Tuesday 1st July 2025, 8:38am
At the end of each month, we take a look back at the work the team has been carrying out on behalf of our members. Read on to hear the latest updates from our CEO and our Access & Conservation, Mountain Safety, ClimbScotland and Member Services & Communications teams...
Our CEO Stuart Younie started June stepping in to chair the Mountain Safety Group on behalf of Brendan Hughes. As always, it was a very productive and interesting discussion which focused on incident trends, use of data, communication of safety messaging and the development of a national strategy for mountain safety. Thanks were also conveyed to Ian Sherrington from Glenmore Lodge who will be retiring at the end of the month. Ian has been a great supporter and contributor to the MSG over many years, and we wish him well. On the 5th of June Stuart accompanied a small group representing Scottish Governing Bodies of sport along with the Chair and CEO of sportscotland to meet with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Neil Gray and the Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy and Sport Maree Todd. Along with the CEO's of Gymnastics and Judo Stuart highlighted the financial pressures impacting on the sector and the collective ask was that the Government consider revisiting their manifesto commitment to double the sports budget during this parliament. Whilst no firm commitment was given the talks were positive and there was recognition that the sector is struggling, and investment is needed to "steady the ship".
Stuart rounded of the end of the month meeting with our sportscotland partnership manager and the Performance Pathway and Talent manager to discuss all things route setting ahead of the SYCC at Ratho on Sat 21st June. Lucy Ross our Head Route Setter provided a valuable insight into the planning an preparation that goes into a competition and the importance of the relationship between coach, climber and route setter. Stuart also went along to see the qualifiers on Sat morning and congratulations to the team for putting on a great event.
This month, we welcomed our new Access & Environment Officer, Catriona Davies to the team! She is quickly getting up to date with her areas of responsibility and is already responding to member enquiries.
Before this, Stuart stepped in to represent Mountaineering Scotland at the National Access Forum on the 11th which was attended by the Chair of Nature Scot Colin Galbraith who offered some reassurances to the group about the value Nature Scot placed on access despite their financial challenges over recent years. There were a number of interesting and constructive questions, but the message was clear that more investment is needed in both people and the infrastructure to help manage the existing pressures.
The month started with an online meeting of the Mountain Safety Group (MSG). This was the first meeting that we welcomed representatives of the newly formed 'England and Wales Mountain Safety Forum' to the MSG. We have had some form of the MSG here in Scotland for 15 years working mostly behind the scenes to bring together all the efforts of any organisation interested in safety in the mountains. We welcome the formation of a similar body south of the boarder and look forward to sharing ideas and resources.
Out on the hills where Mountain Safety Advisors feel most at home, we have been busy delivering courses. We have tried two new venues for our navigations courses (don't worry, we still have them in our usual locations too!) with Max out in Fort William and Kirsty delivering in Glencoe and Kinlochleven. Our next new venue for our navigation courses is Kingussie which can be accessed via train and still has some places available.
Meanwhile, between online meetings, Ross was out on the hills with Mhor Outdoors and their 'Connect' programme helping the participants with navigation skills and information on how to stay safe when out on adventures in the hills.
The Spring/Summer issue of Scottish Mountaineer arrived at the start of the month, the first of two issues this year, and packed with a fantastic range of features and articles. Members can get access to the digital issue online by logging into the members’ portal. Go to Events & Courses > Member Offers > Digital Scottish Mountaineer in the portal and 'purchase' the product (no charge) - the link is in the pdf attached to your confirmation email. Alternatively, please contact us by email and we will send you the link.
There have been some great additions to our member benefits, with new discounts available from Lu Innovations, AllTrails, OS Maps, Scottish Mountaineering Press, and Camus House. You can find all of these in the members’ portal in the Events & Courses > Member Offers section, or on the Mountaineering Scotland website.
Communications Officer Megan attended the Eden Rock Pride Party on Saturday 14 June, and also dropped in on the Bouldering Instructor Course at Eden Rock the following week. Bouldering is now included in our Ready to Rock program of outdoor climbing, with both intro and social bouldering sessions available.
Helen and Charmaine also joined the ClimbScotland staff and volunteers at the Scottish Youth Climbing Championships at EICA Ratho on 21 June for a busy day meeting members and enjoying the fantastic climbing competition.
The team have been busy promoting membership this month, as well as our program of mountain skills and outdoor climbing courses with lots of activity on our social media channels. We have recently started using LinkedIn, so if you are a user, please follow the Mountaineering Scotland page.
On the 21 June 131 competitors from across the UK and Ireland descended on Edinburgh International Climbing Arena for our Scottish Youth Climbing Championships. The Scottish Dry Tooling Club also came along and spent the day chatting to those in attendance and provided a great insight into the club and opportunities they offer. Massive thank you to EICA for hosting, Eclipse climbing and DMM for prizes and not forgetting all the amazing volunteers who made the event possible.
Breaking new ground, ClimbScotland ran the first Bouldering Wall Instructor training in Scotland. The brand-new qualification launched by Mountain Training teaches the technical, teaching, leadership and decision-making skills, needed to be an instructor in a bouldering facility. Attended by 6 volunteers from charities Urban Uprising and Common Wheel, we are proud to be the first to offer this new opportunity.
Mountain Trainings two-day skills courses for those aged 14 an up, are an awesome way to introduce young people to new disciplines of climbing. This year we achieved a Rock Skills Learn to Lead Sport and Lead to Lead Trad climbing. Over the course of two days, we taught 2 young people how to Sport Climb safely at Bennybeg and The Bunker. The next weekend saw 2 more young climbers learning how to become safe and efficient Trad Climbers. Learning technical skills, movement skills and how to make good decisions at the crag our 4 young climbers are well on their way to becoming the next generation of safe and strong outdoor climbers.
Our competitions could not run without the support of our volunteers. All of our belayers at these events are experienced parents, or keen members of the public who volunteer their time to help run these events. To make sure that our volunteers are at the high standard we expect at our competitions, we provide Competition Belaying workshops each year. This year’s first workshop focused on what is best practice, what extra considerations we need to make for competitions and how to give the “Soft Catch”. All skills that were put to good use at the Scottish Youth Climbing Championships the following weekend.
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Mountaineering Scotland is a registered trademark of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland Limited
