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44-606: The Swiss Alpine Club was the first Alpine club founded in continental Europe after the foundation of the Alpine Club (1857) in London. One of the founders and the first president of the Club was Dr. Melchior Ulrich; other members were Gottlieb Samuel Studer and Dr. Simler. The inaugural meeting was held in Olten . With the increasing number of climbers, steps had to be taken to make the approach to

88-589: A 39% share of Philippine abacá production of which an overwhelming 92% came from Catanduanes Island . Eastern Visayas, the second largest producer had 24% and the Davao Region, the third largest producer had 11% of the total production. Around 42 percent of the total abacá fiber shipments from the Philippines went to the United Kingdom in 2014, making it the top importer. Germany imported 37.1 percent abacá pulp from

132-614: A large scale in Sumatra in 1925 under the Dutch , who had observed its cultivation in the Philippines for cordage since the nineteenth century, followed up by plantings in Central America in 1929 sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture . It also was transplanted into India and Guam . Commercial planting began in 1930 in British North Borneo ; at the onset of World War II ,

176-575: A merger with the Ladies' Alpine Club was agreed, and the Club thus gained about 150 new members. By the last quarter of the 20th century, the club had evolved into Britain's senior mountaineering club, with a clear qualification for membership, for both men and women, and an 'aspirant' grade for those working towards full membership. However, it still requires prospective members to be proposed and seconded by existing members. The club's history has been documented by George Band in his book Summit: 150 Years of

220-643: A native Cebuano name). They were exported to other Spanish colonies since the 16th century. A waistcoat of a native Quechua man in Peru was recorded as being made of medriñaque as early as 1584. Abacá cloth also appear in English records, spelled variously as medrinacks , medrianacks , medrianackes , and medrinacles , among other names. They were used as canvas for sails and for stiffening clothing like skirts, collars, and doublets . Philippine indigenous tribes still weave abacá-based textiles like t'nalak , made by

264-524: A preferred growing environment. Harvesting generally includes several operations involving the leaf sheaths: When the processing is complete, the bundles of fiber are pale and lustrous with a length of 6–12 feet (1.8–3.7 m). In Costa Rica, more modern harvest and drying techniques are being developed to accommodate the very high yields obtained there. According to the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority ,

308-708: A red thread of worsted yarn. From the 19th century British mountaineers and members of the Alpine Club were instrumental in the popularisation of mountainteering in Norway among the international mountaineering community, with William Cecil Slingsby 's influential book, Norway, the Northern Playground . The Alpine Club was the role model of the Norwegian Alpine Club , the third oldest of its kind worldwide. The present Alpine Club members remain extremely active in

352-457: Is stoloniferous , meaning that the plant produces runners or shoots along the ground that then root at each segment. Cutting and transplanting rooted runners is the primary technique for creating new plants, since seed growth is substantially slower. Abacá has a "false trunk" or pseudostem about 6–15 inches (15–38 cm) in diameter. The leaf stalks ( petioles ) are expanded at the base to form sheaths that are tightly wrapped together to form

396-499: Is a species of banana , Musa textilis , endemic to the Philippines . The plant grows to 13–22 feet (4.0–6.7 m), and averages about 12 feet (3.7 m). The plant has great economic importance, being harvested for its fiber extracted from the leaf-stems. The lustrous fiber is traditionally hand-loomed into various indigenous textiles ( abaca cloth or medriñaque ) in the Philippines. They are still featured prominently as

440-429: Is called tagal or tagal straw . The fiber is also exceptionally strong, stronger than hemp and naturally salt-resistant, making it ideal for making twines and ropes (especially for maritime shipping). It became a major trade commodity in the colonial era for this reason. The abaca industry declined sharply in the mid-20th century when abaca plantations were decimated by World War II and plant diseases, as well as

484-773: Is generally known as sinamáy in most of the islands. Abacá cloth with a more delicate texture is called tinampipi . While especially fine lace-like abacá cloth is called nipis or lupis . Fine abacá fibers may also be woven with piña , silk , or fine cotton to create a fabric called jusi . Traditional abacá textiles were often dyed in various colors from various natural dyes . These include blue from indigo ( tarum , dagum , tayum , etc.); black from ebony ( knalum or batulinao ) leaves; red from noni roots and sapang ; yellow from turmeric ( kalawag , kuning , etc.); and so on. They were often woven into specific patterns, and further ornamented with embroidery, beadwork, and other decorations. Most clothing made from abacá took

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528-443: Is normally grown in well-drained loamy soil, using rhizomes planted at the start of the rainy season. In addition, new plants can be started by seeds. Growers harvest abacá fields every three to eight months after an initial growth period of 12–25 months. Harvesting is done by removing the leaf-stems after flowering but before the fruit appears. The plant loses productivity between 15 to 40 years. The slopes of volcanoes provide

572-483: Is not a wanted feature, it should be well taken into account. Since shrinkage is more pronounced the first time the rope becomes wet, new rope is usually immersed into water and put to dry before use so that the shrinkage is less than it would be if the rope had never been wet. A major disadvantage in this shrinkage is that many knots made with manila rope became harder and more difficult to untie when wet, thus becoming subject of increased stress. Manila rope will rot after

616-423: Is specifically focused on connecting with younger mountaineers. It also holds extensive book and photo libraries as well as an archive of historical artifacts which are regularly lent out to exhibitions. The Club maintains an online "Himalayan Index" of articles about Himalayan mountaineering activities recorded in journals, magazines and books in its library. Its members' activities are recounted annually in

660-458: Is specifically known for having developed early mountaineering-specific gear including a new type of rope. The goal was to engineer a strong and light rope that could be carried easily. A committee of the club tested samples from suppliers and prepared a specification in the early 1900s. The official Alpine Club Rope was then made by John Buckingham of Bloomsbury. It was made from three strands of manila hemp , treated to be rot proof and marked with

704-469: Is the strongest of the natural fibers. It is used by the paper industry for such specialty uses such as tea bags , banknotes and decorative papers. It can be used to make handcrafts such as hats, bags, carpets, clothing and furniture. Lupis is the finest quality of abacá. Sinamay is woven chiefly from abacá. Abacá fibers were traditionally woven into sturdy textiles and clothing in the Philippines since pre-colonial times. Along with cotton , they were

748-478: Is very durable, flexible, and resistant to salt water damage, allowing its use in rope, hawsers , ships' lines, and fishing nets . A 1 inch (2.5 cm) rope can require 4 metric tons (8,800 lb) to break. Manilla rope is still the only material specified for lifeboat falls (the ropes with which a ship's lifeboat is lowered) in the United Kingdom. Manila ropes shrink when they become wet. This effect can be advantageous under certain circumstances, but if it

792-574: The Alps and instrumental in the development of alpine mountaineering during the Golden Age of Alpinism (1854–1865). E. S. Kennedy was the first chairman of the Alpine Club but the naturalist, John Ball , was the first president. Kennedy, also the first vice-president, succeeded him as president of the club from 1860 to 1863. In 1863, the club moved its headquarters to the Metropole Hotel . The Alpine Club

836-467: The Spanish colonial era , it was referred to as " medriñaque " cloth. By 1897, the Philippines were exporting almost 100,000 tons of abacá, and it was one of the three biggest cash crops, along with tobacco and sugar. In fact, from 1850 through the end of the 19th century, sugar or abacá alternated with each other as the biggest export crop of the Philippines. This 19th-century trade was predominantly with

880-653: The Tiboli tribe of South Cotabato , and dagmay , made by the Bagobo people. Abacá cloth is found in museum collections around the world, like the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Textile Museum of Canada. The inner fibers are also used in the making of hats, including the "Manila hats", hammocks, matting, cordage , ropes, coarse twines, and types of canvas. Manila rope is a type of rope made from manila hemp. Manila rope

924-636: The United States and the making of ropes was done mainly in New England , although in time rope-making shifted back to the Philippines. From 1898 to 1946, the United States colonized the Philippines following the Spanish-American War . The Guggenheim claims the "colonial government found ways to prevent Filipinos from profiting off of the abaca crops, instead favoring the businesses of American expats and Japanese immigrants, as well as ensuring that

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968-518: The banana family, Musaceae ; it resembles the closely related wild seeded bananas, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana . Its scientific name is Musa textilis . Within the genus Musa , it is placed in section Callimusa (now including the former section Australimusa ), members of which have a diploid chromosome number of 2n   = 20. The Philippines, especially the Bicol region in Luzon, has

1012-661: The Alpine Club , and its artists in The Artists of the Alpine Club by Peter Mallalieu. The club's first premises were at 8 St Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square , where it rented rooms in 1858. In 1895 the club moved to 23 Savile Row , and in June 1907, the Scottish artist Sholto Johnstone Douglas held an exhibition of his portraits at the Club. From 1937 to 1990 the club was based at 74, South Audley Street , in Mayfair , London. In 1936–1937,

1056-571: The Alpine Club acquired the freehold of a five-storey Victorian warehouse at 55, Charlotte Road, on the edge of the City of London , and this building remains its current headquarters. The club's lecture room, bunk-house, library, and archives are all housed there. In Dorothy L Sayers' 1923 novel Whose Body Sir Julian Freake is a member of the Alpine Club. Manila hemp Abacá ( / ɑː b ə ˈ k ɑː / ah-bə- KAH ; Filipino : abaka [ɐbɐˈka] ), also known as Manila hemp ,

1100-516: The Alps and the Greater Ranges , as well as in mountain arts, literature and science. For many years it had the characteristics of a London-based Gentlemen's club , including a certain imprecision in the qualification for membership (said to have been 'A reasonable number of respectable peaks'). Until 1974, the club was strictly for men only, but in 1975, within months of membership being opened to women,

1144-584: The Philippines provided 87.4% of the world's abacá in 2014, earning the Philippines US$ 111.33 million. The demand is still greater than the supply. The remainder came from Ecuador (12.5%) and Costa Rica (0.1%). The Bicol region in the Philippines produced 27,885 metric tons of abacá in 2014, the largest of any Philippine region . The Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) and the Department of Agriculture reported that in 2009–2013, Bicol Region had

1188-474: The Philippines, importing around 7,755 metric tons (MT). Sales of abacá cordage surged 20 percent in 2014 to a total of 5,093   MT from 4,240   MT, with the United States holding around 68 percent of the market. Abacá is vulnerable to a number of pathogens, notably abaca bunchy top virus , abaca bract mosaic virus , and abaca mosaic virus . Due to its strength, it is a sought after product and

1232-412: The bulk of the abaca harvests were exported to the United States" for use in military initiatives. In the early 1900s, a train running from Danao to Argao would transport Philippine abacá from the plantations to Cebu City for export. The railway system was destroyed during World War II; the abaca continues to be transported to Cebu by road. Outside the Philippines, abacá was first cultivated on

1276-484: The club's publication the Alpine Journal , the world's oldest mountaineering journal, and interim newsletters are produced during the year. The club has also produced a suite of guidebooks that cover some of the more popular Alpine mountaineering regions. The Alpine Club was founded on 22 December 1857 by a group of British mountaineers at Ashley's Hotel in London. The original founders were active mountaineers in

1320-429: The cultivated varieties of Catanduanes even more competitive in local and international markets. This results in the optimum production of the island which had a consistent highest production throughout the archipelago. Europeans first came into contact with Abacá fibre when Ferdinand Magellan landed in the Philippines in 1521, as the natives were already cultivating it and utilizing it in bulk for textiles. Throughout

1364-479: The form of the baro (also barú or bayú , literally "shirt" or "clothing"), a simple collar-less shirt or jacket with close-fitting long sleeves worn by both men and women in most ethnic groups in the pre-colonial Philippines . These were paired with wraparound sarong-like skirts (for both men and women), close-fitting pants, or loincloths ( bahag ). During the Spanish colonial era , abacá cloth became known as medriñaque in Spanish (apparently derived from

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1408-417: The invention of nylon in the 1930s. Today, abaca is mostly used in a variety of specialized paper products including tea bags , filter paper and banknotes . Manila envelopes and Manila paper derive their name from this fiber. Abaca is classified as a hard fiber , along with coir , henequin and sisal . Abaca is grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, Ecuador, Costa Rica. The abacá plant

1452-427: The main source of textile fibers used for clothing in the pre-colonial Philippines. Abacá cloth was often compared to calico in terms of texture and was a major trade commodity in the pre-colonial maritime trade and the Spanish colonial era . There are multiple traditional types and names of abaca cloth among the different ethnic groups of the Philippines . Undyed plain abacá cloth, woven from fine fibers of abaca,

1496-613: The most abaca genotypes and cultivars. Genetic analysis using simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers revealed that the Philippines' abaca germplasm is genetically diverse. Abaca genotypes in Luzon had higher genetic diversity than Visayas and Mindanao. Ninety-five (95) percent was attributed to molecular variance within the population, and only 5% of the molecular variance to variation among populations. Genetic analysis by Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) revealed several clusters irrespective of geographical origin. Before synthetic textiles came into use, M. textilis

1540-405: The mountains a little less complicated and exhausting. Until mountain huts were built, there had been no choice for the climbers other than sleeping in the highest chalets or in a Bivouac shelter under some overhanging rocks and, in both cases, firewood had to be carried up. The Swiss Alpine Club during the first twenty-five years of its existence contributed to build thirty-eight huts , of which

1584-871: The oldest was the Grünhorn hut on the Tödi (1863), followed by the Trift hut, near the Dammastock (1864). The Matterhorn hut was built in 1865, the Mountet in 1871, the Weisshorn Hut in 1876, the Concordia on the Aletsch glacier and the Boval hut in 1877. This Switzerland -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Alpine Club (UK) The Alpine Club

1628-450: The pseudostem. There are from 12 to 25 leaves, dark green on the top and pale green on the underside, sometimes with large brown patches. They are oblong in shape with a deltoid base. They grow in succession. The petioles grow to at least 1 foot (30 cm) in length. When the plant is mature, the flower stalk grows up inside the pseudostem. The male flower has five petals, each about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) long. The leaf sheaths contain

1672-549: The supply from the Philippines was eliminated by the Empire of Japan . After the war, the U.S. Department of Agriculture started production in Panama , Costa Rica , Honduras , and Guatemala . Today, abacá is produced primarily in the Philippines and Ecuador. The Philippines produces between 85% and 95% of the world's abacá, and the production employs 1.5 million people. Production has declined because of virus diseases. The plant

1716-468: The surveying firm of Pilditch, Chadwick and Company had converted the ground floor of the building into suitable premises for the club. The club's library was at the back of the building, in what was once the picture gallery of Sir William Cuthbert Quilter. In 1990 the club sold its lease of 74, South Audley Street and briefly shared quarters with the Ski Club of Great Britain at 118, Eaton Square . In 1991,

1760-514: The traditional material of the barong tagalog , the national male attire of the Philippines, as well as in sheer lace-like fabrics called nipis used in various clothing components. Native abaca textiles also survive into the modern era among various ethnic groups, like the t'nalak of the T'boli people and the dagmay of the Bagobo people . Abaca is also used in traditional Philippine millinery , as well as for bags, shawls, and other decorative items. The hatmaking straw made from Manila hemp

1804-478: The valuable fiber. After harvesting, the coarse fibers range in length from 6–12 feet (180–370 cm) long. They are composed primarily of cellulose , lignin , and pectin . The fruit, which is inedible and is rarely seen as harvesting occurs before the plant fruits, grows to about 2–3 inches (5.1–7.6 cm) in length and 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. It has black turbinate seeds that are 0.167 inches (0.42 cm) in diameter. The abacá plant belongs to

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1848-506: Was a major source of high quality fiber: soft, silky and fine. Ancestors of the modern abacá are thought to have originated from the eastern Philippines, where there is significant rainfall throughout the year. Wild varieties of abacá can still be found in the interior forests of the island province of Catanduanes , away from cultivated areas. Today, Catanduanes has many other modern kinds of abacá which are more competitive. For many years, breeders from various research institutions have made

1892-467: Was founded in London on 22 December 1857 and is the world's first mountaineering club . The primary focus of the club is to support mountaineers who climb in the Alps and the Greater Ranges of the world's mountains. Though the club organises some UK-based meets and indoor lectures, its primary focus has always tended towards mountaineering overseas. It is associated more with exploratory mountaineering than with purely technical climbing (the early club

1936-544: Was once dismissed as doing very little climbing but "a lot of walking steeply uphill"). These higher technical standards were often to be found in offshoots such as the 'Alpine Climbing Group' (ACG), which was founded in 1952 and merged with the Alpine Club in 1967; the AGC is aimed at those "who aspire to establish or repeat technically difficult climbs or undertake exploratory expeditions". The club continues to encourage and sponsor mountaineering expeditions through its membership and

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