Promoting alpine-related outdoor pursuits for young women

The ACC is dedicated to helping young women pursue their adventure dreams with annual cash grants from the Jen Higgins Fund. Teams must include a young woman who is central to conceiving, developing and leading the trip.

Jen Higgins was a woman with a passion for the outdoors; her love of adventure, kindled at an early age through trips with her family, took her from her home province of Ontario to live in the mountains of BC.

Jen spent many days sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for the outdoors with friends who hadn’t had the privilege of knowing the mountain life as she did. She touched many people in this way, and shared her joy of living and exploring. It was on her way to the Rockies to introduce a friend to one of her favourite spots – the ACC’s Stanley Mitchell Hut in Little Yoho Valley – that she was involved in a fatal car accident.

The Jen Higgins Fund was established by friends and family to honour Jen Higgins after her death in 1997. Jen’s enthusiasm and generous spirit continue to live on by supporting young women in creative, self-propelled mountain adventures with this grant.

The Alpine Club of Canada is honoured to be able to continue Jen’s legacy of sharing knowledge and enthusiasm with others – the legacy of a truly adventurous and generous spirit.
Information Package

Annual deadline for applications is February 28th

Donate to the Jen Higgins Fund

The ACC is dedicated to helping young women pursue their adventure dreams and your donation to the Jen Higgins Fund helps us support them.

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Facilitating learning experiences that change lives

The financial costs of learning, developing and certifying mountaineering skills can be substantial, particularly for young people. Through the Jim Colpitts Memorial Scholarhip, we aim to help out with those financial costs.

Each year, the ACC awards a scholarship (approximately $500) to an Albertan between 17 and 24 years old to dedicate toward an avalanche, wilderness first aid, mountain leadership, ACMG training or other mountain course.

Jim Colpitts spent much of his youth in the mountain parks of Alberta where he participated as both a student and instructor in the Wilderness Groups of the YMCA. Jim rose to the physical and mental challenges of the mountains and became an avid skier, climber and hiker. He would be pleased with his legacy of providing opportunities for other young men and women to pursue the experiences that shaped his life.

Annual deadline for applications is February 28th

Donate to the Jim Colpitts Fund

The financial costs of learning, developing and certifying mountaineering skills can be substantial, particularly for young people. Your donation to the Jim Colpitts Fund helps young mountain professionals take the next step.

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Developing skills in the next generation of guides and Club leaders

For aspirant guides and volunteer leaders, finding opportunities to hone their guiding skills in a controlled and mentoring environment can be a big challenge. The ACC’s General Mountaineering Camp is the ideal location for leaders to build skills and the Karl Nagy Memorial Scholarship can help it happen.

This scholarship was established in 2001 to assist aspirant guides and volunteer leaders in the development of their skills. Until his death in 2000, Karl set an outstanding example as a mentor in the mountains and was well known for his leadership, safety and success. Karl was admired and loved for his exuberant attitude in the mountain environment that he played and worked in.

The recipient will be scheduled as an amateur leader for one week of the GMC and gain invaluable experience guiding and leading under the supervision of the Camp staff. There is no monetary value to the award.

ACC volunteer leaders and ACMG aspirant guides will be given priority for the award in alternating years. Priority will be given to ACC volunteer leaders for 2022.

Annual deadline for applications is February 28th

Donate to the Karl Nagy Fund

Your donation helps young guides gain invaluable experience guiding and leading under the supervision of the GMC staff.

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Making Mountain Experiences accessible to the Underprivileged

Mountain experiences and mountain culture teach life skills and benefit people of all ages. But there are significant barriers to these experiences, particularly for youth, disadvantaged individuals and to those in places removed from the mountains. The Philippe Delesalle Grant, given annually to underprivileged youth from across Canada aims to expand access to alpine experiences, knowledge and culture to more Canadians.

The Bugaboos Teens program is a tuition-free mountaineering camp held annually in Bugaboo Provincial Park in BC. It is aimed at students from grades 10 through 12 with the goal of introducing youth to the mountains and giving them the opportunity to forge strong relationships with the natural world. Canadian youth can apply for inclusion on the camp through this grant.

Philippe Delesalle shared the ACC’s deep belief in the value of mountain regions, sports and culture to the human spirit. He was a father, mountain lover, adventurer and architect who resided in Canmore until his passing in 2020. The ACC is honoured to help build a legacy of exposing youth to the alpine in Philippe’s name.

Donate to the Philippe Delesalle Fund

Your contribution will permanently increase the impact of the Philippe Delesalle Grant for young, underprivileged Canadians.

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Promoting mountain experiences that challenge the human spirit.

Do you have a dream of a few buddies climbing in the great ranges on a small trip without the hoopla and circus of the big expeditions?

The John Lauchlan Memorial Award is a cash award that exists to perpetuate the bold and adventurous spirit that John Lauchlan exemplified in his mountain exploits. It strives to promote the development of Canadian mountaineers at an international level with financial support that non-commercial expeditions have difficulty accessing.

John Lauchlan (1954-1982) was a pioneer in setting new standards in climbing both in Canada and internationally. At home he made numerous first ascents of alpine routes and ice climbs, including the southwest buttress of Mt. Logan, the North Face of Mt. Kitchner, Takakkaw Falls and Slipstream.

In 1980, John led a four-man expedition to Nepal to climb a technical new route on the south face of Gangapurna (7454m), which is still considered one of the most difficult climbs done by Canadians in the Himalayas.

John inspired everyone he met, as a climber, a teacher and a leader of his generation.

The John Lauchlan Award is awarded annually to a lightweight Canadian team pursuing an innovative, bold, exploratory, environmentally sensitive, non-commercial objective.

Annual deadline for applications is December 31 (extended to January 15th for 2023)

Donate to the John Lauchlan Memorial Award

Your donation helps Canadian mountaineers pursue their dreams.

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Contributing to the protection and preservation of mountain and climbing environments

The ACC Environment Grant is issued annually from a permanent fund to be used to create a legacy of environmental improvement.

Wilderness is a diminishing and irreplaceable resource of great intrinsic value not only to those who recreate in its spaces, but to everyone on our planet. The focus of the Environment Grant is wilderness conservation rather than recreation enhancement. It is the ACC’s goal to be able to act quickly and decisively in order to protect our wild spaces from being lost.

The purpose of the grant is to provide support that contributes to the protection and preservation of mountain and climbing environments, including the preservation of alpine flora and fauna in their natural habitat.

Funding priority will be given to projects related to the alpine and arctic environments and climbing areas in Canada in recognition of our members’ unique appreciation of these areas. As funds permit, projects in other mountainous and polar regions of the world may be supported.

Priority will be given to projects initiated by the Alpine Club of Canada and its members. However, outside agencies and individuals may be supported if their projects meet the mandate of the fund.

Since 2002 the ACC has given out over $30,000 through the Environmental Grant.

Annual deadline for applications is February 28th

Donate to the ACC Environment Fund

Your donation helps us help those who are fighting to preserve Canadian alpine areas.

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Preserve the Canadian Alpine Journal legacy

Established in 2001, the Eric Brooks Memorial Fund supports the publication of the Canadian Alpine Journal – the flagship publication of the ACC for over 100 years.

Eric Brooks joined the ACC in 1929 and continued to devote much of his energy to the Club until his death in 2001. He served as Manager of the General Mountaineering Camp for many years, was elected President of the ACC in 1941 and named Honorary President from 1954 to 1964. He was awarded the Silver Rope for Leadership Award in 1937 and the A.O. Wheeler Legacy Award in 1995. In 2005 an ACC volunteer award for commitment to learning and leading was renamed the Eric Brooks Leader Award in his honour.

Your donation to the Eric Brooks Memorial Fund will help ensure the enduring legacy of the Canadian Alpine Journal.

Preserve the history of the ACC

The Bev Bendell Library Conservation Fund is committed to the growth and enhancement of the Club’s library collection.

Long-time member and A.O. Wheeler Legacy Award recipient, Bev Bendell donated $100,000 to the Club in 2007. Since Bev was a professional librarian and also the Club’s volunteer librarian for several years, the donation was used to create a permanent library fund. This fund is administered by the Mountain Culture Committee, who use the annual investment income from the fund to purchase books for the ACC library, restore older library books, publish new books and other library-related projects.

Support training for amateur leaders

Created in 2010 through memorial donations, the Louise Guy Commemorative Fund is used to provide ongoing funding for the training of amateur leaders for the ACC’s annual General Mountaineering Camp (GMC).

Louise Guy, who died in 2010 at the age of 92, was one of the Club’s most cheerful, generous and delightful members. Louise took up climbing in her 50s and continued to climb into her ninth decade. Thanks to Louise’s efforts, the annual GMC was rescued from a very near demise in the mid-1980s. For more information on Louise and her husband, Richard, see the Summit Series booklet: Young at Heart: Richard and Louise Guy