It's soon to be that magical time of year again! When the cold sets in and the outdoor community gathers round and sets Kendal abuzz with dazzling films, star speakers and incredible books talks. You'll catch explorers, photographers, artists, filmmakers, doers and thinkers all together in one place united by their shared love of the mountains.
BMC Discounts
Yes, Kendal Mountain Festival is around the corner taking place 18-21 November, and we've teamed up with them to give BMC members a discounted 20% off special tailored sessions. BMC members will have been emailed the code earlier in the month, but if you can’t find it, just message us on Instagram with your member number and we’ll send you the code for the session you want. The discounted sessions are:
Climb Session
The Festival's epic Climb Session is back! Hear from one of the world's best-known evergreen climber Neil Gresham freshly back from his latest route Lexicon E11 7a at Pavey Ark and GB team paraclimber, Leanora Volpe, who will take to the stage alongside Aiden Roberts - one of the UK's youngest most promising boulderers (who is already a European champion at 16!) The Festival will also be platforming; Carlos Casas and Kirsty Pallas, who are working hard to make the climbing world a more inclusive space.
Find Your Alive
What makes you feel most alive? What compels you to set out on adventures? Host, James Cummings chats to Jenny Tough, fresh from her successful completion of running a mountain range on every continent, renowned Himalayan climber Jon Gupta and mountaineer and ultra runner Becks Ferry. Find out what drives these incredible adventurers and what makes them feel most alive.
Minarets in the Mountains
Kendal welcomes Tharik Hussain, author of Minarets In The Mountains, to the Festival. Tharik recounts his family journey through Europe and the western Balkans as he paints a picture of a hidden Muslim Europe, a vibrant place with a breathtaking history, spellbinding culture and unique identity.
They / Them
Climbing is more than a sport; for Lor, a trans climber, it’s a way of exploring identity and building resilience in the face of adversity. Feature film 'They/Them' explores Lor's journey into the sandstone canyons of northern Arizona, to piece together one of the hardest and most inspiring routes of their life. There will be a panel discussion led by Eden Elgeti and involving queer, non-binary and transgender people from the outdoors community.
BMC at Basecamp
Firstly, in between all the films, beers and other events, pop down and say hi to the BMC Team who will be on our Basecamp stand, where you can catch our special BMC community themed exhibition and make your mark on our community mountain board with the chance to win big!
Here’s what’s in store:
BMC Community Exhibition
The BMC is literally as broad as our island and its membership and activities reach into every geographical corner. But as a thing, as a collection of interests, responsibilities, work areas, ideas, individuals, aspirations and relationships, then it seems ten times broader. It’s easy to wonder what unites all these vastly diverse yet interconnected groups of our members. But when you start to ask them why they support the BMC, you hear the same answers said in a multitude of ways. So what are they? Find out at this exhibition.
BMC Membership goody bags – will you win big?
We have 50 golden goody bags to give away with every membership we sell over the weekend. Some have a amazing prizes worth up to £200 plus tent, petzl, quickdraws, guidebooks, teeshirts, mugs, keyrings, stickers, chocolate, buffs, bog roll… to reveal a few. What will yours contain?
BMC Polaroid members board
Have a raid of our mountaineering fancy dress box, take a polaroid photo and add it to our mountain board and be in with the chance of winning the raffle prize!
Films and speakers
We’ve got them all coming down to the BMC stand to have a chat with you; from rockstar volunteers to BMC ambassadors Steve McClure and Emma Twyford. See the schedule below for timings:
BMC TV Breakfast Club
Is it the most sought after event at Kendal? As tickets sold out within minutes after festival goers demanded that tickets be put up for sale on the website, signs point to yes. The success of the BMC TV Breakfast Club is likely down to a meeting of key marketing techniques: the free cocktails, coffee and pastries, the wild onslaught of freebies dished out to an excited yet petrified crowd, and the chaotic comedy of Niall Grimes, unofficial BMC comedian of the century. If you’re going, don’t forget to let us know if you enjoyed it by tagging us in on social media!
James McHaffie: Extreme Rock
Photo: Ray Wood
And lastly, let’s not forget one of the most impressive achievements in British climbing: James McHaffie, BMC Youth and Equity Officer, or Caff as he’s better known, has ticked the entire list of routes from Ken Wilson’s Extreme Rock book. Most climbers dream of topping out one or two, maybe a handful, of the 180 Extreme Rock routes listed in Ken Wilson’s book, ranging from E1 5a to E9 6c on trad or 7c to 8b on sport. Of those with the ability to actually climb these routes, few would have dared consider tackling the entire list. But when Caff was given a copy of Extreme Rock he found out that, actually, he’d already done most of them! And not only that, mostly onsight or onsight soloed. It boggles the mind.
Have your mind boggled even more at Kendal at Caff’s talk where he’ll reveal all the highs and lows from this extreme journey that all began back in ’97!
TICKETS: James McHaffie Extreme Rock at Kendal
WATCH: BMC Travel Insurance built for the mountains
VIDEO
Rock Up Abroad with BMC Travel Insurance
Wherever the hot rock calls, make sure that you go prepared with our travel insurance before you head off.
You can get cover with a BMC Rock policy from just £56* for a week.
BMC Travel Insurance comes in five policies: Travel, Trek, Rock, Alpine and Ski and High Altitude.
*Policy details: £55.21 for 7 days European Rock policy, price for up to age 69.
For full terms and conditions see our Evidence of Cover
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