UKH

Poll: have you been out climbing in England at any point from the English ‘unlock’ for outdoor activities on Wednesday 13th May up to and including bank holiday Monday 25th May?

Like = yes, I have.

Dislike = no, I have not.

Any form of outdoor climbing counts.

Having been out just once in this period is sufficient for a ‘yes’ vote.

To avoid distorting the stats, please only vote if you live in England. I know that in principle climbing is permitted in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but as there are significant restrictions on car travel, in practice most people aren’t yet able to climb.

The outcome of last week’s poll was 311 yes vs 199 no. That’s 61% vs 39%. With the bank holiday weekend and the continued nice weather, will we see more ‘yes’ votes this time round?

Thanks for voting!

Bump. Currently 111 - 41 which is 73% - 27% but would be good to get more votes to test the theory that more people will have been out.

Don't do likes/dislikes, but... no, I haven't been climbing, but I have driven about an hour to vary the scenary for cycling.  Currently avoiding the Peak because it'll be too busy on weekends, but if I get furloughed, as is a distinct possibility over the next month or so (yes, it sounds bizarre, but the effect on us is somewhat delayed by the whole thing causing contract signing delays), then I probably will do midweek.  Unlikely to be for climbing, though, I need to shift some lard first.

Currently 160 - 62, so 72% yes - 28% no. A roughly 10% increase on last week's split, which is what I expected. Albeit the total number of votes is half that from last week (people get bored of polls, it seems!), so probably shouldn't draw too many conclusions from this.

worth noting that I got out last week but haven't managed to get out this week as I'm dependent on my girlfriend being free when I am.

No restrictions to car travel in Northern Ireland so I was at Fairhead this weekend for my first post lock down climb. 

I've been everywhere. Cornwall, Skye. Lakes, Wales you name it. Loads of routes. Loved it.

Did you make it up to Goldsborough Carr when you were up in Barny?

Yes it was ace. My mate Boris belayed me. Michael came too but he just sat at the bottom eating ants with a stick.

Haha, Micheal reading ants, that's very funny.

You've got a career in comedy ahead of you.

You should give up the day job. 🙂

So 200 people (so far) are either climbing with members of their household, solo shunting or solo bouldering! Yeah right........

What made you think that? The updated guidance is pretty clear that you can now have an exercise partner from outside your household. You might argue that shouldn't be allowed but the guidance says it is.

Personally, after eight weeks of not even chatting to a single person in the flesh, I feel reasonably justified in taking the relatively low risk of climbing cautiously with a single other person at weekends. Especially as I'm then fully isolated again during the following week. It's certainly a lot lower risk than a lot of other stuff that's permitted under the guidance and even further away from how some people are stretching the rules.

That still counts as a yes. The question is whether you’ve been out at least once since the unlock. There will be other people in your position but what I’m trying to identify is how many have ventured out at all, rather than how many are out in a given week. 

That’s great. I just saw the MI advice which suggested local travel only in NI but it may have been out of date.

The Republic are still on 5km from home, going to 20km from the 8th. Pretty strict but also pretty clear.  

I guess the next big question will be how keen we are to climb indoors as lockdown eases. Outdoors is preferable in all respects... especially with the good weather but still.....

I suspect the walls in places like Sheffield will be even emptier than usual over the summer if the weather holds.

Living in Birmingham, I’d go when the walls open. Bouldering at quieter times of the day / with a limit on numbers would be fairly low risk I think. Just wash your hands before and after and don’t touch your face (we’re all getting better at that when out and about!). 

I've been climbing a few times and with this weather who can resist. 

Hate to say it but in the winter this would have been more of a struggle. Outside all the time for me.

 >kevin stephens 19:43 Wed In reply to Misha:

Pre-plague , I spent a lot of the last 10 summers sport climbing with various randoms but overall most of my climbing has been solo bouldering.  The prospect of others solo bouldering is hardly unfeasible (mind you, I admit that I have encountered a few teams of boulderers on my travels who do not seem to care for social distancing).

I've only been rope soloing. But you're right though. I've seen lots of pairs and larger groups who clearly weren't from the same household.

In some way it would have been harder but it could have been more effective. People won't have been flocking to parks and beaches in the middle of winter.

They could also just be soloing?

Ah of course! Thanks. That explains Horseshoe Quarry parking being rammed

I think you and other people vastly underestimate how many people have climbing partners in their household. I think almost all of my friends who climb regularly have at least 1 person to climb with in their households. A hell of a lot of young people live in shared houses so a group of 3 or 4 young people could easily be within a household. I'm sure there are people just doing as they please but I think it's less than you imagine. 

Horseshoe will probably be busier as some people will be getting none climbing partners to belay them so sport makes sense.

Indeed. Half of the climbers in places like Sheffield are probably in climbing households.

260 yes - 99 no. That’s 72% - 28%. Not quite as many votes as last time but it’s been consistently around this level as the number of votes has grown.

With the weather staying amazing and the lockdown being increasingly rolled back, I suspect the proportion of people who have been out will continue to increase.

I wonder what proportion of English forum users would have been out in a two week period in May in any other year, certainly not 100%

Now the moral argument against it has been virtually destroyed by 2 Tory idiots- Cummings & Johnston, I'll  be out to 'test my eyesight' this weekend... within 250 miles of my home... maybe.

FFS it's not about those two idiots, your moral judgement should come from within yourself and the need to avoid second peaks so we can all get back to normal asap

Agreed, but second peak surely!

The thing is that we don't have access to the latest scientific advice and evidence I mean for god sake we don't even have access to the government's strategy so how can i decide what's reasonable?  It doesn't help that i trust the government as far as I can throw them.

I don't disagree but I assume it was a joke.