Next Event: Day Trip
SUMC is a mountaineering club for students of Swansea University. The club has an average membership of some 120 students, and is one of the largest sports clubs at the University.
Our main aim is to help introduce people to climbing, then continue to support them while they improve, in the hope that they'll stay actively involved and join the great community within the club. We're not just aimed at beginners though; there are plenty of experienced members too, so if you've climbed before - whatever level - there's bound to be someone of similar experience to climb with.
We climb a lot on Gower (where you can find great trad of all levels), some parts of which are only a fifteen-minute drive from the University campus. There's also plenty of sport climbing in the area, with plenty of old quarries scattered around South Wales. We regularly arrange trips around the UK to places such as North Wales, the Peak District and Portland, and we aim to hold a week long trip in the Easter holidays (which has previously taken us to Cornwall, but more recently has seen trips abroad to Mallorca and Sardinia). For more information about upcoming trips please see the events page, or for pictures of where we've been in the past, visit our gallery.
The club isn't just about recreational climbing - we have a thriving competitive side, with a history of fantastic results in competitions from regional to national level. The club founded the WUBC, and continues to organise a Swansea round of this competition each year. On a national level, the club sends its bouldering teams to the annual BUCS/BUSA competitions, and has come consistently amongst the highest ranking Universities for several years.
The easiest way to join the club is to come along to our stall at Freshers' Fayre at the start of the academic year. Here you'll find a few of our regular members, who will be able to answer any questions you might have, and will be able to sign you up on the spot. If you miss us at Freshers' Fayre then just come along to any regular session - see the events page for more details of when and where these are.
To be able to join you'll first need an AU card, which allows you to join any sports club - you can get these from the AU on level 2 of the Students Union building. The AU card will cost you £10 (unfortunately this is beyond our control). Joining the club itself costs just £15 per year and once you're a member you have access to all club trips and socials, use of any club gear, training from experienced club members, affiliate membership of the BMC (worth £8.75 per year alone), the opportunity to take part in competitions and more.
You don't need any special equipment or experience to join; the only thing we suggest is that you wear tight shoes as we've only got a limited number of pairs of climbing shoes available to borrow. As your climbing progresses we'll be able to help suggest any personal equipment you might want to buy (such as shoes and chalk to begin with), and show you how to use it safely.
If you have any questions, please contact us, or drop by to any regular climbing session where a member of the committee will be able to answer your questions and sign you up. If you prefer, feel free to ask any questions on Crag Chat (our forum) where other members will be happy to help.
Note: Although the prices on this page are accurate for the 2010-2011 season, they may change in the future. If necessary, please contact us for current information.