How our Olympic climbers are supporting the Paris 2024 ‘Ecolympics’

If you're a BMC member or if you have made a donation to the BMC Access & Conservation Trust (ACT), you are directly supporting our Mend Our Mountains campaign which is funding Fix the Fells again this year. Your contributions enable rangers like Liam Prior to consistently repair and manage the Lake District paths that we love to walk on. We caught up with Liam on the very popular path up Scafell Pike from Wasdale Head to find out what a typical day in his life is like - it's quite demanding!

The 2024 Olympic Games are underway, and the nation's eyes are firmly on Paris and all the Team GB athletes. As Sport Climbing makes its second-ever appearance at the Olympic Games, we get to witness a new chapter in history as four climbers step out onto the mats to represent Great Britain.

In a matter of days, 40 climbers from all around the globe will battle it out across three climbing disciplines of speed, lead and bouldering on the world's most watched wall of the year. Four British climbers will be among them representing Great Britain in Sport Climbing at Paris 2024 Olympic games. But how and where can you watch all the action? We have all the answers.

A brief history of competition climbing

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.

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.

Our peatlands store more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined and yet here on our doorstep, they're in a state of degradation. As part of The Climate Project's Let's Plant Moor series, Moors For The Future Partnership Officer Alice Leary takes a look at the knock-on effect on the nature surrounding us and what's being done to prevent it.

Our friends at Moors for the Future Partnership have produced a great series of five short films to help people understand the multiple benefits of healthy blanket bogs and why they are precious and worth protecting.

The BMC has welcomed another conservation project into The Climate Project portfolio, planting seagrass with Seagrass Ocean Rescue in conjunction with the North Wales Wildlife Trust. This is in addition to the current sphagnum moss planting and peatland restoration with Moors for the Future in the Peak District that you can also get involved with here.

This April saw the BMC’s first volunteer day in Pwllheli, North Wales, partnering with the Seagrass Ocean Rescue project and the North Wales Wildlife Trust as part of the BMC’s The Climate Project. Two more dates are planned for May and August, read on for dates and how to get involved.

Four sport climbers will make their Olympic Games debuts this summer for Team GB as the British Olympic Association (BOA) name the team that will compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

With the general election announced for Thursday 4 July 2024, get behind the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) as we lobby for more access to nature, outdoor education and more protection for the places we love to walk and climb in. Pick one (or all!) of the below and ask your election candidates if they will back it and why it’s important to them.  

Seven things you always wanted to know about path repair (but were too afraid to ask)

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) celebrates the historic inclusion of Paraclimbing in the LA28 Paralympic Sport Program. This landmark decision represents a significant milestone for the sport, reflecting its growing popularity globally.

The culmination of the Olympic Qualifying Series in Budapest saw GB Climbing athletes Erin McNeice, Hamish McArthur, and Molly Thompson-Smith qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics Games.  

The Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) is reaching its finale at the Ludovika Campus in Budapest this week. A total of 48 top climbers from around the globe will vie for their last chance to secure a spot in the Boulder & Lead event for Paris 2024.

As the general election date draws nearer, the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) have reviewed the manifestos from each party to help you make a more informed choice when it comes to protecting the landscapes and crags that we love to walk in and climb on.

As the world’s garment manufacturing industry moves to a more sustainable business model, what we’re wearing in the hills in three years time will be very different to today’s unsustainable, un-recyclable, polluting garments, predicts Mike Parsons from the Outdoor Gear Coach. But why is change needed? And what is going to happen? Mike explains in this article.

The first of four films in The Landscape Project has just been released on BMCTV, a fascinating new series that brings climbing and natural history together. Starting with the Lake District, presenter Nathan Chrismas, a biologist and ecologist, shares his deep knowledge and passion for the geological and ecological highlights of four hugely popular climbing and walking areas.

As part of Volunteers Week 3 - 9 June we have Cotswold Voluntary Warden Walk Leader Margaret Reid sharing her inspiring experience. Margaret organises and leads walks in the Cotswolds National Landscape for people from the Friendship Cafe in Gloucester. Activities like this are made possible with funding from the BMC Mend Our Mountains project from the BMC Access & Conservation Trust (ACT) charity.

This week is Volunteering Week 3 - 9 June so why not get involved with one of the many BMC volunteering opportunities? There are loads to choose from, including helping out at climbing competitions, leading hill walks at events and litter picking nationwide, planting seagrass in Wales, repairing footpaths in the Lake District and restoring peat bogs in the Peak District.

GB Climbing's Toby Roberts talks training, mindset, hopes and fears for his first Olympic Games this summer.

Erin McNeice and Hamish McArthur put on a world-class show in the finals of Boulder & Lead competition at the Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai, on Sunday (18 May).

The third day of the Olympic Qualifying Series (OQS) featured the men’s and women’s Boulder & Lead semi-finals, selecting the top-eight athletes to compete in the final.

Part one of the Olympic Qualifying Series in Shanghai, China, began today with the Boulder qualifying round. 46 men and 48 women are contesting the combined Boulder and Lead event at the city’s Urban Park over a four-day event on the Huangpu riverside, all in a bid to secure coveted spots at Paris 2024. 

BMC volunteers from the Get Stuck In programme joined Fix the Fells last month in Wasdale on Lingmell Breast, one of the main routes up to Scafell Pike. They spent the day helping to maintain part of this hugely popular footpath up to England’s highest mountain.

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) can today announce the lineup that will compete in Shanghai, China to represent the GB Climbing team at the first event of the Olympic Qualifying Series from Thursday 16 to Sunday 19 May 2024. 

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is proud to reaffirm our commitment to clean sport by backing UK Anti-Doping’s (UKAD’s) Clean Sport Week campaign from 13 - 17 May.

Right now, this May, it’s National Hill Walking month, but not everyone finds it easy to access this hills, whether that’s due to physical, financial or knowledge-based barriers. That’s where the BMC’s Mend Our Mountains charity campaign comes in - this year funding a new Grants & Access officer for the Cotswolds Natural Landscape (formerly known as Cotswolds AONB). The newly appointed Nina Stubbington is now leading the ‘Access for All; Removing Barriers’ programme, improving access to the area for people of all ages, abilities and from all backgrounds.

Worryingly, small adder populations could be extinct by 2032 unless we act now to help conserve them. The North Pennines National Landscape are asking BMC members to help them record sightings these native UK snakes to better understand their distribution and improve conservation efforts. Their Adders Up project started in February 2024 and will run for three years, hoping to achieve positive outcomes for the conservation of this enigmatic and threatened reptile.

The Watkin Path up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and the peat hags on neighbouring mountain Glyder Fach have benefitted from BMC volunteer improvement work on the latest Get Stuck In event, 15-16 April 2024. This was organised by Hill Walking Rep Steve Charles and Access & Conservation Officer (Wales) Tom Carrick as part of the Mend Our Mountains project, funded by the BMC Access & Conservation Trust.

Grabbing your attention with this beautiful picture of a Kestrel (Cudull Coch)! Now that the rain has subsided a little, it's a good time to remind everyone that we share our crags with many other creatures, notably our feathered friends who like to nest where we like to climb.

The BMC’s volunteering arm, Get Stuck In, donated £1,500 to Fix the Fells this week to buy footpath repair tools to enable our teams to quite literally get stuck in to fixing the mountain footpaths in the Lake District.

The sphagnum-planting season has come to an end to allow the ground-nesting birds to, well, ground nest! Thank you to all the volunteers that have helped the BMC to plant over 16,000 plugs of this super soggy, carbon-locking moss this winter, helping to restore the Peak District peat bog.

Mend Our Mountains is back for 2024 with six incredible access and conservation projects across England and Wales. This project is funded by the BMC’s Access and Conservation Trust charity (ACT) and we would like to thank all our members, supporters and volunteers for making vital work like this possible. Here’s what is happening this year as a result of your funding, including volunteering events you can get involved with.

Did you know that we have a BMC Community Liftshare site? The Liftshare site is also able to connect you with others going to the same BMC event or Mountain Training course. The beauty of a community like the hillwalking/climbing/mountaineering BMC community is that many of us are often moving in the same direction. This lends itself to the Liftshare infrastructure which can allow us to move in the same direction – together. Greener, and cheaper!

On the 16 April we have the last opportunity to lobby for the 2024 ban on the sale of peat in bagged compost for horticultural use by supporting a Ten Minute Rule Bill speech by England in Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet Theresa Villiers.

The BMC have been hard at work presenting the Outdoors For All Manifesto to parliament, kick-starting a new addition to The Climate Project, arranging re-bolting, cleaning up crags and consulting on access across England and Wales. Here are the highlights as we swing into spring.

GB Climbing’s Toby Roberts rounded off a formidable season with a victory at the 2023 European Boulder and Lead Olympic Qualifier event.

Read the BMC statement following the Competition Climbing Performance Group (CCPG) report.

The BMC supports Dartmoor National Park Authority in its appeal against a ban on wild camping.

The recent advertisement offering Kilnsey Crag for sale at a price of £150k presents an opportunity to remind members about how the BMC approaches potential land acquisitions. We're also on the lookout for specialist volunteers to support our land management work.

Elections for the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Athletes’ Commission took place at the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Championships in Moscow, Russia, with Olympian Shauna Coxsey MBE, of Great Britain, elected as President.

GB Climbing works alongside promising young climbers to help create the stars of tomorrow. But how to do this? Niall Grimes talks to Tim Cunnington, the Coach Development Manager at GB Climbing to find out more about the thinking behind the process.

It’s been an exhilarating three days watching Sport Climbing’s debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the fourth and final day was not one to disappoint either. Here's our report of the Women's Sport Climbing Final.