2026 England & Wales Mountain Safety Forum Overview

Over the past year, the Forum has strengthened collaboration between partners, developed and supported new national campaigns, progressed innovative technology projects and continued to place evidence and behavioural science at the centre of mountain safety.

The Forum includes representatives from the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), AdventureSmart UK & Ireland, Mountain Rescue England & Wales, Mountain Training organisations, Mountaineering Scotland, Ordnance Survey, the Met Office, Plas y Brenin, the Ramblers, UK Athletics, Joint Services, and many other organisations working together to improve safety across England and Wales.

Behaviour Change

One of the Forum's principal objectives has been to better understand why people get into difficulty in the outdoors and how safety messaging can encourage better decisions before problems arise.

Throughout the year, members lead by AdventureSmart UK & Ireland, continued to develop the Claremont Behaviour Change Project, designed to apply behavioural science to mountain safety communications.

Although the original proposal faced a funding shortfall of around £70,000, a revised project has been developed in partnership with YHA and The Ramblers, reducing costs while retaining its core aim of influencing the decision-making of 18–25-year-olds—one of the fastest-growing groups requiring mountain rescue assistance.

Partners have continued to explore funding opportunities, with discussions extending to the Outdoor Industries Association and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), recognising the project's potential to influence safety beyond the mountain environment.

Behavioural science remains a long-term priority for the Forum and will continue to underpin future campaigns.

Delivering National Safety Campaigns

Outdoor Safety Week

One of the year's biggest successes was the launch of the first Outdoor Safety Week, coordinated through AdventureSmart UK & Ireland and delivered by partners. Planning began early in 2026 with organisations working together to produce shared graphics, digital resources, campaign themes and coordinated communications.

The campaign successfully brought together 33 organisations, generating over 40,000 social media views while delivering simple, consistent safety messages before the Easter holidays.

Think Winter

Forum partners once again supported the annual Think Winter campaign.

Throughout the winter season organisations amplified consistent messaging about winter skills, equipment, changing mountain conditions and late-season snow.

Mountaineering Scotland highlighted that despite spring conditions at lower levels, significant snow remained in the mountains, reinforcing the importance of continued seasonal messaging.

Peak Exposure

The Peak Exposure campaign, delivered with the Melanoma Fund, demonstrated the value of collaborative public health messaging within mountain safety.

Campaign content achieved approximately 60,000 views within the first 24 hours, encouraging walkers and climbers to protect themselves from ultraviolet exposure while enjoying the outdoors.

Understanding Emerging Risks

Mountain Rescue England & Wales (MREW) reported an increasing number of rescue incidents involving people aged 18–25, with many callouts resulting from individuals becoming lost rather than injured.

Across partner organisations there was strong agreement that future interventions should move beyond generic advice towards:

• targeting specific visitor groups;

• focusing on known accident hotspots;

• delivering simple, actionable safety messages;

• using behavioural evidence to improve decision-making.

Forum members also recognised the growing influence of social media on outdoor participation with many being motivated to visit new areas.

MREW is now investing research examining how platforms such as TikTok and Instagram influence visitor behaviour, enabling future campaigns to work with trusted creators and better reach younger audiences encouraging good practice in planning and skill development.

Technology Supporting Safer Adventures

Digital innovation has become an increasingly important part of mountain safety.  One of the Forum's most exciting collaborative projects is the development of a QR Code Mapping Initiative, led by Mountain Rescue England & Wales in partnership with Ordnance Survey, National Parks and the National Trust.

Visitors at popular mountain car parks will be able to scan QR codes providing direct access to:

• pre-loaded walking routes;

• accurate location information;

• live positioning;

• navigation support;

• future integration with mountain weather forecasts.

Initial pilot locations include Llanberis, Wasdale and Edale, with discussions underway with the Met Office regarding the integration of weather information directly into the system.

The Forum also explored wider opportunities for technology to support safer decision-making, including improved mapping, weather forecasting and better use of real-time information without overwhelming users.

Research Informing Better Safety

Evidence remains central to the Forum's work.

During the year partners contributed to research covering:

• behavioural science and outdoor decision-making;

• gender differences in ankle injuries;

• mountain rescue incident trends;

• social media influence on visitor behaviour;

• near-miss reporting and organisational learning;

• improving participation data to better understand accident rates.

While Mountaineering Scotland attend the group as advisers their experience and input has been greatly valued and regular updates on their work has continued, including, continued collaborative research with the Universities of Stirling, Strathclyde and Lancaster, while Mountain Rescue England & Wales worked to improve national rescue datasets.

Forum members also recognised the need for better coordination of incident and near-miss reporting across organisations to strengthen future evidence.

Strengthening Organisational Collaboration

The Forum continues to provide a valuable opportunity for organisations to share knowledge, identify common challenges and coordinate national safety activity. Highlights from partner organisations included:

British Mountaineering Council

The BMC launched its new five-year strategy, placing greater emphasis on safety alongside participation and access. Work also continued on developing new climbing safety videos covering rock climbing, sport climbing and bouldering, with technical input from Libby Peters. The BMC continued to support AdventureSmart UK & Ireland campaigns and amplify seasonal safety messaging through its digital channels.

Mountain Training

Mountain Training England's new five-year strategy places safety at its heart, reaffirming support for AdventureSmart UK & Ireland and the Forum while aligning future work with Sport England funding priorities.

Partners also explored widening public access to the successful Leader Responsibilities e-learning module.

Mountain Rescue England & Wales

MREW underwent significant organisational development during the year, welcoming new Chief Executive Andy Buchan and strengthening its communications capability with the appointment of Nick Phillips as Media and Communications Director.

The Forum also recognised the outstanding contribution of Sally Seed, thanking her for many years of leadership in mountain safety communications and support for AdventureSmart UK & Ireland.

AdventureSmart UK & Ireland

AS UK & I continued to expand its messaging with the development of draft messaging for Trail/Fell running in collaboration with UK Athletics, FRA, and TRA.

Bespoke safety messaging has been developed for the National Trust for Brimham Rocks.

The collaborative project with YHA and The Ramblers to develop and pilot inclusive and impactful messaging for young people aged 18-24 years is ongoing and set to continue until August 2027.

Work is ongoing with the British Retail Consortium to develop an outdoor safety page on the BRC website, to help engage outdoor retailers in the delivery of safety messages.

Through its social media channels AS UK & I continues to promote outdoor safety through the amplification of partner posts.

Plans are underway to grow Outdoor Safety Week, which will run from 22nd March to 28th March 2027.  This coincides with the start of BST and the Easter Holidays.

Mountaineering Scotland

Mountaineering Scotland continued to deliver successful training initiatives including Sofa to Summit, expanded university partnerships and research programmes, while exceeding fundraising targets for its Path Fund.

A viral winter safety video demonstrating emergency group shelter use achieved more than one million engagements, illustrating the growing reach of practical mountain safety content.

Plas y Brenin

Plas y Brenin continued reviewing internal safety reporting systems while introducing weekly safety messaging linked directly to current mountain conditions, including weather, heat and water safety. Plas y Brenin have also been working in partnership with the BMC to update skills and safety videos specifically towards climbers and will be released through Autumn 2026 and Spring 2027.

Ramblers

The Ramblers completed one of the UK's largest volunteer training programmes, certifying more than 16,500 walk leaders while introducing plans for refresher training and enhanced first aid requirements.

The organisation also launched new community participation initiatives and continued promoting Britain's Favourite Footpath.

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey continued supporting mapping innovation while exploring future collaboration around geospatial data and rescue mapping.

Met Office

The Met Office enhanced its Weather Ready campaign and introduced direct mountain forecast links within its app, while exploring integration with QR-code-based visitor information.

Joint Services and UK Athletics

Both organisations reported increasing emphasis on proactive safety cultures, honest incident reporting and improving outdoor leadership competence, recognising the growing importance of safety within national sport and government policy.

Supporting Inclusive Participation

Forum members Mountain Training and Plas y Brenin and has continued supporting development of a Muslim Hiking and Outdoor Charities Charter, encouraging wider participation while ensuring mountain safety advice reflects increasingly diverse outdoor communities. Publication is expected following further consultation and may align with the launch of Plas y Brenin's multi-faith facilities.

Looking Ahead

The Forum enters the next year with a strong programme of collaborative work.

Priorities include:

• progressing the Claremont Behaviour Change Project;

• expanding Outdoor Safety Week for 2027;

• rolling out QR code mapping trials;

• improving understanding of incidents involving younger adults;

• strengthening behavioural research;

• developing evidence-led campaigns;

• improving coordination of safety reporting and learning across the outdoor sector.

• MREW will also be developing a calendar of key annual times to launch specific campaigns, allowing planning for up to 18 months ahead of time.