UKH

Just had a thought - as we are looking at the erosion problem on Peak grit boulders, there has not been any existing publicity posted on here.

http://www.thebmc.co.uk/news_det.asp?item_id=808

Is the link to the BMC's bouldering commandments - sorry I don't have them all to post....

..Any BMC peeps got them please?

One of the main ones however I champion is to clean your shoes before you touch rock. All to often do I see people staring problems with gritty muddy shoes - sometimes in appraoch shoes.

Please people - to stop erosion - give em a quick wipe eh?!

Ta

Simon
Peak Bouldering Access Rep

In reply to Simon:





err Bump?

BMC peeps? Anyone? Horscroft!?

;0)

In reply to Simon:

i think theres a reduced pic of it on ukboudering. not sure where though
P

In reply to Hotbad Peteel:


Errr, ta!

In reply to Simon:

Are you are getting a bit power crazed ?

"All to often do I see people staring problems with gritty muddy shoes"

Fair enough if your climbing, but cleaning your shoes just to look and stare???

In reply to Simon:

The BOULDERING 10 COMMANDMENTS are;

- No chipping
- No wire brushing - use a nylon brush if cleaning holds
- Use bouldering mats to reduce ground erosion and vegetation damage
- Clean and dry your footwear to reduce rock damage
- No resin (pof)
- Minimise chalk use - brush away any excessive build up
- Dry wet holds with a towel or wait until a windy day - no blowtorching please
- Remove carpet patches or towels - they kill off vegetation and create a mess
- Take all litter home and follow the Countryside Code
- Leave vegetation in place - no gardening please

I did send a press release and a jpeg of the poster about 3 weeks ago to a number of climbing websites, but UKC didn't use it.

I'll ask Alan if he'll put it on this thread or create a news item.

Tony Ryan, BMC Information Co-ordinator.

In reply to Tony Ryan:

Could we highlight 'Minimise chalk use - brush away' in BOLD CAPITALS and repeat it about 500 times please? I'm sick 'n tired of fighting a losing battle with caked up problems

And pretty please could we add one about tick marks??

In reply to Simon: What constitutes vegetation here? Is lichen now an untouchable? If I were to find a classic finger crack, am I to leave it unclimbed because it has a tuft of grass in it?
I'm all for responsible husbandry and not re-cleaning perfectly clean probs, but sometime new probs need some amount of gardening (or is the suggestion that we have enough boulder problems now and should stop futher developing), as do some old probs which haven't been done for ages, they just do.

In reply to Boy:

I'm with you - Si Panton Wrote it not me!

I don't see anything wrong in light gardening myself & have done lots in the past I'm not ashamed to say..

Si

In reply to Derbyshire Ben:



Here here - ban the donkeys!

Si

In reply to Offwidth:




oops - he hee! - im not a meglomaniac - honest!

..now make sure your pants are clean when bouldering in the Peak!

;0)

In reply to Tony Ryan:


Thanks Tony

Si

In reply to Simon:

The press release and an image of the poster are now on UKC News.

In reply to Tony Ryan:

Thanks Tony

Si

In reply to Simon:


I think this is a really good idea and it has all come a bit too late. It might be a bit of a romantic argument, but I find it upsetting when talking to young people who go to bouldering areas say at stanage or almscliffe to find that they haven't even realised that there is a crag at the back. The relevance of this is the crag provides the back bone of climbing history and where it stands to day even if people just boulder. The respect shown for the crag should prevail in all environments.

In reply to Simon: If no gardening was done in the past, many of our crags would still be vertical gardens.

In reply to Chris Fryer:


its a topic that i have my own opinions on & don't agree with some others...

..thats all im saying!

:0)

si

In reply to Simon:

Well done in everyone turning up last night at the Plantation for the erosion discussion & despite the Chairman Horscroft doing some eroding of his own - we came up with some pretty good ideas for plans of action...

..now all we need to do is hire them cement mixers & get onto the astroturf people!

....seriously though - anyone else interested in this - give us a shout...

Thanks again everyone

Simon
Access Rep - Peak Bouldering

In reply to Simon:

You're welcome!
The problem with "gardening" is the SSSI situation........

Bunny

In reply to Bunny:

I refer my learned friend to my previous answer, and of course you are right about the SSSI issue.

However I still feel that very light gardening if ok in some circumstances.....

...like chainsaw wielding maniacs at Rivelin for example!!

;0)

In reply to Simon: If the BMC don't wish to be seen to condone veg removal in a SSSI wouldn't it be better to say nothing, rather than a statement which suggests that they want a voluntary blanket ban on 'gardening' (the logical inference being that this principle also applys on routes )?

In reply to Boy:

Well its in the 10 commandments of bouldering - & is banned in SSSi places


my opinion is purley my opinion not the BMC's

besides it was a light hearted alude to the fact that we have been using chainsaws for extreme gardening...

cheers

Si

In reply to Simon: Sorry, I meant my comment as a reply to the suggestion that the illegality of 'damage' to SSSIs was a factor in the wording of the 'commandment', rather than to anything you had said in particular.

In reply to Boy:

ha - ok - yeah - good point....

The BMC have a hard job.

they need to say that gardening in SSSi spots is out - but then if they don't condone it all - people may garden in SSSi spots without knowing?

...so whats to do - keep quiet - or put it in as a "commandment"??

...like i say i have my own thoughts

Si

In reply to Derbyshire Ben: Whilst on an extended trip to Australia a few years ago John Sherman came out bouldering with us to the Grampians. We visited some of the beautiful venues in caves at the top of Taipan Wall and in the boulders in the woodland beneath. During the afternoon's activities he turned around and said...'you can tell when a bouldering area has been developed cos there's fags, tags and tape everywhere'.

There's more of us climbing now than in the past, there'll be more people climbing in the future and there'll be the same amount (or less - due to access restrictions) of rock. I'm sure there are people out there who are taking note of the effect we have, especially in popular and more 'public' areas. The impact we have on the rock (gardening, bolts, pegs, threads) and around it (erosion, damage to vegetation, even parking) needs to be considered. Positive objective steps forward need to be made rather than the shortsighted narrowminded hypocritical knee-jerk responses of recent posts (e.g. ban bouldering and the holier than thou pegs are better than bolts arguement).

For the time being though, it doesn't take much to brush off 'fag tags' and pick up a few bits of tape and cigarette butts once in while.

Can't go climbing - must revise!

w