What Would Lucy Say?

‘What would Lucy say?’ is an exhibition which marks two key anniversaries in the history of the Alpine Club, namely the 50th Anniversary of the AC voting to admit women and the 50th Anniversary of the merger of the AC with the Ladies’ Alpine Club.

The ‘Lucy’ in question is Lucy Walker, the first woman to climb the Matterhorn who, despite this achievement and having already had, by 1870, many successful alpine seasons, could not be elected to the Alpine Club because of her gender.

The exhibition title could equally have been asked of a number of Walker’s contemporaries, women who climbed seriously in the second half of the 19th century and before the founding of the Ladies’ Alpine Club in 1907. The exhibition highlights a number of these women and their climbing achievements.

^{A 19th Century Edward Whymper engraving showing AC members in Zermatt - Note Lucy Walker watching on from the doorway.}

It is interesting to note that there was no official Alpine Club rule against the admission of women, applications from women candidates were simply not welcomed on account of their supposed physical and moral deficiencies in the matter of mountain climbing. The exhibition places these attitudes in context, with comparisons made with other alpine clubs, organisations and societies.

The lead up to the vote, and its eventual passage, are explored, including details of the women who joined prior to the vote and the rather embarrassing tale of Tschingel, the mountain-climbing dog who was reputedly the Club’s first female member.

With the admission of women to the AC, a merger with the LAC had a sad inevitability. The exhibition deals with the history of the LAC, its founders, key members and their achievements over the lifetime of the club.

^{Lizzie Le Blond, founder and first president of the LAC}

^{Sally Westmacott, the first woman to be officially admitted to the AC, shown here climbing in Iceland}

The final section of the exhibition is a celebration of where we are now: the place of female AC members within the club and in the wider mountaineering community.

In curating this exhibition, as with all remembered anniversaries, we hope to prompt discussions of the past and a fresh evaluation of the present. What would Lucy say, indeed?

The exhibition is housed at the Alpine Club's Charlotte Road premises. It will run from 12 November 2024 to 13 February 2025 and is open to visitors from 10:00 – 16:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as on London lecture evenings.

Visitors are kindly asked to book in advance using the form below so that we can ensure the necessary level of staffing. Failure to do so may lead to you being turned away.

Edward Compton - The Wild Pomp of Alpine Majesty

^{Matterhorn - ET Compton (1880)}

'Probably no one prior to ET Compton had ever combined hard climbing with such talented work as an Alpine artist.' – Peter Mallalieu, Artists of the Alpine Club

^{Auf Dem Koblack - ET Compton (1894)}

^{Presanella from Vadrett - ET Compton}

Everest 1924

In June 2024, 100 years after the disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine high on the slopes of Everest, the Alpine Club will open its new exhibition which examines the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition and assesses its continuing legacy. Everest 1924 will profile the personalities at the centre of the expedition, from Mallory and Irvine to the local workers who made the venture possible, and consider the impact of the expedition on current perceptions of the world's highest mountain.

Using photographs and artefacts from the expedition itself, including Sandy Irvine's ice axe (rediscovered in 1933), the exhibition will bring to life the experiences of the climbers; from their arrival in Darjeeling to within touching distance of the summit.

^{Irvine's Ice Axe (Rediscovered in 1933) - On display as part of the exhibition.}

^{The 1924 Expedition Team - Courtesy of the Royal Geographical Society}

The exhibition will run from 4 June 2024 to 25 July 2024 and is open to visitors from 12:00 – 17:00 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as well as on London lecture evenings.

There will be an official exhibition opening on the evening of 11 June. This event is free to attend and will feature the premiere of a new film about the 1924 expedition produced as a collaboration between the Alpine Club and the Mount Everest Foundation. The film, titled Everest Revisited 1924-2024, uses extensive historical footage, as well as interviews with Everest scholars and mountaineers to tell the story of 1924 and to ask questions about what the mountain means to climbers and Nepalese people 100 years on from this famous expedition. You can sign up to attend the opening using the form below.