Alan Blackshaw OBE (7 April 1933 – 4 August 2011) was an English mountaineer, skier and civil servant who was President of the Alpine Club from 2001 to 2004 and President of the Ski Club of Great Britain from 1997 to 2003.

Early life

Blackshaw was born in Liverpool and was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby (as a foundation Scholar) 1944–1951, and at Wadham College, Oxford (where he was an Open Scholar), 1951–54, and took a degree in Modern History.

Mountaineer and skier

In the 1950s he climbed in the Alps, making ascents of the north-east face of Piz Badile, the north face of the Aiguille du Triolet, and the south face of Pointe Gugliermina. Expeditions outside Europe include the Caucasus, Greenland and the Garwhal Himalaya. In 1972, he made a continuous ski traverse of the Alps from Kaprun to Gap, and between 1973 and 1978 he likewise traversed Scandinavia by ski, from Lakselv to Adneram. In 1965, he published the handbook Mountaineering: From Hill Walking to Alpine Climbing.

Career summary