The Oxford University Mountaineering Club (OUMC) was founded in 1909 byArnold Lunn, then aBalliol undergraduate; he did not earn a degree.[1][2]
The club has taken a significant part in the development ofmountaineering in theUnited Kingdom, and many British climbers have been members of the club.[2]Andrew Irvine was atMerton College and was a member of the OUMC at the time of his fatal attempt to climbEverest withGeorge Mallory.Tom Bourdillon (whose father was one of the club's founders),Charles Evans andMichael Westmacott, all former members of the OUMC,[3] were members of the successful1953 British Expedition to Everest. Evans was Deputy Leader toJohn Hunt on that expedition, Bourdillon was responsible for the oxygen apparatus, and Westmacott was in charge of keeping the dangerous passage through theKhumbu Icefall open.[4] Bourdillon and Evans made the first attempt on the summit, on 26 May 1953, three days before the successful climb bySir Edmund Hillary andTenzing 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 toKangchenjunga in 1955.[4]
Stephen Venables was the first British climber to climb Everest without using an oxygen cylinder; he climbed to theSouth Col via theKangshung Face, creating a new route, and then went solo to the summit, as his colleagues were exhausted.[4]
The club has sent exploratorymountaineering expeditions to mountain ranges all over the world. It claimsfirst ascents of peaks in such places asGreenland, theHimalayas, theKarakoram,Kishtwar,Peru,Spitsbergen, andWakhan.[2][4]
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.
The Oxford University Women's Mountaineering Club was formed for the first time in 1924. It was formed by graduates but "intended for both past and present Oxford women".[5][6] Those instrumental in the club's foundation wereJean Orr-Ewing, Dora Butterworth (LMH, 1917-1921), M. Budenburg (St Hugh's), A. Bull (Somerville) and B. Ritchie (St. Hilda's).[7] The OUWMC was active until 1937[8] with meets in the UK and abroad every year.[9]
The OUWMC was briefly resurrected in 1943 and 1950.[8] It then reformed again in 1953 and regular meets were held in Wales and the Lake District, sometimes these were held in the same area as an OUMC meet so that the groups could benefit from the each other's presence. By 1955 the two groups were each invited to attend the other's meetings.[6]
Further milestones were:
The Oxford Alpine Club was established in 1876 by 'members of the Alpine Club who were resident at Oxford University and shared an interest in alpine pursuits'. In 1909 the newly founded Oxford University Mountaineering Club accepted undergraduate members and the Oxford Alpine Club accepted alumni of the University.[10] The club was dissolved in 1924 and then re-established in 1934. In its new form the OAC became open to “resident and non-resident members of the University of Oxford (other than undergraduates in residence) who are interested in mountaineering”.[10]
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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:
