Climbers' Club

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Climbers' Club is the senior rock-climbing club in Wales and England (outside the Lake District). It was founded in 1898 and publishes guidebooks in the main Welsh and English climbing areas outside the Lakes (which is covered by the Fell & Rock Climbing Club). It also owns several climbing huts in these areas.

1 Early History
- 1.1 References
2 See also
3 External link

[edit] Early History

The Club was England's and Wales' earliest attempt to formally organize and bring together those who were active in participating and developing the "new" sport of rock climbing. 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 - 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 punned [1]:

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.