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Club and membership information
Committee whos who Development and Training package
Covid advice to club members attending club meets. Worth a read before you venture out for a day on the hills. The web site for the Swiss Alpine Club has links into pages for the separate Sections. A source for all types of climbing information, access and insurance in the UK is the BMC Membership information Hello, and thank you for taking an interest in our club. If you are thinking about joining our club, please read the information below to help you in your decision. We are a national UK mountaineering club with a strong interest in alpine mountaineering, particularly in Switzerland. As you can see from the meets list and write ups, we are an active club, with a diverse and well attended range of meets, including a significant number to the European Alps and beyond. Our club offers two categories of membership. The first is an affiliate membership, which is the basic membership category for all club members. People can also become ordinary members, which then additionally includes membership of a section of the Swiss Alpine Club. See Membership options for the current year rates. Full SAC membership does bring a discount in some huts in the Alps (as does membership of other alpine organisations). In addition, there is a monthly magazine, Les Alpes/Die Alpen, and a SAC section Newsletter several times a year. If you are thinking of joining solely for obtaining hut discounts, please be aware that you would need to be using huts for at least two weeks each year, before this became a lower cost option than paying the higher hut rate. Membership of the ABMSAC also provides affiliation to the British Mountaineering Council(BMC). This entitles members to purchase comprehensive mountaineering insurance through the BMC. You should note that membership of our club does not include any mountaineering insurance. Our objectives are to encourage the natural progression to climbing in the Alps through membership of the Swiss Alpine Club and to provide opportunities as a British Club for members to meet together and enjoy mountaineering activities both in Britain and the Alps. Applying to join the ABMSAC If you would like to join our club, the only stipulations we make are that you should: If, having read this, you would like to join us, please use the following link, Join ABMSAC and we’ll get in contact with you. Many thanks, The Association organises a comprehensive programme of meets throughout the year. During the winter months there is a series of meets in Scotland to make best use of any snow and ice conditions. During the rest of the year there are meets in England and Wales, typically in the Lake District, North Wales, Yorkshire, Dartmoor and the Peak District. These meets are based in climbing huts or bunkhouses. The highlights of the year are the Alpine Meets. Every year there is a meet in the Alps based on reasonably priced hotel or self-catering accommodation. There is also a separate camping meet and at the end of the season an annual alpine walking tour using climbing huts and bunkhouses. Social EventsDuring the winter The Association promotes a series of lectures in London. The programme is run in conjunction with the AAC. The lectures are often on Zoom, as well, for members who can't get to the venue. We hold our Annual Dinner and AGM in Glenridding at the end of January/start of February. There is an annual Hut Maintenance Meet, where some time is given over to socialise! Publications All members of the Association receive an annual eNewsletter and regular email updates to keep them up posted on activities and events. In addition the Annual Journal is published each spring with a full review of members’ activities over the previous year. BMC multiple membership refund form If you are a paid up member of more than one BMC affiliated organisation, you can reclaim the additional membership payments you have made.
The club has migrated its membership database to a proprietary system (MemberMojo), both to provide increased functionality and to improve the resilience of that function into the future. Through the system you can keep your own contact details up to date, get contact information of other members (subject to their GDPR approvals) and renew your membership. This system is also used for payments for meets (You will still need to book onto a meet with the meet facilitator). Access the to the database. We have produced some short guides on how to: Updated 26 July 2023 At the February 2019 AGM the committee introduced a Development and Training package to encourage those who wish to develop their skills. The aim is to increase skills, promote the ABMSAC and increase membership. The ABMSAC committee would like to offer financial assistance so members can take advantage of one of the many courses which are available in the UK. In addition, we have organise a skills weekend in April each year of free training, at the GSH, to ‘Refresh/Improve Your Skills’. See the Meets listing for dates. The scheme is coordinated by Heather Eddowes. Download a copy of the Application Form for financial support.
In 1909 eminent members of the Alpine Club considered that members who used Swiss Huts should do more to support the Swiss Alpine Club and so the Association of British Members of the Swiss Alpine Club was born. Early members were so grateful for the chance to climb in the Swiss Alps that subscriptions soon raised sufficient funds to build a hut in Switzerland. This was completed in 1912 near Saas Fee. It was presented as the Britannia Hut to the Geneva Section of the Swiss Alpine Club - providing an historic link. The Association currently has around 200 members scattered throughout the UK and beyond, many of whom also enjoy membership of the Swiss Alpine Club. One of our members, James Bogle, has written up the History of the Association and this was published in 2005. If you would like a copy of the History please contact the membership Secretary. |
