The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. Its headquarters are on Burton Road in West Didsbury, an area of Manchester, England.
The organisation was originally formed in order to represent the interests of climbing clubs and primarily maintain access for climbers to climb on a mountain, a crag, or even a sea cliff in England and Wales. The organisation now has two types of membership; those that are affiliated via a club and those that are individual members.
The BMC currently has 65,000 members, of which 40,000 are individual members. Membership benefits include access to the BMC travel insurance scheme, civil liability insurance, discounts on equipment, technical and training advice, and four copies of Summit magazine each year.
The magazine aims to cover articles of interest to all climbers, hill walkers, and mountaineers. It will frequently cover topics outside the remit of the mainstream magazines. Summit is produced four times per year (Feb,May,Sept, Nov) and is sent direct to all British Mountaineering Council (BMC) individual members. People who are members of the BMC through an affiliated club only receive one copy - the February issue. The circulation therefore varies from 40,000 (May,Sept,Nov) to 75,000 (Nov). This makes it the largest circulation climbing magazine in the UK. It is also available to purchase in the BMC online shop and available from selected mountain centres throughout the UK, such as Plas y Brenin in Capel Curig.
The BMC also produces rock climbing guidebooks to some parts of the UK primarily, the Peak District and Lancashire.