2024-04-07 20:14:10
“A good mountaineer is an old mountaineer” goes the adage that the French Alpine Club (CAF) could well adopt in view of the 150 candles it blows out this week in Chambéry (Savoie), during its general assembly. Despite its great age, the institution is on the rise, recording a spectacular increase in its number of members: + 25% in ten years to reach 110,000 members.
“We carried the somewhat aging image of the old-fashioned walker into the 1980s and 1990s,” concedes Niels Martin, its communications director. Then there was a real overhaul in the 2000s. The Alpine Club became the Federation of Alpine and Mountain Clubs (FFCAM). This new status made it possible to increase from 150 to nearly 450 affiliated clubs. Groups were created to train young people, others to encourage the practice of women. We reap the rewards. Today, the average age is 42 and more than a third of licensees are women. »
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