BMC Acts to Reduce Bouldering's Environmental Impact

© BMC
New '10 Commandments' poster sets out good practice.
There seems no limit to the growth in popularity of bouldering, particularly among younger climbers – but that popularity has come at a price. Environmental pressure is increasing at established venues, a pattern no one wants repeated at sites more recently developed.
So in conjunction with bouldering activist Simon Panton, and with funding from Sport England and support from the Association of British Climbing Walls, the BMC has published a poster encouraging climbers to think about and reduce their impact. The poster (left) lists '10 Commandments' that offer tips on climbing sensitively, and has been distributed to climbing walls and popular climbing cafes.
“It's clear to me,” says Panton, “that if we don't make efforts to limit our impact at these special places, we are in danger of ruining the very thing that we love so much.”
The BMC wants to make climbers aware that simple consideration can make our use of the crags and boulders that we love to climb more sustainable. Most climbers agree that chipping or excessive brushing create permanent damage. We all have a responsibility to stop such activities.
“We need to change the way that we boulder, considering our own actions, and how the way we behave at the crag might influence others. These 10 Commandments are a good starting point for everybody, regardless of whether they've been at it for years, or have discovered bouldering more recently.”
Copies of the poster, featuring an illustration by Ray Eckermann of smallmountains, are available from the BMC. Just call 0870 010 4878 or email office@thebmc.co.uk and we'll send you one for free.

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29 Apr, 2005
err Bump? BMC peeps? Anyone? Horscroft!? ;0)
29 Apr, 2005
Errr, ta!
29 Apr, 2005
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???
29 Apr, 2005
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.
29 Apr, 2005
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
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