The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) and Mountaineering Scotland have announced a joint project aimed at improving the safety of hillwalkers, climbers, mountaineers and others who enjoy spending time exploring the hills and mountains.

The ‘Near Miss’ online reporting system, which encourages the collection and sharing of reports from close calls in the mountains, consists of a simple online form which can be completed by anyone in the UK and Ireland. Information collected by the system will be available for everyone to read, with the hope that people will learn from the experiences of others and gain knowledge which will keep them safe on their own adventures.

Dan Middleton, Climbing Development Manager at the BMC, said: “It’s great to work together with Mountaineering Scotland on this project, and by joining forces to share this scheme we both hope that this will lead to a more open safety culture to the benefit of us all.”

Ross Cadie, Senior Mountain Safety Advisor at Mountaineering Scotland, said: “It’s great that our two organisations are able to work together for the benefit of every mountain-user. By sharing near miss reports, we can collectively improve our understanding of the challenges faced in the mountains and work towards safer mountain experiences for all. It has always been important to learn from our mistakes, but learning from the experiences of others is even better!”

The key highlights of the new reporting system are:

• Near Miss Portal: A centralised online platform for sharing experiences and lessons learned from close calls from across the UK and Ireland.
• Community Engagement: Encouraging the mountaineering community to actively participate in reporting and reviewing near miss incidents.
• Educating: Those new to the hills can benefit from the seasoned experiences of others, gaining knowledge that could be lifesaving.

Those in England, Wales and Ireland who wish to share their close calls and incidents can do so by visiting the BMC’s Incident Reporting page, or for those living in Scotland can visit Mountaineering Scotland’s dedicated ‘Near Misses’ page.

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