Women Rock Tour: coming to a wall near you!

Posted by Emma Travers on 24/09/2019

From daring to wear trousers in the mountains to knocking on 9a, the story of British female climbers is one of rebels and disrupters, trailblazers and game-changers. And now the stories of these women who rock are headed off on tour and may be coming to a climbing centre near you!

The exhibition on display at Kendal Mountain Festival last year

Ever since its premiere at the Kendal Mountain Festival last year, we've had so much enthusiasm and positivity surrounding the exhibition that we want to keep spreading the word.

The BMC exhibition traces the history of British female climbers from 1861 right up to the present day. The women featured have all broken barriers whether its First Ascents, First Female Ascents, First Female-only expeditions, smashed grade barriers or the likes.

Since Kendal, the exhibition has been on the road with us and has been showcased at Sheffield Adventure Film Festival, Women's Trad Festival, the BMC AGM and the Rendez Vous Hautes Montagne meet. Now it's heading to a climbing centre near you!

Gwen Moffat in action

Where to find the Women Rock exhibition

The tour will kick off on 7th October at the Castle Climbing Centre in London for the whole of the month. A centre with a whole lot of history itself, you'll be able to climb amongst the exhibition and take on some inspiration for your next send.

Next stop you'll find it out in North Wales at the Beacon Climbing Centre. Wales being the backdrop for many adventures undertaken by these women of the ages, we thought it was a fitting location for the exhibition in November.

Then in December it will be moving down to The Depot, Birmingham where it will be on show for the Women's Climbing Symposium and staying for the festive season.

In the New Year you'll find it at The Climbing Works in Sheffield, a favourite training ground for many top British climbers and where you see aspiring BIFF champions congregate annually.

Women Rock Tour 2019-2020

December - The Depot Birmingham

January - The Climbing Works, Sheffield

February - Boulder Hut, Chester

March - The Climbing Hangar, Plymouth

April - Redpoint, Bristol

May - Bouldershack, Southampton

June - The Tide, Cornwall

July - Boulders UK, Cardiff

August - Awesome Walls, Liverpool

September - Climb Newcastle

October - The Edge Sports Centre, Leeds

Where next? Want your centre to host the exhibition in 2020? Email emma@thebmc.co.uk to make it happen!

We're also offering support on organising your own Women in Adventure film night to accompany the exhibition or if you'd like to run it as a separate event - perfect for clubs, activity centres or even host hostels! Contact emma@thebmc.co.uk if you're interested.

Social Media Exhibition

Throughout the year on our social media channels we've been running a digital version of the exhibition with the hashtag #WomenRockWednesdays. We're half way through and you can follow along on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

View this post on Instagram

Have you heard of Alice 'Jammy' Cross? She's in the spotlight this #WomenRockWednesdays! Alice fell in love with mountains as a Girl Guide, but her parents banned her from climbing cliffs until, true to her nickname ('jamais'), she came of age and ignored them. Jammy believed the biggest obstacle was older male climbers who viewed women as shackles; after meeting climber Sid Cross working at the K Shoes factory in Kendal, the pair named a first ascent 'The Shackle' - and then got married. Jammy was the first woman to lead Central Buttress on Scafell. She also did a huge amount of unreported significant winter climbing, in hobnailed boots and wearing pyjamas under her clothes. In 1937, together with Sid, she co-led the technical Bowfell Buttress in Langdale (grade VI) using a scout knife as an ice-dagger. Jammy and Sid took over the Old Dungeon Ghyll to create the infamous post-war climbers' bar. ❎🔪🍻 #girlguidesgoplaces #crossontop #olddungeonghyll 📸 Photo credits FRCC Archive and research by @MountainHeritageTrust Inspired by the British Women Climb exhibit we have our exclusive Go Climb Stuff Tee available in the BMC shop. If you love the women and the accomplishments featured in #WomenRockWednesdays, you won't want to miss out on this call to arms!

A post shared by The BMC (@teambmc) on Dec 12, 2018 at 2:14am PST

The BMC TV Women in Adventure Film Competition is back and accepting submissions for 2022. So dive in, if you have a story to tell or a cause to share it's time to do so!

We want to see your adventures captured on film and keep the cycle of inspiration rolling as we head into the eighth year of the competition, supported by Montane.