Climbers, amateur or professional, will be spoilt for choice at this year's Keswick Mountain Festival with many opportunities offering inspiration and the chance to 'have a go'.

The festival, sponsored this May by Ordnance Survey and Cumbria Tourism, will bring together some of the country's most celebrated climbers including Lakeland heroes Doug Scott and Dave Birkett, Andy Kirkpatrick, Andy Cave and Leo Houlding, along with a dry tooling competition and kid's bouldering wall.

Doug and Dave will be sharing their amazing Lakeland stories and experiences with lectures, film footage, interviews and a Q&A sponsored by Wild Country. On Friday night, Andy Cave will share the tale of his experiences climbing 8,000 metre peaks without oxygen and establishing some of the hardest routes ever recorded, such as the North Face of Changabang.

Entertainment will not be in short supply when Cumbria born world class climber, mountaineer, BASE jumper and much more Leo Houlding, shares the gory details of his latest adventures to climb Mount Asgard on Baffin Island in the Arctic Circle. The film premiered at the Kendal Mountain Festival and this is an opportunity to hear Houlding describe the adventure from the skydive in to the BASE jump from the summit.

What's more, there is a wide range of activity for inspired visitors to have a go for themselves. The main climbing event will be a DMM sponsored Dry Tooling competition, taking place at the Keswick Climbing Wall on Thursday 20 between 6pm and 10pm. This event will invite climbers of all aptitudes to climb a freestanding wall using ice-climbing equipment such as ice axes and mountain boots.

There are climbing, abseiling and scrambling courses provided by Shearwater Adventure Training and More than Mountains along with a Ghyll Scrambling course provided by Keswick Adventure Centres, where adventurers can descend a natural water park encountering jumps, slides and dives into plunge pools. It's adrenaline packed activity suitable for 8 years and above!

Keswick Mountain Festival is now in its fourth year and for the first time it is organised by Bluestone Events, a Kendal-based company. It's five days of pure adventure in and around Keswick – there are hundreds of outdoor activities to either try as a taster or experience in the extreme with local expert guides.

Plus there's mountain heroes galore to take you on an adventure from the comfort of your seat in the Theatre By the Lake – including Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Andy Kirkpatrick, Joss Naylor and Kenny Stuart.

Kate Thomas, Director, Keswick Mountain Festival, said:

“We are really excited about the climbing offering at this year's festival with loads to have a go and some amazing local heroes it's going to be an adrenaline packed week."

"Keep an eye on our website because we're adding new activities and adventures all the time. There is also a fab Patagonia M10 jacket on there for one lucky winner to kit themselves out in style for the festival.”

More information:

www.keswickmountainfestival.co.uk

Tickets for all speakers are now available directly from the Theatre by the Lake:

• Tel: 017687 74411
• Book online: www.theatrebythelake.co.uk

For more information contact the Keswick Mountain Festival team at Brazen PR:

• Tel: 0161 923 4994 / 07809 554322
• Email: kmf@brazenpr.com

Keswick Mountain Festival is organised by Bluestone Events.