The BMC international meets are annual week-long gatherings of climbers from all around the world.

• To promote international friendships and communication between national federations.
• To give international guests an opportunity to experience the uniqueness of Scottish winter climbing and British cragging.
• To give guests an insight into British climbing's ethics and traditions.
• To provide the opportunity for international discussion on current topics of interest in climbing and mountaineering worldwide.
• To keep British climbing established on the world map.

BMC International Meets are a truly unique experience. They are a great opportunity to meet a varied bunch of climbers from home and abroad, and make new friends. During the week international guests from a range of countries are teamed up with UK host climbers. 

Each day hosts go out on the hill with the guests to experience the delights of either Scottish winter climbing (winter meets) or cragging (summer meets). In the evenings excellent presentations are given by meet attendees from both home and abroad.  

The perception that the BMC International Meets are for top-end climbers is simply not the case. The meets have been, and continue to be, made up of people from a whole range of climbing experiences and grades. 

What is the role of a UK host?

Each day hosts are teamed up with an international guest climber.  Your role is to climb together with them and show them what the climbing in the local area is all about. You need to be a competent trad climber (for the summer meets) or a competent winter climber (for the winter meets) with experience and knowledge of climbing in the local area. For many of the international guests this will be their first climbing visit to the UK.

How to take part

You can either take part as a UK host or an international guest. The winter meets tend to take place at the end of January/February time in the Cairngorms (Scotland). The summer meets tend to take place during May in either North Wales or Cornwall.

UK hosts
Keep your eye on the BMC website where host application forms and full information is posted a few months months before each event (September for the winter meets and December for the summer ones). 

International guests
Invites are sent out to the international federations (October for the winter meets and December for the summer ones). The federation then decides who they will send as representatives from their country.

Read about the BMC International Winter Meet 2016

WATCH: The BMC International Winter Meet 2014 on BMC TV

« Back