Welcome to the Edinburgh University Mountaineering Club
The EUMC is the largest student mountaineering club in Britain. In an average year, we have over three hundred active members, who are mostly undergraduate students, but with quite a few postgraduates and various others who just can't seem to let go.
What is Mountaineering?
Quite simply, mountaineering is enjoying oneself in the mountains. The club is very much defined by what its members get up to. Over the past few years, somebody or another in the EUMC will have attempted almost every mountain-related activity imaginable. However, most people spend most of their time rock or ice climbing, fell running, hill walking, ski touring, or simply festering in their tent enjoying the view. What you do is entirely up to you and you can be sure that there will be someone to do it with.
We leave what you do on our trips down to you, however, you will find that there are plenty of other people doing whatever it is you might want to do. So it is simply a matter of coming along, making some friends, and getting stuck in. We will organise some smaller activities during the week close to Edinburgh so make sure you're subscribed (below) to our mailing list to find out about these.
What does the EUMC do?
Mountaineering with the EUMC revolves around our weekend trips to the hills. These are run roughly every two weeks, and over the year we visit most of the mountain areas in Scotland, as well as a few places in England. You can sign up for a place on one of these trips on the Wednesday beforehand here (be quick as spaces go fast). In recent years, we have interspersed our overnight trips with climbing day trips to local(ish) venues both indoors and out. So there is something going on every nearly weekend.
In addition to our exciting trips, we also run lots of sessions in Edinburgh that cover skills training, casual bouldering at local climbing walls as well as other wellness and fitness activities. And if you're a really keen plastic puller we also have a competition and BUCS climbing team, with the potential to be supported by the Edinburgh Sports Union as one of the university's many performance athletes.
The EUMC is a very social club, and most of our socialising this year will be on Thursday nights, 8-9pm onwards. Before the pub, there will usually be some form of entertainment, organised by our social secretaries. Some major events to look forward to in the EUMC social calendar include Beerienteering, the freshers' Ceilidh, Christmas Dinner, Burns Supper & Ceilidh, and our infamous fancy dress parties in the club flat (GBH). Mountaineering and partying come together in a big way after the summer exam period with a road-trip of the West coast, including the Dinner Meet in early June.
Check out the Events page for full details of club activities this year!
Getting involved with the EUMC
If you have never done any climbing before, and you want to give it a try, then joining the EUMC is the ideal first step.
Although within the club we do not provide formal teaching, we organise a number of places on beginners' courses including an introductory climbing course in the Lake District and winter skills courses throughout the season. Such courses are a great way to gain basic skills and confidence under professional guidance.
We have trips at the beginning of term to local indoor walls as well as various outdoor crags near Edinburgh, which will give you the opportunity to have a go at climbing. At these events there will not be any teaching but they are still a great way to have a go and learn more about climbing as there will be experienced members there willing to offer their advice.
The club has a pretty busy programme for the first few weeks of the year. In Glencoe we usually tackle the Aonach Eagach ridge (weather permitting); in the Lake District there is much climbing, hill-walking and scrambling to be done. These are ideal for meeting people to enjoy the mountains with and can provide you with the opportunity to learn from more experienced members of the club.
For even more information on getting involved with the EUMC, go to the Join Us page or subscribe to our mailing list to get regular updates below: