Collections of these journals, along with tens of thousands of other climbing-related publications and mountaineering literature, can be found in the Henry S. Hall Jr.. American Alpine Club Library, also located in the AMC.

The AAC is a 501(c)(3) organization supported by gifts and grants from individuals, corporations and foundations, member dues, and income from lodging, publications and restricted endowments.

[5] The club was primarily East Coast-oriented for the first half-century of its existence;[6] its headquarters remained in New York until 1993, when the Board unanimously decided to move the AAC to its current location in Golden, Colorado.

For this annual publication, the AAC collaborates with the Alpine Club of Canada to cover accidents caused by inadequate protection, clothing or equipment; inexperience; errors in judgment; and climbers’ pursuing of objectives beyond their abilities.

From the time of its founding until the mid-1980s, candidates for membership in the AAC were required to submit a list of notable ascents at high altitude or other “significant alpine accomplishments.” The phrase “... or the equivalent” appeared at the end of this bylaw,[10] allowing the Board to elect artists and writers with little tangible experience, but for the most part, membership in the Club meant that a person had already achieved a great deal in the world of mountaineering.

Another notable founding member is naturalist, prolific writer, and Sierra Club co-founder John Muir, who is considered by many to be the founder of the wilderness preservation movement.

In 1965, Spitzer and Donald Morton became the first men to climb Mount Thor 1,675 m (5,495 ft), located in Auyuittuq National Park, on Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada.