The Alpine Club, the world’s first mountaineering club, was founded in 1857.  For over 150 years, members have been at the leading edge of worldwide mountaineering development and exploration. 

With membership, experienced and aspiring alpinists benefit from a varied meets programme, regional lectures with notable guest speakers, reduced rates at many alpine huts, opportunity to apply for grants to support expeditions, significant discounts at many UK retailers, extensive networking contacts, access to the AC Library and maps - and more! 

Becoming a Member
 

There is an autumnal feeling to this first week of October.  This morning, (Monday), it was distinctly cool and the Chamonix Aiguilles had a dusting of snow.  The snow descended yesterday down to 2300m. At the higher altitudes there were strong winds as the snow fell, with a dozen cms of fresh snow near the Cosmiques Hut and 40 cms near the Torino hut. The wind makes it feel very cold at altitude.  During this change in the weather the conditions are slowly evolving but the gullies and ice runnels are not in condition yet.  However, those rock routes exposed to the sun remain very pleasant.
At lower altitudes conditions are ideal for hiking.  Attention:  some work is being done in certain sectors. Consult the Chamoniarde website for more details:  http://www.chamoniarde.com/?p=45
Currently we are between seasons. The huts that are still open with a warden are: the Cosmiques until 8th October, the Torino and the Plan d’Aiguille until 1st November and the Loriaz until 15th October. The Aig du Midi and the Skyway (Courmayeur) cable cars will remain open until the 1st November.  All the other lifts in the valley are shut. 

The ladders leading from the Mer de Glace to the Couvercle are in the process of being partially dismantled