Alpine Club of Canada
Leading the Way for More Than 100 Years
The Alpine Club of Canada ( acc) is Canada’s national climbing association, founded in 1906 by Arthur Oliver Wheeler and Elizabeth Parker. For over a century it has encouraged Canadians to value mountain environments, to use wilder ness for recreation, to conserve mountain ecosystems, to develop scientific exploration of alpine glaciers and to cultivate artwork associated with the outdoors. The club is devoted to climbing, mountain culture, and issues related to alpine pursuits. It is Canada’s regulatory organization for climbing competitions. It sanctions regional and national events and assembles the coaching and support for the national team.
The acc is involved in every aspect of a climber’s lifecycle, from the first day at the climbing gym to multi-day outings in the mountains. Climbers such as Sonnie Trotter and Keith Haberl started in competition climbing and are now avid members who contr ibute to events while spending their climbing time in the alpine.
The acc’s book archive was kept at the Whyte Museum in Banff, it is now stored in Calgary where it awaits a new home. There are over 4,000 titles, many historic works dating back to 1600. In an effort to bring the books to the head office, the acc is having a fundraiser. There are two plans for the money. The first is for a new wing on the existing club house in Canmore that would have a gallery and library for the books. One title is from 1744, Account
of Glaciers in Savoy, by William Windham. It is a priceless collection. The second plan is for a new proposed hut. The hut will be on the Des Poilus Glacier in Yoho National Park. “The proposed project will be an extraordinary facility for guests into the future and will also be a demonstration site for green technologies and a commitment to long term sustainability as encouraged by Backcountry Energy Environmental Solutions ( bees) The shelter of our backcountry huts are the physical representation of how far we’ve come – as an organization and a community,” said Lawrence White, the executive director for the acc.