Onward And Upward

On December 22, 1857, a group of British gentlemen/mountaineers gathered together at the Ashley Hotel in London to form the Alpine Club. They concluded that to join as a full member, you would need to climb twenty ‘respectable alpine routes and peaks’ or places equal to these.

Women were naturally excluded from membership but it didn’t stop them from climbing and later forming…

…the Ladies’ Alpine Club in 1907. These early mountaineer women considered themselves to be first and foremost ‘ladies’, so they continued to wear their full skirts even while hiking.

However they quickly learned the importance and necessity of good gear-  warm pants, coats, alpine boots and…

… walking sticks. Newspapers were amused and paid more attention to their attire than to their climbing achievements. But no matter. These energetic women would not be deterred.

It was sixty-seven years later in 1974 that the Ladies’ Alpine Club finally merged with the men’s.

(Top photo- Royal Geographical Society)