It isn’t just climbers who can reap the benefits of BMC membership. If you’re a hill walker, a casual rambler or even a couch potato who wants to get out more, joining us will give you access to a whole raft of freebies and discounts.
With annual membership starting from just £15.72, joining the BMC is a financial no-brainer for all outdoors folk, from occasional hill strollers to Himalayan heroes and everything in between. Here are just a few of the offers you can take advantage of as a walker.
1. Money off walking magazines
The web might be an invaluable source of advice and info for walkers, but nothing beats sitting down with a cuppa and a good magazine. All BMC members receive a free quarterly copy of Summit - which has bags of walking content as well as inspirational pieces on climbing and mountaineering - but members can also claim discounts of up to 25% on Britain’s ‘big three’ walking magazines: TRAIL, The Great Outdoors and Country Walking. You’ll get copies of your favourites mags delivered directly to your door, too, so no more urban treks to WH Smith.
2. Walking holidays for less
If you’re not lucky enough to live in one of the UK’s walking hotspots then shelling out for regular weekend trips to the hills can really put a hole in your wallet. Cut your costs by taking advantage of some of the travel and accommodation discounts on offer with the BMC, including 10% off with Cottages 4 You, luxury self-catering woodland cabins on the cheap with Forest Holidays and 10% off accommodation bookings with the YHA.
If you’re thinking of heading abroad then you can also enjoy up to 20% off car hire with Europcar, £50 off the booking price of holiday cottages and money off adventure holidays in both the UK and Spain - plus plenty of other awesome benefits. That isn’t all, though. BMC members can choose to invest an extra £40 in a Reciprocal Rights Card, which gives discounts of between 20% and 50% in mountain huts across the Alps. Time to start planning the trekking trip of a lifetime, perhaps?
3. Save money on gear
Here’s the biggie for BMC members - a discount of up to 15% in over 800 outdoor shops and online retailers across the UK, including Cotswold Outdoors. That means you can stock up on down jackets and extra socks this winter at bargain prices, potentially saving hundreds of pounds. Use our handy map search facility to find participating outdoor stores near you. Look out for even bigger deals, too, such as 20% off with extreme Adventure Food and 20% off Power Traveller products.
4. Winter skills advice for a fiver
Need to brush up on your winter skills? Hands-on courses tend to be pricey, but you can hone your winter knowledge for just a £5 outlay at a BMC Winter Lecture. This year, IFMGA British Mountain Guides Neil Johnson and James Thacker will be sharing their expertise at a series of talks throughout November, visiting Liverpool, Ambleside, London and Cardiff among other destinations. Learn about navigating in a whiteout, avalanche awareness, route planning and equipment - and don’t forget to enter the Lowe Alpine-sponsored free prize draw on every lecture night.
5. Save cash on maps and books
The BMC shop doesn’t just stock climbing guides and coffee table mountaineering tomes. In the BMC shop we’ve also got a huge selection of hill walking and trekking guides, not to mention UK and international maps, and members automatically receive 10% off all products. There are also extra discounts to be had on mapping and GPS equipment, including 20% off Anquet Maps, British Mountain Maps, the ViewRanger mapping app, the new OS routing application and Grough Route. So there’s no excuse ever to be lost again.
Join online today by Direct Debit and save 25% on your first year's membership.
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