BMC Roundup

A quick round up of all things happening from the BMC Lucy Creamer appointed as BMC Competitions Officer The BMC is pleased to announce that Lucy Creamer has been appointed as the new BMC Competitions Officer. Lucy probably needs no introduction – she is one of the best female climbers in Britain. Lucy was the British Masters Champion in 1998, won the British Bouldering Championships in 2001, and has been the British Leading Champion no fewer than 7 times. Lucy will take up the appointment at the end of October. The part-time post will involve organising and administering national and regional events including the British Bouldering Championships, BRYCS and the British Lead Climbing Championships and supporting the wider needs of competition climbers.  More…BMC leading ladder venues announced The dates and venues for the new BMC Leading Ladder competition have now been finalised. Starting in October, this exciting new style leading competition will run at a number of selected walls around the country. Taking part will be an excellent way to push grades and improve a climber´s standards. It will also be a great way to get fit – and stay fit – over the winter months. There will be six routes set by the BMC at each venue graded F6b, F6c, F7a, F7b, F7c and F8a. Entrants will compete in four age categories, with separate male and female categories. The dates and venues for the rounds of BMC Leading Ladder up to the Christmas/New Year break are listed below. Dates and venues for further rounds which will take place after Christmas will be announced in due course. More information about the new BMC Leading Ladder competition and an explanation of the rules and scoring is available on the BMC website. More… 1st October to 14th October. Dynamic Rock, Swansea 8th October to 21st October. Edinburgh International Climbing Arena, Ratho 15th October to 28th October. Awesome Walls, Liverpool 22nd October to 4th November. Westway, London 29th October to 11th November. The Foundry, Sheffield 5th November to 18th November, Lakeland Climbing Centre, Kendal 12th November to 25th November. Sunderland Wall 19th November to 2nd December. Bristol Climbing Centre 26th November to 9th December. The Leeds Wall Climbing helmet and head injury survey The BMC has launched a new online survey, asking climbers if they have ever had an impact to the head whilst climbing. The survey is very quick and easy, and should only take a couple of minutes to complete. Please help the BMC by completing the survey. Findings from the survey will be used to help guide future BMC thinking on helmet standards, and the advice that we give to climbers. More… Clean-ups In the northwest, Egerton quarry will be getting the BMC volunteer clean-up treatment on Saturday 15 September. More… Meanwhile, in Devon the BMC´s South West Action Team´s planned clean-up at Chudleigh Rocks has been postponed until later in the year. More…Apply now for subsidised winter mountaineering courses Applicants for the Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust subsidised two-day winter training courses have until 12 October to return their completed applications to the BMC. The courses are based in the Cairngorms in January 2008 and will introduce techniques needed for moving on snow and ice both in Britain in winter and in the Alps.The courses cover the use of crampons and ice axes, belaying and rope work, avalanche assessment and other topics relating to winter mountains. The course cost is £50 and includes hire of some equipment, accommodation (two nights), food and all essential in-course transport. The Trust encourages safe and enjoyable practice in mountaineering and offers subsidised professionally-delivered training courses aimed at people who cannot afford the full cost of training. Successful applicants will be sent a kit list in due course. Application forms and further information are available now by calling the BMC office on 0161 438 3302 or from the Events section of the BMC website from September 2007. More… Safety & skills web films Four short films about climbing safety and skills are now available to watch on the BMC website. The films look at principles of efficient climbing movement, tying a figure of eight knot, belaying and warming up. The final film in the series – climbing steep rock – will be available later in the week. More… Countdown for coastal access Time is running out to have your say in how we access the English coastline as the government´s consultation draws to a close on 11 September 2007. To demonstrate the need for a coastal access corridor and raise the issue in the public eye, representatives from the BMC and other leading recreational bodies turned out at Brean Down, North Somerset on 9 August. Cath Flitcroft, BMC Access and Conservation Officer was interviewed for BBC Radio 4 drive time as well as for regional and local radio and TV. More… Alpine Meet blogs and pics An online photo library is now available showing what BMC members got up to during this year´s Alpine Meet in Switzerland in August. A blog, written by BMC volunteers John Simpson and Ed Allaway, provides a humourous overview of the meet. Over 40 people attended the meet, and a wide range of climbing and mountaineering was accomplished. News of the BMC Alpine Meet 2008 will appear in the next issue of Summit magazine. More… MP represents mountaineering Angela Smith, the Labour MP for Sheffield Hillsborough, is the new parliamentary representative for mountaineering. Angela takes the baton from John Mann (MP for Bassetlaw) who has been mountaineering´s representative over the last year as part of Sport England´s parliamentary fellowship scheme. More… New walls opening soon There are at least six new climbing walls due to open around the UK in the next few months, with others in the pipeline. Locations include Durham, Birmingham, Bristol, Luton and Manchester. More… Stanage traverse Pete Whittaker and Ben Cossey completed the second ´ascent´ of Ron Fawcett´s legendary traverse of Stanage on 27 July. Read Pete´s account of the traverse on the BMC website. More…WHAT´S COMING UP? BMC Student Safety & Good Practice Seminar The student seminar will be held on 6-7 October at Plas y Brenin in North Wales for people involved in running student climbing, hill walking or mountaineering clubs. More… BMC Winter Essential talks The BMC Winter Essentials series, sponsored by Lowe Alpine & Asolo, will navigate it´s way around the UK in November. The talks will be presented by Dave Hollinger (aspirant Guide & MIC) and Rob Jarvus (MIC). Whatever aspect of winter mountaineering you aspire to, Dave and Rob will make you aware of the skills required to explore the winter mountains. Topics covered include equipment and clothing, navigation, footwork, route planning, avalanche awareness, climbing and much more. More…Flourishing events Keep up to date with mountaineering-related events this autumn by visiting the BMC´s online events listing. More..

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