How to federate in the mountains?

When it comes to practicing mountain sports, such as climbing, it is necessary to equip yourself with your protections, comfortable clothes and your sleeping bag. But it is also convenient to have additional protection, which is offered by the federative mountain license.

Many people who are dedicated to mountain activities do not know that there is the possibility of joining a federation, as a practitioner of these activities. It is true that obtaining a license is not mandatory to practice this activity, unless you want to compete, but the truth is that having this license has some interesting advantages, which should be known. 

What are the advantages of being a federation?

Among the advantages of being a federation, perhaps the most interesting is having mountain insurance, with which to cover possible accidents that you may have. This supposes coverage for issues such as rescue costs and other derived expenses, also including civil liability coverage and even life insurance. It all depends on the type of insurance that includes the license of the mountain federation with which you associate.

On the other hand, having an official license is also necessary to carry out these activities officially and in sports competitions. As extras, some federations include other benefits for their members, such as discounts in stores or accommodation, participation in specific activities, training and other proposals.

where am i headed

The first thing we should know when it comes to federating is where we have to go to obtain our federative license. This depends on the activities that we are going to carry out and where. If what we want is to officially compete in mountain activities, then we will have to request this license from the Spanish Mountain Federation. However, if what we want is to do mountaineering in a certain region as an amateur, we will have to go to that specific regional association. This causes a problem already known in many other aspects and that has to do with the conditions in which each mountaineer is going to federate. And it is that the coverage and services offered by the Mountain Federation of Castilla y León may differ from those established by the Balearic Mountain Federation, to cite an example. 

As if that were not enough, some communities require that registration as a professional be done through a club, although most accept that anyone can federate independently. 

In any case, it is essential that we look for specific information on both the conditions of the coverage and where it is necessary to go to carry out the procedure. To do this, all you need is a computer, its keyboard and one of the best gaming mice on the market to move around the network and find the right federation to cover this process.

what license do i need

In general, the licenses are classified both by age and by the type of athlete. Starting with the ages, we find three different modalities. One of them is the children’s license, which corresponds to users under 13 years of age. For its part, the youth license covers mountaineers from 14 to 17 years old. And, obviously, adult licenses would be suitable for those over 18 years of age. However, this may vary according to each federation.

Regarding the type of licenses per activity, it is common to find a general license for amateurs, accompanied by another for those who wish to compete in a federated way in the mountains. In parallel, there are also licenses for arbitrators, necessary to control these activities. Again, these can be different according to each federation, which can establish those licenses that it considers most appropriate for its objectives.

Manage license

At this point we already know where to register, the type of license that suits us and we only have to know the necessary documentation to proceed with the registration. According to what each entity requires, the usual thing would be to provide a copy of our ID, a photo and fill out some type of form. We may also be required to provide certain information about our life and health, for insurance purposes, as well as a commitment to “good practices” in the mountains. 

In any case, as happens with everything we have been commenting on, each entity has its own rules and it will be the same one that will be in charge of informing you in detail of what is necessary to complete the registration. By the way, it is obvious that this federation process also requires the payment of an annual fee. As a reference, the fee has a cost of about 35 to 50 euros for adults and about 12 or 15 euros for children’s and youth licenses.

The most important federations

To close this article, we are going to mention some of the most important federations in our country, so that you can get an idea of ​​the level of practitioners of these activities. In any case, remember that not all the people who enjoy the mountain are federated, as we have already mentioned. So it is likely that these figures are higher in reality, compared to the number of real practitioners of these mountain sports.

Within these associations, the largest is the Basque one, which according to 2019 data had almost 45,000 members. A considerable figure, if we take into account the population of the region. A short distance away, with 42,000 registered, we find the Catalan Federation, with the Andalusian Mountain Federation completing the podium, with 27,500 registered.

Fourth place is occupied by the Valencian Mountain Federation, with some 19,000 registered, while the Canarian Mountain Federation, with some 18,500 registered, would be fifth. The latter has enough members for the number of resisters on the island. Something similar happens to the Asturias Mountain Federation, which has 7,200 registered for a population of 1 million inhabitants, or the Cantabrian Mountain Federation, with 5,800 registered for some 600,000 residents in the region.