Frequently Asked Questions

Can I come on a trip before joining?

Sorry, we don't accept guests on trips. If you want to meet members before joining, please come along to a social night. Or you could meet us at a climbing wall - we're usually at the Castle on Tuesday and Thursday evenings; to arrange a meet-up, contact us via Facebook or send the Climber's Rep a message via the Contact page.

 

How do I sign up to a meet?

Once you've joined the club, you can just book directly via the Meets page once you're logged in. An email will be sent by the meet organiser a couple of weeks before the meet giving the details of the meet.

 

What experience do I need?

Members must take full responsibility for their own safety. The club does not provide training or guiding services for new members nor does it take any responsibility for members or their activities when on club meets. Participation in club activities is entirely at the members' risk.

For climbers, experience can be gained at the various climbing walls around London. All offer beginners training to help you climb and belay safely at a climbing wall, and also "indoor to outdoor" training to help make the transition to outdoor climbing. We can help you gain experience at these activities, but would expect you to have acquired the basic knowledge through formal training, which we are neither qualified nor insured to provide. Members frequently climb at walls in London - join our Facebook group to find out who's going when, or contact the Climber's Rep. We also run a Novice Meet once a year where you can come and try climbing on real rock.

For walkers, we expect you to have undertaken some country walking activities. If you're completely inexperienced we recommend that you have a few days out with Metropolitan Walkers or the Saturday Walkers’ Club first, preferably undertaking some of their longer and more strenuous (i.e. hillier) walks.

We are affiliated with the British Mountaineering Council and agree with its participation statement: "The BMC recognises that climbing, hill walking and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions and involvement."

 

Where do you stay on meets?

Generally, during the winter months (November to April) we stay in hostels or huts (something like this or this). Outside of these times, we stay at campsites which almost all the time have hot showers and toilets, so it's not too wild! The sites are (usually) strategically chosen to be close to a pub so we can dive in there to get some food in the evening and dry off (though you can bring your own food, of course).

I'm unemployed, do you offer a discount?

Yes, we offer a discount to unemployed members of nearly 50%. To claim this, sign up as a member but do NOT set up payment. Then contact the Membership Secretary via the form on the website for advice on how to pay the reduced membership fee.

How do people get to and from meets?

Once upon a time the club would travel to the mountains on a coach departing from the back of Waterloo station on a Friday night. This meant everyone could sing songs together, and everything was bliss (ahem). Today we operate by arranging lift shares between drivers and passengers. Depending on the meet setup, you can either request or offer lifts when you book onto the meet, or the meet organiser will allocate places in available cars and the driver arranges the lift details with their passengers. Passengers are expected to pay their share of fuel costs (and drivers usually appreciate being bought a drink on Saturday night).

Sometimes there aren't enough cars available; in these cases, members without lifts will be asked to make arrangements between themselves regarding hire cars. We understand that a hire car may be more costly than the usual lift share, particularly including taking out the independent excess waiver insurance, which we would advise. If you do not wish to pay the extra you can indicate in the comments box on the booking form that you would rather not attend the meet if it involves travelling in a hire car. Please note that this does not increase your chance of a place in a lift share, which is strictly made by order of booking.

On many meets it is possible to travel by public transport and this is something that we encourage.

 

What equipment/gear do I need? What other stuff do I need to bring along?

We will often be visiting mountain areas so you will need to be equipped to survive a full day out, in weather which may include driving wind and rain (or snow in winter). On these meets your gear may need to be higher specification than that used for lowland walking. Please refer to our Hill-walking and Climbing pages for more details. You'll also need to bring stuff for sleeping:

• Tent and sleeping mat (if not in a hut)
• Sleeping bag
• Towel and toiletries

And eating: whether camping or staying in a hut, you'll definitely need breakfast and a packed lunch for Saturday and Sunday. For dinner, we normally congregate in a pub in the evening where you can get dinner, but you can bring your own food. Most of the huts have cooking facilities of some sort, but don't rely on that without checking first! In summer, if it's nice in the evenings we might just chill at the camp site and enjoy the good weather, perhaps with a communal barbecue. On the Friday drive up, drivers will generally stop at a service station to get some food, or again you can take your own.

Also bring a water bottle - and cash! Unlike London, you can't pay by card for everything, and ATMs are hard to come by. And your driver might want petrol money in cash.

I'm not joining in November - what is my membership fee?

The club operates a fixed membership year with renewal at the beginning of November each year. New members joining from November through to June pay full price. New members joining from July through to October pay a reduced rate of 50% of full rate and then the full rate at the start of November, if they stay in the club. We calculate the membership in this way because the amount the club pays to the BMC for affiliation is calculated per member in the same way. Sorry but we are not able to do it in other ways, e.g. pro rata for months in the club, or offer rolling memberships.