Alpine Club maps (german: Alpenvereinskarten, often abbreviated to ''AV-Karten'' i.e. AV maps) are specially detailed maps for summer and winter mountain climbers (mountaineers, hikers and ski tourers). They are predominantly published at a scale of 1:25.000, although some individual sheets have scales of 1:50.000 and 1:100.000. The cartographic library of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

(DAV) and Austrian Alpine Clubs (OeAV) currently has about 70 different high mountain maps. Also, individual map sheets of the Alpine region or other interesting mountain areas in the world are continually being published. The publication of its maps has been a function of the

Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of which ...

since 1865. The reason the two clubs still issue their maps is to complement the range of more or less good official maps of the high mountains with special large-scale maps. This is especially true for the Austrian Alpine region, which is the classical field for Alpine Club branches (sections). Here, there are no official maps at a scale of 1: 25.000, so the Alpine Club fills an important gap in the maps available.

Characteristics

The characteristics of AV maps are their large scale (usually 1:25,000), high accuracy, and a great wealth of terrain detail in the high mountains (rock, rubble, glaciers, etc.). The

contour interval A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensional grap ...

is a maximum of 20 metres. The

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

should therefore be able to orient himself well using Alpine Club maps, both on the marked trails or in open terrain, i.e. away from the marked routes. In addition, the map sheets are divided in a way suitable for climbers and hikers with overlapping map sheets and a focus on the high mountain regions. Map names and height information (spot heights) are more densely printed than in other comparable maps.

References

External links

{{commons, Old Alpine Club maps, Old Alpine Club maps * Overview of the cartography and AV maps a
DAV
and a
OeAV
Map types Works about mountaineering