Alps in general

The ESAC is a Student Alpine Club, so alpinism is one of our core activities. Alpinism, also known as mountaineering, is the king's discipline in mountaineering in which all facets come together. When mountaineering, besides reaching the top, it's all about the trip to it, the beauty of the environment you're in and the physical exertion. Since in the mountains you are often almost solely dependent on yourself and your fellow travelers, safety is an important aspect. The control of various rope techniques and other skills is therefore essential. An alpine trip can be very strenuous physically and mentally, but the satisfaction is great because you control nature in its purest form. Moreover, you make friends for life and you experience things that few others experience.

Within mountaineering, a distinction is made between summer and winter mountaineering. Rock, snow and ice routes are summer mountaineering. Winter mountaineering includes ski touring and ice climbing.

The NSAC, the Dutch umbrella Student Alps Club, provides (future) alpinists with courses at different levels, both in summer and in winter, for complete beginners to almost mountain guides. ESAC also offers various activities in the field of mountaineering. More about the range of courses and activities of both ESAC and NSAC can be found under Summer Mountaineering and Winter Mountaineering. It is also possible to be further trained as an Alpine Instructor, more about this can be found here.