the Floridablanca 84 in Barcelona, is the Spanish federation of mountain and climbing sports...	FEDME	Spain	1922
Fédération des Clubs Alpins Académiques de Suisse Association of Academic Alpine Clubs of Switzerland Academic Alpine Club of Basle AACBS 1918 Academic Alpine Club of Berne AACB 1905 Academic Alpine Club of Zürich AACZ 1896 Club Alpin Académique Genève CAAG 1927	FCAAS	Switzerland	1983
Fédération française de la montagne et de l’escalade	FFME	France	1942
Federazione alpinistica ticinese	FAT	Switzerland	1965
Groupe Alpin Luxembourgeois	GAL	Luxembourg	1955
Groupe de Haute Montagne	GHM	France	1919
Climbing Interest Group (Interessengemeinschaft Klettern)	IG Klettern	Germany	1989
Ladies’ Alpine Club	LAC	Great Britain	1907 to 1975 Merged mit AC
Liechtenstein Alpine Club	LAV	Liechtenstein	1946 (1909 DuÖAV German and Austrian Alpine Club The German and Austrian Alpine Club was a merger of the German, Austrian and Bohemian branches of the Alpine Club that existed from 1873 to 1938.- External links :*...  branch)
Austrian Friends of Nature (Naturfreunde Österreich)	NFÖ, TVN	Austria	1895
Nederlandse Klim- en Bergsport Vereniging	NKBV	Netherlands	1902/1998
Österreichische Bergsteigervereinigung	ÖBV	Austria	1907
Austrian Alpine Club (Österreichischer Alpenklub)	ÖAK	Austria	1878
Austrian Alpine Club (Österreichischer Alpenverein)	OeAV	Austria	1862
Austrian Tourist Club Austrian Tourist Club The Austrian Tourist Club or ÖTK is the second oldest and third largest Alpine club in Austria.The foundation of the club goes back to an initiative by Gustav Jäger, publisher of Der Tourist, the first tourist magazine in Austria...  (Österreichischer Touristenklub)	ÖTK	Austria	1869
Austrian Tourist Association (Österreichischer Touristenverein)	ÖTV	Austria	1908
Planinska Zveza Slovenije	PZS	Slovenia	1893
Swiss Alpine Club Swiss Alpine Club The Swiss Alpine Club is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 111 sections with 110,000 members...	SAC CAS	Switzerland	1863
Swiss Ladies' Alpine Club	SFAC	Switzerland	1918 to 1979 Merged mit SAC
Slovensko Planinsko Društvo Celovec Slovenian Alpine Club Klagenfurt	SPD Celovec	Austria	1953, 1900 as a branch of the PZS
Società Alpinistica Ticinese	SAT	Switzerland	1937
Società Escursionistica Verzaschese	SEV	Switzerland	1983
Société des Touristes du Dauphiné	STD	France	1875
Svenska Turistföreningen Svenska Turistföreningen Svenska Turistföreningen, STF , founded in 1885, aims at promoting outdoor life and knowledge among the Swedes about their country.The Association maintains a variety of trails, huts and hostels in different parts Sweden...	STF	Sweden	1885
Unione Ticinese Operai Esccursionisti	UTOE	Switzerland	1919

External links

• Article for Men's Vogue