Oxford University Mountaineering Club

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The Oxford University Mountaineering Club (OUMC) was founded in 1909 by Arnold Lunn, then a Balliol undergraduate; he did not earn a degree.[1][2]

History

The club has taken a significant part in the development of

Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. They reached the South Summit[4] (at 8750 m then the highest summit to have been climbed), but had to turn back due to severe exhaustion. Charles Evans was later the Leader of the first successful expedition to Kangchenjunga in 1955.[4]

Stephen Venables was the first British climber to climb Everest without using an oxygen cylinder; he climbed to the South Col via the Kangshung Face, creating a new route, and then went solo to the summit, as his colleagues were exhausted.[4]

The club has sent exploratory

mountaineering expeditions to mountain ranges all over the world. It claims first ascents of peaks in such places as Greenland, the Himalayas, the Karakoram, Kishtwar, Peru, Spitsbergen, and Wakhan.[2][4]

Governance

The club is operated by committee – the executive (president, secretary, treasurer) is always made up from Oxford University Students but the wider committee roles are open to any members.

Functions and traditions

The club usually meets on a Wednesday during Oxford term time at the Gardeners Arms pub. This is where members can sign up to go on weekend 'meets'. Meets are organised climbing trips facilitated by the hire of a minibus and campsite. The club meets typically include overnight trips to Dartmoor, the Lake District and Cornwall and single day trips to the Wye Valley and Peak District. Alongside outdoor climbing trips the club organises:

  • a roped up pub crawl in the first weeks of term – where all attendees must negotiate the streets of Oxford whilst being tied to one another.
  • a ceilidh.
  • a Christmas dinner.

Notable members

References

  1. .
  2. ^ a b c Ross, Andrew (2009). "100 Years of The OUMC A Brief and Personal History" (PDF). Alpine Journal. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  3. .
  4. ^ a b c d e "A Brief History of OUMC". OUMC. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  5. .

External links

Other notable mountaineering clubs