A.O. Wheeler Legacy Award

Celebrating Outstanding and Varied Contributions to the Alpine Club of Canada Over Many Years

The A.O. Wheeler Legacy Award is the highest honour given by the ACC to its members. It is awarded for outstanding and varied contributions to The Alpine Club of Canada over many years. This award includes Life Membership in the ACC.

Born in Ireland in 1860, Arthur Oliver Wheeler arrived in Canada in 1876 and became a land surveyor. He made photo-topographical surveys of the Selkirks and the British Columbia-Alberta boundary through the Rockies. In 1906, he and Elizabeth Parker were the principal founders of The Alpine Club of Canada. He was its first President, and Editor of the Canadian Alpine Journal from 1907 to 1930, and Honorary President from 1926 until his death in 1945. He was the driving force behind two of the Club’s most successful expeditions, the 1913 Mt. Robson camp and the 1925 ascent of Mt. Logan.

For more information on the Wheeler family, see the Summit Series booklet “Among the Great Hills: Three Generations of Wheelers,” available through the online store.

Award Eligibility And Contribution Details

In order to be eligible for the A.O. Wheeler Legacy Award, the nominee must:

Be an active ACC member
Already hold the Distinguished Service Award
Be acting on a voluntary basis or exceeding value of their remuneration
Have contributed outstanding service to the club in the following ways:
- made a long term commitment to the goals and objectives of the club, as they are described in the club’s constitution;
- served and participated, over a period of at least seven years (after receiving the Distinguished Service Award) at the national level of the club through service to multiple committees, projects, or activities; and
- had their work result in substantive, meaningful and long-lasting improvements to the club and its operations