Will you share a lift in 2024?
Did you know that we have a BMC Community Liftshare site? The Liftshare site is also able to connect you with others going to the same BMC event or Mountain Training course. The beauty of a community like the hillwalking/climbing/mountaineering BMC community is that many of us are often moving in the same direction. This lends itself to the Liftshare infrastructure which can allow us to move in the same direction – together. Greener, and cheaper!
Did you know that we have a BMC Community Liftshare site here? The Liftshare site is able to connect you with others going to the same BMC event or Mountain Training course. The beauty of a community like the hillwalking/climbing/mountaineering BMC community is that many of us are often moving in the same direction. This lends itself to the Liftshare infrastructure which can allow us to move in the same direction – together. Greener, and cheaper!
According to Liftshare, if half of UK motorists received a lift one day a week, congestion and pollution would be reduced by 10%, traffic jams by 20% and could save you an average of £1000 per year!
It’s really simple to use - simply create an account, sign in, add your journey (whether you’re driving somewhere or need a lift) and Liftshare will use their database to match you up with someone else going the same way.
The benefits are obvious, including helping the environment in reducing carbon emissions and reducing the amount of traffic on the roads, plus you might meet a new climbing or hiking buddy. But how does it work out in real life? We spoke to Eben Muse, Policy & Campaigns Officer for Wales to find out the highlights of his many years of lift sharing.
When did you first sharing lifts to go outdoors?
I started sharing lifts regularly when I first got interested in outdoor climbing at university back in 2015 – I didn’t own a car for a long time, so trying to hop in with friends was the only option. I’d like to think I got quite good at it – proposing a crag, fixing a couple of pairs, soliciting equipment from the club gear store. And off we go! Made a good bunch of friends that way who I still share lifts with to this day. I managed to squeeze so many lifts from friends back in the day, it’s nice to try and pay it back a little.
What kind of journeys does lift sharing help you with?
Climbing in South Wales we’re lucky that lots of our local crags are served by rail – the legacy of the coal industry and the sandstone quarries that were used to house all those workers. Unfortunately many of those old lines have been closed and some crags further afield are far away from any train stations, so sharing a ride there is by far the easiest and greenest way to get there (if you’ve got weak legs and are bad at cycling like me). Pembrokeshire, Gower, Wye Valley, and the east escarpments of the Bannau Brycheiniog are all prime lift-sharing fodder.
What's your best lift sharing experience so far?
Beyond those evening smash-and-grab lift shares that are so easily done in South Wales, I’d say that my fondest memory would be a road trip at the end of my second year at university, my friends Rosa, Meg, Adam and me, all stuffed with our tent and trad racks into a minuscule Ford Ka. We headed up to try out the grit and scaled Nape’s Needle, before heading to Scotland where the weather foiled our plans for the Cuillin. A wet Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis had to do. Abiding memories are cooking porridge in car parks and paying about £25 in petrol for the whole trip. Showing my age there…
Any amusing anecdotes?
I remember my old banger Toyota needing a push start every time we needed to go anywhere – it turns out doing so while parallel parked on a crowded terrace-housed street in Cardiff takes some doing (luckily I had 3 eager passenger-pushers). Breakdowns are always more fun with company.
What are the advantages?
Comradeship, extra spotters/belayers, conversation, switching drivers on long journeys, splitting the fuel tab, a wider diversity of snacks, better for the planet, passenger-seat-DJ… the list goes on!
Why should people use Liftshare over an old-fashioned facebook post or posting in the group chat?
The short answer is, if that’s working for you, keep doing it! The longer answer is that lots of us are no longer swimming in a sea of belayers, and sometimes connecting with strangers who are going in the same direction as you is a great tool, and maybe even a way to make new friends. The Liftshare site is also able to connect you with others going to the same BMC event or Mountain Training course. The beauty of a community like the hillwalking/climbing/mountaineering BMC community is that many of us are often moving in the same direction. This lends itself to the Liftshare infrastructure which can allow us to move in the same direction – together. Greener, and cheaper!
Why is the BMC in partnership with Liftshare?
As an organisation which has always looked to both connect people with nature and the outdoors, while seeking to minimise our impact, a partnership with Liftshare seemed like a natural one. They have a fine track record of facilitating shared journeys, and given that so many of our destinations as climbers and hillwalkers are sadly poorly served by public transport, encouraging our community to Liftshare more is a good idea.
How do we get involved with the BMC Liftshare community?
Simply visit https://liftshare.com/uk/community/bmc and begin registering your trips. Help us spread the word by sharing with your friends and clubs. And let’s get lift sharing!
Related Content
Access News
On Tuesday 8 October, the Supreme Court will consider whether the right to wild camp on Dartmoor continues to be a cherished freedom. The case, brought by Alexander Darwall, owner of 4,000-acre estate in southern Dartmoor, challenges the notion that wild camping (or backpack camping) should be considered an open-air recreation in its own right.
Access Articles
This unassuming, bright, green or red moss with lush, almost tentacle-like fronds is hiding five well-kept secrets.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
Did you know that the 140,000 miles of footpaths and bridleways we have access to in England and Wales are under serious threat? The footpaths you love the walk on are disappearing fast before our eyes due to erosion from increased footfall and more extreme weather conditions. Here are 14 reasons why we can't ignore footpath erosion.
Access News
The Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) Big Clean Up event marks an unprecedented effort to begin to rid the mountain of decades-old litter, including a misplaced Santa hat! Over two days, Friday 20th and Saturday 21st September, dedicated volunteers and specialists undertook a challenging mission to clean one of Wales’ most iconic natural landmarks.
Access News
The BMC welcomes and supports the Cumbria Wildlife Trust who are set to rewild the bleak plateau of Skiddaw. This work aligns fully with BMC values - protecting the mountains for future climbers, hill-walkers and mountaineers and promoting environmental sustainability.
Access News
On Sat 21 September, 40 BMC volunteers will climb Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) to rid the mountain of as much litter as possible in The Big Clean Up event, including the 'waterfall' of trash which has been stuck for decades in the steep and hazardous Trinity Gullies.
News
The BMC is pleased to announce our membership of Sports for Nature (S4N) - the first mountaineering organisation to do so. S4N enables and encourages sporting bodies to champion nature and contribute to its protection and restoration, an initiative that aligns completely with the BMC’s values, including our ongoing access and conservation work, aims for net-zero emissions by 2040 and new Climate & Sustainability Action Plan.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
If you're a BMC member or if you have made a donation to the BMC Access & Conservation Trust (ACT), you are directly supporting our Mend Our Mountains campaign which is funding Fix the Fells again this year. Your contributions enable rangers like Caroline Mercer to consistently repair and manage the Lake District paths that we love to walk on. We caught up with Caroline on a path above Derwent Water, near Keswick, to find out about a typical day in her life - it's pretty hard work!
News
The sphagnum season is upon us again! Now that the ground-nesting birds have stopped ground-nesting, it’s time for BMC volunteers to start planting this incredible, carbon-sequestering moss at strategic locations across the Peak District moorland. Can you help us?
Olympics
With four GB Climbing athletes heading across the channel for the Olympic boulder and lead competitions starting Monday 5 August, not only are they bringing their A-game in terms of performance but, as part of the BMC, the whole team is supporting Paris 2024 in its bid to be the ‘greenest ever Games’.
Access News
Proposals to make ordinary trespass a criminal offence have alarmed outdoor groups, including the BMC. Ahead of a debate in Parliament on the issue and the possibility of Government publishing the Police Powers and Protections Bill, Ed Douglas calls for the Government to think again.
Access News
There are concerns that government are considering moves to turn trespass from a civil offence to a criminal one. In a public consultation that is currently out for comment, it has been suggested that police powers could be strengthened to force people to move on from unauthorised encampments. The BMC is concerned however, that there could be unintentional consequences of the proposals around issues such as wild camping.
Rock Climbing Articles
In this booklet for managers and landowners, the aim has been to address a range of common questions and concerns about rock climbing in disused quarries. Covering all aspects of access and liability, through a selection of case studies, it showcases the benefits not just for climbers, but for the wider public and land managers themselves. Benefits which can be realised with assistance from climbers and the BMC, through the repurposing of disused quarries as rock climbing destinations.
Hillwalking Skills
Camping ‘wild’ is a different way of spending the night outdoors but it isn't allowed everywhere - with a responsible approach however, there are many remote areas where you can still rest your weary head under a star-filled sky.
Rock Climbing News
The stats are in from the Bangor University Mountaineering Society's (BUMS, excellent acronym) crag clean up at Penmaen Head, a limestone sport climbing venue in North Wales, near Colwyn Bay.
Indoor Climbing Gear
We take a look at the culture of tight climbing shoes. Just how tight is too tight - and are we creating problems for the future?
Climate Articles
Want to know more about how you can reduce your own personal carbon footprint and lessen your impact on the environment? We’ve tried to make it simple for you by producing three separate checklists – for yourself, your workplace and for any events you might be arranging.
Governance
On this page, you will find links to recent BMC annual reports and annual accounts.
Climate Articles
The BMC has welcomed another conservation project into The Climate Project portfolio, planting seagrass with Seagrass Ocean Rescue in conjunction with the North Wales Wildlife Trust. This is in addition to the current sphagnum moss planting and peatland restoration with Moors for the Future in the Peak District that you can also get involved with here.
Access & Conservation
This April saw the BMC’s first volunteer day in Pwllheli, North Wales, partnering with the Seagrass Ocean Rescue project and the North Wales Wildlife Trust as part of the BMC’s The Climate Project. Two more dates are planned for May and August, read on for dates and how to get involved.
Mountaineering
The Julie Tullis Memorial Award is a small grant to assist deserving female mountaineers or any disabled climbers or mountaineers, both male and female, to achieve their climbing or mountaineering ambitions.
Mountaineering Articles
An introduction to BMC and MEF mountaineering grants
Access & Conservation
With the general election announced for Thursday 4 July 2024, get behind the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) as we lobby for more access to nature, outdoor education and more protection for the places we love to walk and climb in. Pick one (or all!) of the below and ask your election candidates if they will back it and why it’s important to them.
Mountaineering Articles
Are the Alps falling down? IFMGA Mountain Guide Andy Perkins has a stark warning about the impact of climate change on the Alps: “I don’t have children but if I did I wouldn’t persuade them to be mountain guides. I’d be saying ‘Get your yacht sailing ticket...'" Katy Dartford interviews Andy to find out more.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
If you're a BMC member or if you have made a donation to the BMC Access & Conservation Trust (ACT), you are directly supporting our Mend Our Mountains campaign which is funding Fix the Fells again this year. Your contributions enable rangers like Liam Prior to consistently repair and manage the Lake District paths that we love to walk on. We caught up with Liam on the very popular path up Scafell Pike from Wasdale Head to find out what a typical day in his life is like - it's quite demanding!
As part of LGBTQ+ history month we asked members of the BMCs Equity Steering LGBTQ+ sub-group to share their stories about getting into climbing and walking.
Access & Conservation
As the general election date draws nearer, the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) have reviewed the manifestos from each party to help you make a more informed choice when it comes to protecting the landscapes and crags that we love to walk in and climb on.
News
As the world’s garment manufacturing industry moves to a more sustainable business model, what we’re wearing in the hills in three years time will be very different to today’s unsustainable, un-recyclable, polluting garments, predicts Mike Parsons from the Outdoor Gear Coach. But why is change needed? And what is going to happen? Mike explains in this article.
Here’s a rundown on ten of the best places to boulder outside for beginners.
Rock Destinations
The Landscape Project is the BMC's latest film series that brings climbing and natural history together. Presenter Nathan Chrismas, a biologist and ecologist, shares his deep knowledge and passion for the geological and ecological highlights of four hugely popular climbing and walking areas.
News
This week is Volunteering Week 3 - 9 June so why not get involved with one of the many BMC volunteering opportunities? There are loads to choose from, including helping out at climbing competitions, leading hill walks at events and litter picking nationwide, planting seagrass in Wales, repairing footpaths in the Lake District and restoring peat bogs in the Peak District.
Article
In National Walking month this May we’ve teamed up with BMC Official Retail Partner Cotswold Outdoor to bring you all the info and advice you need to care for and repair your favourite pair of walking boots. Not only does this save you money, it also saves the environment - the less we consume and throw away, the better.
Access Articles
BMC volunteers from the Get Stuck In programme joined Fix the Fells last month in Wasdale on Lingmell Breast, one of the main routes up to Scafell Pike. They spent the day helping to maintain part of this hugely popular footpath up to England’s highest mountain.
News
BMC member Madalin Cristea, known as Cris, from Romania, has become the first person to summit both Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro from sea level and back again. He is currently attempting to be the first person ever to climb up and down each of the world’s seven summits (the highest mountain on each continent) from sea level - climbing every metre of the mountains up and down.
News
BMC member Wayne Andrews from Bettws, South Wales has started a hill walking group for people who suffer with their mental health or an addiction, called Forever In The Hills.
News
This May is National Walking month, so to celebrate the power of a good old stomp around the UK’s countryside, nine of the BMC staff have shared their favourite hike. From fossil-hunting in the Peak District and airy Scottish scrambling to the Via Alpina in Switzerland, one of these is bound to tickle your fancy this spring or summer. Better still, with the BMC collaborations with Komoot and HotelPlanner, you can plan and navigate your route and find your accommodation for your trip for less!
News
The Watkin Path up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and the peat hags on neighbouring mountain Glyder Fach have benefitted from BMC volunteer improvement work on the latest Get Stuck In event, 15-16 April 2024. This was organised by Hill Walking Rep Steve Charles and Access & Conservation Officer (Wales) Tom Carrick as part of the Mend Our Mountains project, funded by the BMC Access & Conservation Trust.
Access Articles
Grabbing your attention with this beautiful picture of a Kestrel (Cudull Coch)! Now that the rain has subsided a little, it's a good time to remind everyone that we share our crags with many other creatures, notably our feathered friends who like to nest where we like to climb.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
The BMC’s volunteering arm, Get Stuck In, donated £1,500 to Fix the Fells this week to buy footpath repair tools to enable our teams to quite literally get stuck in to fixing the mountain footpaths in the Lake District.
Climate Articles
The sphagnum-planting season has come to an end to allow the ground-nesting birds to, well, ground nest! Thank you to all the volunteers that have helped the BMC to plant over 16,000 plugs of this super soggy, carbon-locking moss this winter, helping to restore the Peak District peat bog.
News
On the 16 April we have the last opportunity to lobby for the 2024 ban on the sale of peat in bagged compost for horticultural use by supporting a Ten Minute Rule Bill speech by England in Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet Theresa Villiers.
News
The BMC have been hard at work presenting the Outdoors For All Manifesto to parliament, kick-starting a new addition to The Climate Project, arranging re-bolting, cleaning up crags and consulting on access across England and Wales. Here are the highlights as we swing into spring.
BMC members receive a free komoot map bundle (worth £8.99)
Hill Walking Skills
Dogs are a great companion for a hike in the hills, but here are a few things to think about before taking your pooch for a mooch.
Of course, there are many more great beginner hills, but here are seven to get you started.
Hill Walking Skills
Outdoor writer and photographer Chris Townsend presents this series of hill walking how-to films. In this episode Chris shows you how to use walking poles.
Access Articles
Thirty six leading national governing bodies and environmental organisations have joined together to support an Outdoors For All manifesto, seeking to extend responsible access to more green and blue landscapes.
Access News
The BMC supports Dartmoor National Park Authority in its appeal against a ban on wild camping.
Access News
The recent advertisement offering Kilnsey Crag for sale at a price of £150k presents an opportunity to remind members about how the BMC approaches potential land acquisitions. We're also on the lookout for specialist volunteers to support our land management work.