BMC North Wales youth meet 2017, volunteers and young people outside the Climbers Club hut, Ynys Ettws, Llanberis Pass.
OUTDOOR LIFE
BMC youth officer James McHaffie explains the pathways into climbing and climbing careers for young people.
Most people under the age of 18 get involved with the BMC through the competition route, namely the Youth Climbing Series (YCS). With the large number of new climbing walls available nowadays, there has been an explosion of young people learning to climb indoors but opportunities to climb outside can still be limited. Many parents don’t climb and climbing walls may not offer outdoor sessions for under 18s. The majority of the workforce in climbing walls aren’t qualified to teach lead climbing on sport or trad, and if outdoor climbing is within reach, many climbing walls don’t possess the AALS license necessary for paid outdoor instruction of under 18s. So what are the BMC doing to encourage more young people into climbing?
