What is Keswick Mountaineering Club?

Keswick Mountaineering Club (KMC) is an active rock climbing and mountaineering club based in the north of the Lake District. It suits climbers and mountaineers who want regular, organised meets close to Keswick and are willing to travel further afield for bigger routes. The club's core rhythm is simple: Tuesday afternoon and evening climbing on local crags from April to September, plus weekend meets throughout the year.

What the club does

Spring, summer and autumn climbing

• From April to September, members meet every Tuesday afternoon and evening to climb on local Lake District crags.
• The club's local crag to Keswick is Shepherd's Crag in Borrowdale. Classic routes there include Little Chamonix and Brown Slabs.
• Members climb across the northern Lake District, and the club also holds weekend meets in the Lake District and further afield — Scotland, Northumberland, the Peak District, Wales, and Cornwall/Devon.

Summer mountaineering

• During the summer months the club often runs a meet in the Alps, the Dolomites, and/or Scotland (for example Ben Nevis or the Cuillin Ridge on Skye).
• These trips offer larger mountains and bigger challenges than the Lake District, typically mixing mountaineering, rock climbing on lower crags, and via ferratas.
• In Scotland, where the weather is less dependable, poor-weather days are often used for scrambling. The club usually runs at least one Scotland meet a year — often a long weekend on Ben Nevis or a week on the Cuillin Ridge.

Winter activity

• From late October to mid April, the regular Tuesday evening meets move indoors to the Kong Adventure wall in Keswick.
• The club usually runs a one- to two-week trip somewhere sunny in this period (for example Kalymnos, Costa Blanca, Cyprus, or Sicily) so members can climb outside in the dry.
• There are sometimes weekend or week-long meets in Scotland or Norway for ice climbing.
• Members organise winter climbing whenever the weather allows, and the club runs a series of winter scrambling meets.
• The club also runs winter lectures and film shows at the Kirkgate Centre in Cockermouth.

How members connect

Finding a climbing partner is handled through two channels:

• The club's "Partner wanted" forum
• The club's Facebook group

Both are used for both summer and winter plans — for example, members get together through them to go winter climbing whenever the weather allows.

Is it right for you?

The club describes itself as active and member-driven: members want to be out climbing whenever the sun is shining, and the meets calendar reflects that across all four seasons. If your goal is regular climbing and mountaineering with an established group in the northern Lakes — and you're happy to travel for larger mountains — this is the kind of club to look at.