Based in Aberdeen, the Club was founded in 1887 and is the oldest and one of the largest hillwalking and climbing club in Scotland. Its coat-of-arms was granted in 1965. Its objectives are to encourage mountaineering, with special reference to the Cairngorm mountains; to promote competence, safety, knowledge and responsibility of attitude amongst mountaineers; to offer opportunities to engage in that pursuit in company with others; to impart information concerning mountains; to keep under review rights of access to Scottish mountains; and to issue publications. Its members have from time to time included a number of climbers of repute, but most are simply hillwalkers with interests ranging from cross-country walks, through more strenuous hillwalking (and unashamed Munro-bagging), to serious rock and ice-climbing.

The Club has undertaken a number of projects, such as the erection of summit indicators, e.g. on Lochnagar in 1924 and Ben Macdhui in 1925, and of bridges, e.g. over the Druie on the Lairig Ghru track (OS grid ref. NH.927078) in 1912 and the Luibeg (NO 013942) in 1948. To mark its centenary in 1987, it established a 1.72 ha woodland regeneration area, known as Piper’s Wood, in the middle of Glen Ey (NO 098857), and in 1995 the Club undertook the repair of the worst-eroded parts of the footpath into Coire Etchachan.