‘Mountaineering’ is the tenth fastest growing sport in terms of increase in participation over the past two years, according to new research published today by Sport England.

The Active People Survey 2 found that participation in mountaineering has grown from 67,300 adults (0.17%) in 2005/06 to 86,200 adults (0.21%) in 2007/08.  The increase in participation is 0.04%, which is a statistically significant increase.

The survey gives a snapshot of a week's participation, where participation is defined as the percentage of the adult population in England who have taken part in the sport at least once in the last week.

Out of the 46 sports included in the survey, the largest increases have occurred in athletics (0.57%), cycling (0.25%) and football (0.21%).

In the survey, the category of Mountaineering includes the discipline of rock climbing, indoor climbing, solo climbing, sport climbing, mountaineering, mountaineering high altitude and hill trekking.

So, does this mean there are more people accessing the hills? Although a chunk of the increase is likely to be from the recent growth in popularity of climbing walls, it is also likely that more people are accessing the countryside and mountain regions. This makes the BMC’s work in access and conservation even more crucial. Not only is the BMC a representative organisation of sport and adventure, it is also an environmental organisation, and the environmental protection message is at the heart of BMC’s access and conservation work.

More and more people accessing the countryside are becoming aware of their personal responsibility and the importance of protecting the areas they know and enjoy. The Access and Conservation Trust (ACT) aims to promote sustainable access to cliffs, mountains and open countryside by facilitating education and conservation projects that safeguard the access needs of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers.

Back to the findings of the survey, it also highlighted that the number of adults in England who regularly play sport has risen by more than half a million. More than 6.8 million people aged 16 and over are now taking part in sport at least three times a week, for a minimum of 30 minutes, at moderate intensity. This figure contributes to a total of 11.73 million people choosing to participate in physical activity.

This also provides the baseline for Sport England to measure their target of getting one million people playing more sport - as part of the Government's drive to get two million people more active by 2012.

For full survey results see the Active People Survey.

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