The BMC's Manchester headquarters

The British Mountaineering Council must do more for its hillwalking fraternity, according to its president.

A recent survey of members showed that 86 per cent participated in hillwalking, with almost half of them saying it was their main pursuit. Rab Carrington, elected to head the organisation in April this year, says in the BMC’s magazine Summit that the council needs to more for them.

Although there’s a heavy emphasis on climbing within the BMC – 64 per cent of its members use indoor walls – there has been an attempt recently to cater more for the hillwalkers among its 67,000 members, with a higher proportion of walking-related articles in Summit, for instance.

The call was backed by the BMC’s national council, its policy-making body chaired by Mr Carrington and consisting of representatives of its areas and committees, along with an observer each from Plas y Brenin and Mountain Leader Training England.

Commenting on the survey results, the president said: “I know what they say about statistics, but one thing’s for certain: the BMC is a broad church.

“As a result of these figures, the national council has decided that more needs to be done for our 41 per cent of committed walkers.”

Mr Carrington is appealing for suggestions as to how this can be achieved. BMC members can email their thoughts to the Summit magazine editor.