Revised Mountain Authorisation Scheme

The Scout Association has recently revised the rules, procedures and authorisations relating to any Scouting activity taking place in mountainous and/or remote country. These revisions take effect from February 2001.

A summary of the new rules and authorisation levels can be found below. Further information can be found by following the links in the text. For any Sections marked with a * please refer to notes at the bottom of the section.

The geographical areas for land activites have now been split into three categories:

Terrain 0

No authorisation is required, but informal DC approval of the event should be sought.

ALL the following must apply for the activity to fall into ths category:

• Under 500m above sea level
• No more than 30 minutes travelling time from help *
• No scrambling (i.e. no use of hands required

Terrain 1

DC's authorisation is required and DC events should be notified of all events.

The activity falls into this category if it meets any one of the following:

• Above 500m but below 800m above sea level
• More than 30 minutes, but less than 3 hours travelling time from help *

The activity must also not include any scrambling (i.e. no use of hands)

Terrain 2

DC's authorisation is required and DC events should be notified of all events.

The activity falls into this category if it meets any one of the following:

• Over 800m above sea level
• More than 3 hours travelling time from help *
• Has an element scrambling but only up to grade one

* 'Travelling Time' means the time it would take a person to walk by the quickest safe route. For this purpose a person is deemed to walk at 5 kilometers per hour, and in addition to take 1 additional minute for every 10 meters of increase in height above sea level.

Party Size

Minimum 4. Maximum 8 - 6 + 2 Party Leaders.

No two parties may travel together - that is there must be clear separation between the parties.

Seasons

For the purpose of authorisation, the definition of the seasons is as follows:

Winter:- When winter conditions including ice and snow prevail or are forcast.

Summer:- Any other time.