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, services for outdoorsmen, and de facto regulation of local mountaineering resources and behavior of mountaineers. Most clubs organize social events, schedule outings, and stage climbing competitions, operate alpine huts and paths, and are active in protecting the alpine environment.
The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It 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" (Nuttall Encyclopaedia, 1907). With around 1,500,000 members the German Alpine Club is usually reckoned as the largest alpine club in the world.
List of Alpine clubs Club Abbreviation Country Founded Centre Excursionista de Catalunya. Hiking Club of CataloniaCECCatalonia (Spain)1876Alpine Club of PakistanACPPakistan1974Alpine Club Prishtina KAP Kosovo 2013Clube Alpino Paulista CAP Brazil 1959Clube Alpino PaulistaAcademic Alpine Club of Innsbruck AAKI Austria 1893Academic Alpine Association of Innsbruck AAVI Austria 1900Academic Alpine Club of Munich AAVM Germany 1892South Tyrol Alpine Club AVS Italy 1946 (1869-1923: part of OeAV, banned after 1923)Alpine Club AC United Kingdom 1857/58 Alpine Club of Canada ACC Canada 1906Alpine Club of Haller AGH Austria 1905Alpine Club of Krummholz AGK Austria 1879Alpine Club of Peilsteiner AG? Austria 1894Alpine Club of Preintaler AGP Austria 1885Alpine Club of Reißtaler AGR Austria 1881Alpine Association of Berne AVB Switzerland 1909American Alpine Club AAC United States 1902Alpine Club at CU CUAC United States 2001Andean German Club DAV Santiago Chile 1924Appalachian Mountain Club AMC United States 1876 Armenian Mountaineering and Hiking Federation AMHF Armenia 2011Associazione Sentieri Alpini Calanca ASAC Switzerland 1978Australian Alpine Club AAC Australia 1950Barts and the London Alpine Club BLAC United Kingdom 1941Bangladesh Mountaineering FederationBMFBangladesh 2000Belgian Alpine Club BAC CAB Belgium 1883California Alpine Club CAC United States 1913Carpathian Association of Hungary (Magyarországi Kárpát Egyesület)MKEKingdom of Hungary1873Club Alpin Monégasque CAM Monaco 1911Federation Française des Clubs Alpins et de Montagne FFCAM France 1874Club Alpino Italiano CAI Italy 1863Clubul Alpin Român CAR Romania 1934Club Andino Bariloche CAB Argentina 1931 Colorado Mountain Club CMC United States 1912Crimean-Caucasian Mountaineering Club CCMC Russia 1890Croatian Mountaineering Association (Hrvatski planinarski savez) HPS (HPD) Croatia 1874Delftsche Studenten Alpen Club DSC Netherland 1922Den Norske Turistforening DNT Norway 1886Excelsior Alpine ClubExcelsiorHungary1966German Alpine Club (Deutscher Alpenverein) DAV Germany 1869German Hiking Club of Valparaiso DAV Chile 1909Kiama Alpine Club KAC Australia 1957Kiandra Pioneer Ski ClubKPSCAustralia1861Kosciusko Alpine Club KAC Australia 1909Federación Española de Deportes de Montaña y Escalada FEDME Spain 1922Fédération des Clubs Alpins Académiques de SuisseAssociation 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 1983Fédération française de la montagne et de l’escalade FFME France 1942Federazione alpinistica ticinese FAT Switzerland 1965Groupe Alpin Luxembourgeois GAL Luxembourg 1955Groupe de Haute Montagne GHM France 1919Climbing Interest Group (Interessengemeinschaft Klettern) IG Klettern Germany 1989Icelandic Alpine Club ÍSALP Iceland 1977Japanese Alpine Club JAC Japan 1905Ladies' Alpine Club LAC United Kingdom 1907 to 1975 Merged with ACLiechtenstein Alpine Club LAV Liechtenstein 1946 (1909 DuÖAV branch)Austrian Friends of Nature (Naturfreunde Österreich) NFÖ, TVN Austria 1895Nederlandse Klim- en Bergsport Vereniging NKBV Netherlands 1902/1998 New Zealand Alpine Club NZAC New Zealand 1891Österreichische Bergsteigervereinigung ÖBV Austria 1907Austrian Alpine Club (Österreichischer Alpenklub) ÖAK Austria 1878Austrian Alpine Club (Österreichischer Alpenverein) OeAV Austria 1862Austrian Tourist Club (Österreichischer Touristenklub) ÖTK Austria 1869Austrian Tourist Association (Österreichischer Touristenverein) ÖTV Austria 1908Alpine Association of Slovenia (Planinska zveza Slovenije) PZS Slovenia 1893Ljubljana Matica Alpine Club (Planinsko društvo Ljubljana-Matica) PD LM Slovenia 1945Polski Związek Alpinizmu PZA Poland 1974Rendez-vous Hautes MontagnesRHMEurope1968Swiss Alpine Club SAC CAS Switzerland 1863Skagit Alpine Club SAC United States 1960Swiss Ladies' Alpine Club SFAC Switzerland 1918 to 1979 Merged with SACSocietà Alpinistica Ticinese SAT Switzerland 1937Società Escursionistica Verzaschese SEV Switzerland 1983Société des Touristes du Dauphiné STD France 1875Southern Alps Ski Club SASC Australia 1935Svenska Turistföreningen STF Sweden 1885Türkiye Dağcılık Federasyonu TDF Turkey 1936 (predecessor 1928)Türkiye Dağcılık Federasyonu – Tarihçe. 2014.Unione Ticinese Operai Esccursionisti UTOE Switzerland 1919Israel Climbers Club ICC Israel 1939 Mazamas MAZ United States 1894Damavand mountaineering and ski clubDMSCIran1953The MountaineersUnited States1906Washington Alpine ClubWACUnited States1916Centro Excursionista Brasileiro CEB Brazil 1919Círculo Marumbinista de Curitiba CMC Brazil 1930A mountain range and a set of cultural practices as scale of research in environmental history.
References
External links Article for Men's Vogue