BMC North East area

25/10/2026

Thank you to everyone who took part in yesterdays YCS Round 4 at Sunderland Wall. It was a long chilly day but very enjoyable. Congratulations to all the podium finishers and especially to the series finalists who qualified for the National Grand Final, that’s a huge achievement and you should all be justifiably proud of your selves. Registration opens for the final on the 2nd November, so sign up and represent the North East and Cumbria with pride.
Thank you to Sunderland Wall for hosting us and all the hard work your team put in to do so, we are most grateful. Our wonderful judges did us proud once again, we were a little short of volunteer judges at times, so come on guys, step up, and give it a go. Its fun.
The YCS National Grand Final is taking place on the 28th / 29th November at 270 climbing Gloucester.

11/10/2026

YCS Round 3 – Eden Rock, Newcastle,
Thank you so much to Eden Rock Newcastle for hosting us yesterday, we all had a great day, all the routes were very well spaced around the centre and the grades were challenging. Thank you for all your hard work in route setting the competition, you did a grand job.
Thank you to all our wonderful Judges, you make the event run so smoothly. We were a little short on judges at times, so come on guys, give it a go, it’s fun.
The next round is at Sunderland Wall, Saturday 24th October. Here are a few Podium

27/09/2026

Youth Climbing Series 2026
The Northeast and Cumbria Youth Region moved to Keswick for round two of this years YCS. Thank you to everyone who participated in yesterday’s round at Kong Adventure, we all had a wonderful day. Huge thanks to the team at Kong Adventure, they pulled out all the stops to hosted us and put on a fabulous event. I am aware just how much effort they put in, in the run up to yesterday, and all their hard work paid off.
Thank you to the Belay team, it was a long day for them and our wonderful judges did a fantastic job as always. Next round is at Eden Rock, Newcastle. Saturday 10th October, and we are back to Bouldering. See you there.

21/09/2026

Save the date.
Rock Solid / BMC Northeast – Northumberland Youth Meet – Friday 16th to Sunday 18th July 2027.
Wooler Hostel have confirmed the dates for next years Northumberland Youth Meet and once again have given us a very generous discount on our booking. We are very grateful for their continued support. Thank you to Wooler Hostel and Pavers Shoes whose sponsorship generosity enable us to put these weekend on for young people at a highly discounted rate. We will be promoting and opening registration for the event in the new year, but for now save the date in your diaries. We sold out this year, I even had to turn booking away, which we have never had to do before, such is the popularity of the youth meets. So, watch this space and save the dates. 16th to 18th July 2027.

16/09/2026

2026 BMC Award winners
Congratulations to all the Northeast BMC volunteers who received awards for all their hard work representing the BMC in our area, well done all.

The BMC Award winners have been announced and presented at this weekend's BMC Basecamp Festival. These awards honour individuals whose dedication has strengthened climbing, hillwalking, access and conservation across the UK.

06/09/2026

Thankyou.
Having announced that I am stepping down as BMC Youth Climbing Series Co-Ordinator for the Northeast and Cumbria, I was deeply touched by the response from Rock Solid members both parents and children, in particular I have to thank Hayley McKenna and Durham Climbing Centre for the lovely gifts presented after yesterday’s competition.
I have been involved with YCS for 16 years, starting off as a parent of a young climber, then helping at evens and for the last decade running the regional YCS, the time has come to hand over the baton. Thank you everyone for your support and friendship over the years, I have had some wonderful times and have treasured memories. It has been a great honour to represent the Northeast and Cumbria at YCS.
I’m not quite gone yet, as I step down after this year’s YCS national final, so we still have three regional rounds and the final to go. If anyone is interested in taking over, then please come and have a chat about what is involved, I would love to be able to hand over to someone for a smooth transfer.
I will still be actively involved with Rock Solid and our local events and competitions but my roll with the BMC YCS is ending as I am finding doing both to be too much and I need to cut back a bit.
Once again thank you for all your support and friendship you are a lovely bunch of people.
Kind regards
Chris

06/09/2026

2026 YCS Round 1 Durham Climbing Centre
What an amazing day at DCC for YCS R1, it was a very busy day for the organisers and somewhat chaotic when the Judges electronic scoring failed, this happened nationally but we in the Northeast and Cumbria were prepared and immediately switched to our backup without any disruption to the competition.
The competitors were fantastic in their enthusiasm and put on a wonderful display of youth climbing. The standard gets better every year.
Huge thankyou to Durham Climbing Centre for hosing us, they went above and beyond as usual, Impact Route Setting did a superb job of the setting with some challenging boulders for all age categories.
And of course, our wonderful judges looked resplendent in their high viz vests. Thank you to everyone who volunteered, you make the day the success that it is.
Round two is a roped round at Kong Adventure in Keswick on the 26th of September, it has been a long time since we competed at Kong, and we are delighted to be going back. So, I will see you there.

04/09/2026

BMC Youth Climbing Series (YCS) 2026
Tomorrow is the big day, round one of the 2026 Youth Climbing Series (YCS) at the fabulous Durham Climbing Centre, I have been to Durham this morning to see the guys from Impact Route Setting doing a fantastic job of getting all the problems ready for you.
So tomorrow its over to you, the young competitors will put on a superb display of climbing as always, but we need adult volunteers to help with the judging, we simply cannot run these events with out you, so come on guys, be a judge its easy and a very worthwhile way of putting something back in to our wonderful sport. Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

01/08/2026

The Rock Solid Bouldering Series is over for another year and what a series it’s been this year, we have broken all previous entry records, with 119 individual entries to the series.
We finished round four in grand style at Durham Climbing Centre with a challenging set of problems which everyone enjoyed. A huge thank you to Durham for hosting us and for all the work their team put in to do so. As usual our fabulous judges did a splendid job, we are most grateful, we could not run these events without the volunteers on the day.
The scores for the series winners where so close in some age categories we had to go back over previous rounds to check total scores and even the number of flash tops in order to separate some of the competitors. A massive congratulations to everyone who took part, you can all be justifiable proud of your achievements.
We are already discussing plans for next year, so watch this space and we will see you all again next time. Thank you everyone.

31/07/2026

Rock Solid Boulder Series Fourth Round – Durham Climbing Centre – Tomorrow.
It’s the fourth and final round of this years Rock Solid Boulder Series, tomorrow at the fabulous Durham Climbing Centre. The prize bags are ready, the trophies are ready, we are all ready, are you ready?
This year Rock Solid have broken all entry records for the Summer Bouldering Series with 119 individual young climbers taking part from across the BMC’s Northeast and Cumbria Youth Region. Tomorrow is the accumulation of all their efforts, why not come along and witness some of the regions best young climbers doing their thing in open competition. Tomorrow will see a double podium presentation, for each of the five age categories, there will be the winners on the day plus the series champions. it’s going to be a great day! So come along and join in the fun. See you tomorrow.