Marylebone Moutaineering Club About Page

The Marylebone Mountaineering Club in London was founded in 1974 and we have around 100 members who live mostly in and around London, plus a few others dotted around the country. Our members include active walkers, mountaineers, climbers, mountain bikers, teashopers, kayakers, skiers and even the odd polar explorer.

To keep our club active, we are always on the look out for new members - walkers, mountaineers and climbers of all standards are warmly received.

The activities of the club are centred around monthly meets held throughout the year with additional meets in the summer. The meets take place all over the UK in locations aimed to provide good walking, climbing and sometimes mountain biking conditions. Accommodation for winter meets is arranged in huts or similar premises whereas the rest of the year members are expected to camp. Transport to the meets is arranged in private cars and the meet organiser will try and arrange lifts for non-drivers who are then expected to contribute to transport costs. Please have a look at the the gallery to see some of the things we get up to

Many informal trips are also organised outside of the meet program and there are normally people going away just about every weekend in the summer. People also organise foreign trips, typically to the Alps or sport climbing in Spain and Italy, and anyone expressing an interest can easily get involved in these activities.

The club also has an active social side with occasional pub meets in London. Annual events include a photo competition, a 5th November firework party, and a Christmas Dinner (usually held in January). Many members also use the various climbing walls in London and there is currently a large group that go to the Castle on Sundays, though these trends tend to change over time

Membership is £18 a year and is open to anyone over 18. The club is affiliated to the BMC, therefore MMC members receive the same benefits as individual members of the BMC, such as third party insurance, free Summit magazine, reduced subscription rates to High magazine. Club members are also entitled to contract rate discounts (15%) at Cotswold shops.

In order to join, prospective members are asked to attend two weekend meets so that they can get a feel for the style of the club. On your second meet you should contact the Membership Secretary for an application form to take along on that meet. here.

If you are interested in joining the MMC you are welcome to come along to any of the events - or get in touch with our membership secretary Matt Freake.

We look forward to meeting you

Nick Kemp
Chair

We suggest that you come on two weekend meets to see if the MMC is the right club for you. If you would then like to join, you can either ask the membership secretary Matt Freake for a form or print off one from the website. This will need to be filled in with your current details. You will also need to find two members to propose and second you. Give the completed form to Rob Johnson and he will put your name forward at the next committee meeting. You will then receive a smart MMC membership card which also entitles you to 15% discount at all Cotswold shops. Sounds formal but don't be put off - in reality it's an easy process!

The fee for 2007 is £18 which covers basic administration costs plus the clubs BMC subscription. Because we are affiliated to the BMC, you receive the same benefits as an individual member of the BMC, such as third party insurance, free Summit magazine, reduced subscription rates to High magazine.

In the summer, weekend meets take place twice a month with winter weekend meets held once a month.

For the summer meets, you will need a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, a stove, food (although many of us eat in the pub!) and anything else you would normally take when camping.
The winter meets are held in bunkhouses so you obviously don't need a tent! Some bunkhouses provide bedding but as a general rule it's always best to bring a sleeping bag and food (at least breakfast) anyway.

The meets secretary pressgangs (!) unsuspecting club members to organise different meets during the year. The organiser will then arrange transport for everyone coming on the meet as well as sending out instructions on where it is and how to get there etc. Club members share cars to cut down on driving and petrol costs. So when booking on a meet, don't forget to tell the organiser whether you can offer anyone a lift or if you need a lift to get to the meet.

There are over 100 fully paid up members with an average of about 30 attending most meets. At the moment there are more climbers than walkers in the club. However, more people go walking in the winter when it is too cold to rock climb so the numbers are always more evenly balanced then.

In addition to walking and climbing, there are also opportunities to go mountain biking, surfing, kayaking and, last but not least, partying!

There are lots of keen climbers coming through the ranks - many of whom joined the MMC this year. Many go to Westway (nearest tube is Latimer Road) on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a few also going to the Castle climbing wall (nearest tube is Manor House) on Sunday afternoons. If you would like to join in, check out our Climbing page.

While we welcome beginners, it will help if you can already belay safely and have good rope practice. If you have never climbed before, why not try it out at one of the weekend courses at either Westway or the Castle? That way, you'll know whether you'll enjoy it or not!

The MMC holds occasional pub evenings so that prospective new members can come along and check us out! These are advertised in the Newsletter and it's a fun and easy way of getting to know us!