Participation Statement
Through Membership of The Hinckley Mountaineering Club members agree to following from the BMC:
The BMC recognises that climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death.
Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions and involvement.
Risk and Responsibility
‘Climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death’, individuals should ‘be responsible for their own actions and involvement’.
Taken from the BMC Participation Statement, these quotes reflect the ethos within which hill walking, climbing and mountaineering have developed in the British Isles.
Along with other clubs, HMC has always played a vital role in delivering this message, as new members are made aware of the sport’s ethos from more experienced members.
All of us were novices at some point, and through a combination of personal experience and guidance from others, a novice becomes a competent climber or mountaineer.
HMC is not a provider of hill walking, mountaineering or climbing instruction, but many people join wanting to learn, and the club provides opportunities for people to share their skills and learn from each other.
In doing so the committee and members of Hinckley Mountaineering Club expect individuals have responsibility for themselves. Included in this is an expectation that individuals ensure that they have the correct skills and equipment before embarking upon activities.
Club members often organise events on the basis that they are simply sharing their knowledge, and may be in no way qualified or regarded by the club or any other body as an expert.
Less-experienced members must note that they are electing to take advice on this basis, and therefore have to make a decision as to whether to rely on it or not.
The BMC believe that from their earliest experiences, climbers and mountain users must be made aware of their responsibilities.
It is very important for a club member to be aware of the Participation Statement - aware of why we have it, and why it is so important. A condition of membership is that members accept the implications of the participation statement.