Swiss Alpine Club (SAC)

Since its foundation in 1863, the SAC has helped to shape the development of the Alpine region and alpinism. We at the SAC connect people interested in the mountain world. We promote mountain sports as an experience for a broad population and are committed to the sustainable development and preservation of the mountain world.

We promote the responsible practice of mountaineering through appropriate training and education. We are involved in various mountain sports by offering courses and tours, promoting the next generation and the elite, supporting competitions and working for safety and mountain rescue. And of course we operate and maintain our 153 SAC huts as an important infrastructure for mountaineers and as an exceptional offer in mountain tourism.

Birthplace of the SAC: Olten railway station buffet

On 19 April 1863, 35 gentlemen from Aarau, Basel, Bern, Buochs, Glarus, Lucerne, Olten, St.Gallen and Zurich founded the Swiss Alpine Club SAC at the Olten railway station buffet. They responded to the call of Rudolf Theodor Simler, lecturer in chemistry and geology at the University of Bern, who warned against leaving the then booming conquest of the Alps to foreigners alone. The Alpine Club in London was founded in 1857 and the Austrian Alpine Association in 1862. Simler had suggested that a Swiss mountaineering association could "undoubtedly do better, more directly fruitful for the fatherland". With this in mind, the statutes were drawn up and Tödi and Clariden were designated as excursion areas. At the end of 1863 the SAC already had seven sections with a total of 358 members.

A Switzerland without mountains: unthinkable. A Switzerland without SAC: likewise

Since its foundation, the SAC has left its mark on the country. In 1863, on the initiative of SAC members, the Federal Council renamed the country's highest peak on the Monte Rosa massif Dufourspitze (4634 m) in honour of the general and topographer Guillaume-Henri Dufour. The clubists tirelessly climbed peaks that had already been climbed and many more that had not, described the routes in publications, covered the Alps with a network of huts and paths and were involved in the guide and rescue service. The SAC was instrumental in the work on the Swiss National Map. Without the SAC, tourism in the mountains would not have developed so strongly - and at the same time the SAC ensured that not every summit was accessible by mountain railway.

The new SAC tour portal / 900 routes free of charge

SAC was founded with the aim of exploring the Alpine region and creating largely free access to the mountain world. Guidelines were developed and routes described to support mountaineers in planning their tours.

Now the SAC digitizes the route descriptions from its tour guides. In order to be able to react promptly to the changes in the mountains, the SAC no longer publishes only in book form, but also digitally in the SAC tour portal. The portal is the heart of the completely redesigned website. Tailored to your needs and abilities, you will find the right tour for your personal mountain experience - described in detail and supplemented with valuable additional information.

Highlights:

  •  Diverse tours from six mountaineering disciplines
  • Detailed route descriptions by SAC authors.
  • Verified status warnings
  • Various filter functions: Level of difficulty, length of the tour, number of altitude meters, etc.
  • Find more than 230 huts, book more than 80 huts online right now.
  • Display of routes on interactive Swisstopo map with levels for hiking trails, slope inclination, game rest zones, game reserves and public transport stops
  • Easy planning of your journey with Google route planner or SBB timetable
  • Tour recommendations and interesting articles by specialist authors

Further information is available at: www.sac-cas.ch

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