Mountain Rescue Awareness Day: in conversation with Tom Carrick

The BMC Land & Property Trust - the charity responsible for the BMC's land and property assets - is seeking a new Chair and up to four Trustees to join its Board. There are also opportunities to join our Land Management Group. These voluntary roles present a unique opportunity to help oversee the management of some of the UK's most important climbing and hill walking sites.

We’re excited to announce that next year’s International Summer Meet will take place on: 13th – 21st June 2026 Llanberis, North Wales, UK

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC), as a secretariat member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Outdoor Recreation and Access to Nature (APPG), has welcomed the launch in Parliament of the group’s landmark report, Outdoors for All: Recommendations to Government on Access to Nature.

Access improvements, funded by the BMC's Access & Conservation Trust mean the new owners can reignite the popular MassonFest, a 'weekend of dry tooling fun' scheduled for 17-19 October 2025.

Today, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Outdoor Recreation and Access to Nature has launched a Call for Evidence to examine how to allow more people to access the outdoors.

Fairy Cave Quarry requires access through a gate with a combination lock. Here's how climbers can gain access to the quarry.

With the help from Chris Bonington and other legendary climbers, the BMC has reached an agreement with the Isle of Wight National Trust about rock climbing access at Skeleton Ridge on The Needles.

Last week, the Senedd in Cardiff passed the Legislation (Procedure, Publication and Repeals) (Wales) Bill, effectively removing the threat of thousands of unrecorded footpaths being lost across Wales.

After lobbying from BMC Peak Area Access Reps and others, DEFRA has ruled that the landowner must now comply with an existing enforcement notice requiring them to remove a plastic matting track on Midhope Moor.

With the Easter Bank Holiday approaching and more people than ever heading to the hills, the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is echoing a vitally important message from Mountain Rescue England and Wales (MREW): be prepared, be informed, and don’t rely on your phone alone.

Yr Wyddfa, one of the UK’s most treasured mountain landscapes, is under threat. Single use pollution has accumulated in its gullies, damaging the fragile ecosystem and endangering rare species.

The new owners of Masson Lees Quarry, Derbyshire, hope to resolve the long-term controversy over parking issues, and many more improvements, thanks to funding from the BMC's Access & Conservation Trust.

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) supports the community of Cwmparc, Treorchy, who have seen access blocked on an essential route connecting the village with the woodland and mountain trails.

Consultation on Wales’ proposed new National Park – member’s views needed.

Do you have Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) days to fill or is your company looking for new and exciting CSR days for your staff? The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) has the answers.

Over 800 drinks containers were removed from Wales’ highest peak last weekend causing environmental campaigners to demand the urgent introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for bottles and cans.

Did you know that the 140,000 miles of footpaths and bridleways we have access to in England and Wales are under serious threat? The footpaths you love the walk on are disappearing fast before our eyes due to erosion from increased footfall and more extreme weather conditions. Here are 14 reasons why we can't ignore footpath erosion.

The Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) Big Clean Up event marks an unprecedented effort to begin to rid the mountain of decades-old litter, including a misplaced Santa hat! Over two days, Friday 20th and Saturday 21st September, dedicated volunteers and specialists undertook a challenging mission to clean one of Wales’ most iconic natural landmarks. 

A peregrine survey by boat with high-quality photography organised by local BMC Access Reps Iain Peters and James Mann has helped to identify peregrine nesting sites so that a blanket ban on climbing at the Cornish climbing site of Carn Cowla can be lifted. A temporary ban had been put in place by the National Trust covering the cliffs between Tubby Head and Bawden Cliff, including major route locations up to and beyond the America Buttress. The ban has now been lifted so all sections are open, with only crag- and area-specific restrictions in place when necessary.

The BMC is pleased to announce our membership of Sports for Nature (S4N) - the first mountaineering organisation to do so. S4N enables and encourages sporting bodies to champion nature and contribute to its protection and restoration, an initiative that aligns completely with the BMC’s values, including our ongoing access and conservation work, aims for net-zero emissions by 2040 and new Climate & Sustainability Action Plan.

The sphagnum season is upon us again! Now that the ground-nesting birds have stopped ground-nesting, it’s time for BMC volunteers to start planting this incredible, carbon-sequestering moss at strategic locations across the Peak District moorland. Can you help us?

A climbers’ meeting this week expressed their opposition to the continued ban on climbing at Symonds Yat, Herefordshire, imposed by Forestry England.

This weekend the BMC joined Avon Access Rep Ben Darby and his team of volunteers near Bristol to install 28 new belay stakes on Main Wall so that climbers no longer need to rely on the wobbly old iron fence as an anchor point. Vegetation was also cleared and a thorough litter pick was carried out.

Yesterday, former Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Chris Boardman CBE met with BMC staff in the Peak District to highlight projects that are successfully fighting the climate crisis.

Proposals to make ordinary trespass a criminal offence have alarmed outdoor groups, including the BMC. Ahead of a debate in Parliament on the issue and the possibility of Government publishing the Police Powers and Protections Bill, Ed Douglas calls for the Government to think again.

There are concerns that government are considering moves to turn trespass from a civil offence to a criminal one. In a public consultation that is currently out for comment, it has been suggested that police powers could be strengthened to force people to move on from unauthorised encampments. The BMC is concerned however, that there could be unintentional consequences of the proposals around issues such as wild camping.

Access to the south side of Cheddar Gorge is fragile and relies upon climbers following the agreements in place with the landowner.

Climbers have a responsibility to understand the relevant access and conservation issues associated with the places we climb. Here are a few pointers to help you enjoy these areas sustainably.

The health and well being benefits of physical activity are numerous. Apart from the obvious physical benefits, there are many mental health and social perks to hillwalking and climbing too.

In this booklet for managers and landowners, the aim has been to address a range of common questions and concerns about rock climbing in disused quarries. Covering all aspects of access and liability, through a selection of case studies, it showcases the benefits not just for climbers, but for the wider public and land managers themselves. Benefits which can be realised with assistance from climbers and the BMC, through the repurposing of disused quarries as rock climbing destinations.

Camping ‘wild’ is a different way of spending the night outdoors but it isn't allowed everywhere - with a responsible approach however, there are many remote areas where you can still rest your weary head under a star-filled sky.

The stats are in from the Bangor University Mountaineering Society's (BUMS, excellent acronym) crag clean up at Penmaen Head, a limestone sport climbing venue in North Wales, near Colwyn Bay.

Want to know more about how you can reduce your own personal carbon footprint and lessen your impact on the environment? We’ve tried to make it simple for you by producing three separate checklists – for yourself, your workplace and for any events you might be arranging.