Despite the many challenges of 2020 the BMC team have been working hard, along with support from Mountaineering Scotland and Mountaineering Ireland, to develop a proposal to make significant changes to the structure of the national competition climbing calendar across the UK and Ireland.

The purpose of these changes is to have an athlete focused schedule whilst encouraging participation across the UK and Ireland, at all entry levels, into competitive climbing.  

The three main elements of the proposal are to:

1. Reschedule the National Championship events ahead of the international season
2. Create a National Series in conjunction with each National Governing Body (NGB)
3. Reschedule the Youth Climbing Series (YCS) to the latter half of the year

In September feedback was sought on the proposal with an online survey being sent to as many stakeholders as possible. The engagement with the survey was excellent and we would like to thank everyone for their input. The results of the survey indicated an extremely high degree of positivity towards the proposals. After further consultation it has been decided that the proposal for rescheduling the National Championships and implementation of a National Series will be pushed back to the 2022 competition season due to the uncertainties we are faced with regarding the ongoing COVID-19 situation. Despite this set back we are feeling motivated and grateful for the additional time this gives us to work on the proposals as well as prepare for the Youth Climbing Series which will take place in the latter half of the year. We are excited to announce that we have agreed the following dates for the YCS 2021:

Round 1:         18 September             (boulder)

Round 2:         2 October                    (roped)

Round 3:         23 October                  (boulder)

Round 4:         6 November                (roped)

Grand Final:    27 & Sunday 28 November

Mountaineering Ireland, Mountaineering Scotland and the British Mountaineering Council will release further information on their regional rounds of the Youth Climbing Series 2021 in the New Year.

If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that we need to be both optimistic and adaptable in our plans. With that said each National Governing Body will be monitoring the COVID-19 situation in their area and will plan their individual competition calendars accordingly in hopes to deliver safe competition climbing for 2021.

We would like to thank everyone for their continued support, engagement and understanding throughout 2020 and we look forward to coming together again through competitive climbing next year.

If you have any questions please visit our FAQs page here.

The results of the survey can be found here.
 

We want to say a big thanks to every BMC member who continues to support us through the Coronavirus crisis.

From weekly Facebook Lives and GB Climbing home training videos, to our access team working to re-open the crags and fight for your mountain access, we couldn’t do it without you.

Did you know that we've launched a U27 membership offer for just £1.50 / month? And with full membership from £2.50 / month, it's never been easier to join and support our work: 

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/join-the-bmc-for-1-month-U27-membership

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