Sheridan Anderson warned us: “Thou shalt not wreck the place.” But while climbers do cause damage to the crag environment, Ed Douglas argues things have to be kept in perspective. And with the BMC more active than ever at the local level, there are plenty of solutions.

Some years ago, a journalist asked me what I thought about the negative impact of climbing, and what were the biggest environmental problems facing the sport. Hooray, I thought, enjoying that small glow of satisfaction that anyone would want my opinion on anything. But once I’d got over the shock, I thought again. Environmental problems? Climbing?

Which is not to say I think climbers don’t have an impact. I’ve visited too many trashed base camps and eroded crags not to appreciate just how crass and dispiriting the behaviour of climbers can be. But let’s get this in perspective.

Arrange, if you will, the following environmental issues in order of importance: global warming, depletion of world fishing stocks, the destruction of the world’s tropical rainforests, water shortages on almost every continent and erosion under the Trackside Boulder at Curbar.

See? Our crimes against the planet don’t grab the headlines, do they? Feel bad – if you’ve got a conscience – about jetting off every five minutes to the next Euro clip-up destination, worry about whether or not to have cod with your chips, but let’s keep damage at the crag in some kind of perspective.

So, son of Clarkson, is that all you’ve got to say on the subject? Well, no it isn’t, but wringing our hands about how wicked we are to be damaging the planet won’t do much beyond making us feel cuddly about ourselves. And while the fate of humanity doesn’t rest on the decisions we make as climbers, there’s no question that we are creating problems and aren’t always addressing those problems properly.

So let’s look at the indictment. Bouldering’s ever-growing popularity is leading to some of our most popular circuits starting to show signs of overuse, particularly on gritstone, like the Plantation, Burbage, the Roaches, Robin Hood’s Stride and, yes, the Trackside Boulder at Curbar. Ground erosion, polished and broken holds, and people who persist in wire brushing and chipping continue to spoil these locations, not least for those who use them most – other climbers.

And while we are the ones most affected by unsustainable use of these prime locations, we’re not the only ones who notice the damage. Conservation bodies are starting to notice too, and with new access legislation making ample provision for protecting environments by removing access, if we abuse these places, then we could lose them.

Then there is the legacy of our obsession with lists. God and Ken Wilson both know how much I have pondered over Hard Rock, wondered just how high up the list in Extreme Rock I would get. I’ll admit to counting up the stars I’ve collected in a day. And I also know perfectly well the number of fabulous routes I’ve stumbled on by chance because some guidebook writer hadn’t bothered to punch out their appeal.

This kind of judgement leaves routes as either worthwhile or not. The former become polished, protection placements become worn, trees are killed and crucial holds break off. (I think I only truly understood that not all climbers shared my world-view when someone snapped off the flake on Right Unconquerable using a car-jack to free a camming device.)

So the charge sheet may not have Greenpeace boycotting the offices of the BMC, but causing the problems that do exist is a failure. Some climbers really don’t give a damn about the crag environment, either because they never visit one, spending their lives inside, or because they have disappeared so far up their own wazoos, that they believe with all their shrivelled hearts that an extra half-grade really is worth trashing the place.

Recently, for complex reasons involving a camel and a handsome young fellow called Ahmed, I found myself climbing Mount Sinai. Anne and John Arran recently did what looks like an amazing new E6/7 on Jebel Safsafa, close by this holy mountain, and I believe there are many worthwhile rock climbs throughout the region. None of which explains why I was shuffling up the pilgrim’s trail in the teeth of a hailstorm. You’ll recall that Mount Sinai is where Moses picked up the Ten Commandments. (Or at least, that’s the story, since there’s usually some pointy-head academic who is prepared to argue the toss.) Standing on the summit was a more impressive experience than I’d anticipated what with the surrounding rugged peaks, the flashes of sunlight against the black clouds and the biting wind.

But it was hard to avoid the masses of trash swirling around my ankles. And the fact that even in a freezing gale there were touts trying to sell me knick-knacks to take home to my mum. “Hey mistah! For you special price.” This could be a new sport on the Adventure Channel. Extreme hawking. I thought immediately of climbing cartoonist Sheridan Anderson’s eleventh commandment: “Thou Shalt Not Wreck The Place.” I think Sheridan would have enjoyed the irony. Here we were, on the spot where Moses had the law laid down, and the only commandment that really counts anymore – Sheridan’s – is being ignored by people who want to get closer to God.

But that’s quite enough ironic whining from me. Because Moses has the answer, you just have to dig a little deeper through the Book of Exodus to get to it. Because God is in the detail, my friends, and not in the headlines. Forget adultery and murder, most of Exodus is all about what to do if someone else’s donkey bites you, or a servant steals your stuff. Really, really fine detail. And the same holds for Sheridan’s all-important eleventh commandment. Of course we shouldn’t wreck the place. It’s like voting for world peace. But how shall we not wreck the place?

I have to say that in this regard the Americans are ahead of us. The Access Fund has for some time proved a practical and efficient organisation which identifies the solutions to problems which aren’t as immediately glamorous as the end of the world, but which can be readily fixed with a little practical imagination. They have a plethora of schemes and initiatives backed by local groups and climbing businesses that take care of these niggling little problems thus ensuring continuing access despite a climate in the US which is more hostile to outdoor recreation in pristine environments.

But things are starting to change in Britain too. A number of recent ideas and initiatives here match the success enjoyed by the Access Fund. At Craig y Longridge, for example, local climbers and the BMC joined forces after the landowner decided to destroy the crag for aggregate. Local climbers fought hard, with support from the BMC, to save the crag. With financial backing from the local community and from the BMC, which also offered expert negotiation with the developer and an agreement to insure and manage the site, a hugely popular bouldering venue was saved.

In Cheddar Gorge, the BMC backed a project conceived by local activist Martin Crocker to address vegetation and access difficulties. With Crocker’s dedication and enthusiasm and the BMC’s financial support, the access situation and the physical state of many routes at Cheddar has improved dramatically. There has been a similar project at High Rocks, resulting in an improved environment for climbing.

All these initiatives were originally the work of local activists seeing a problem and wanting to solve it. And all of them were helped with support from the BMC. This is how it should be, and offers hope that interest in the BMC’s work at a local level will start to gather more support, as the advantages of local activism become clearer. And by co-operating with the BMC, local climbers get expertise and the support of a national body so that the right policies are adopted for each individual case.

To this end the BMC is currently increasing it’s commitment to the Access and Conservation Trust (ACT) set up by the BMC, MCofS and MCI in 2001, and changing its administration so that it can support more projects like Cheddar and High Rocks. Some of these ideas are controversial, like the acquisition of crags – Horseshoe Quarry is one example – and the use of bolts for abseil points, as in the case of Dinas Cromlech. Each issue has to be examined carefully before action is taken.

But the more support ACT gets, the more projects it can support. One thing America still does better than us, in the outdoor world at least, is to generate financial support for charitable enterprises. The work of the Access Fund is supported generously by climbing and outdoor businesses. They recognise the need for strong access and conservation work in maintaining the crag environment because without it, their customer base could start drying up.

Chris Brasher, who died in 2002, remains an inspirational figure in the outdoors generally, and in the outdoor conservation movement in particular. He put his money where his mouth was. Like Yvon Chouinard in the US, he understood that while profit is important, it’s not the whole story. As Britain becomes more crowded, and competition for public resources grows, the private sector must take its environmental responsibilities seriously.

Opinions
Just what to climbers on the ground think of it all? We asked a selection:

"We live in a very crowded place, and although we now have open access to many places, there is a significant paradox. That is, the only way to accommodate our needs is to understand and take others into account too, the ecologists, the ornithologists, the geologists. In the Peak we work in partnership with many groups, such as the Wildlife Trust, the RSPB, and the Peak Park, and these relations benefit both sides. We can demonstrably benefit from them, such as being allowed to climb in Cheedale, and they gain an increased level of awareness of the issues by outdoor users.

A head in the sand approach, doggedly applying a “right to climb” would unquestionably lead to a serious reduction in available climbing venues. There’s a great deal of legislation around, most of it far more weighted towards conservation than recreation. If we weren’t responsible the level of restrictions would go through the roof”
Henry Folkard, BMC Peak Area Access Rep.

"Since I started climbing in 1989 in places like Yarncliffe Quarry, crags like this have become totally battered to the point where the place will in the near future become extinct! The boom in bouldering in the last ten years has seen areas such as Cratcliffe and Burbage South sadly over (ab)used with the constant wearing of the rock, the persistent powdering of chalk and the erosion of the natural turf. We can look at the worn out rock and shake our heads in disgust but unfortunately we all have to hold our hands up and admit that it is ultimately our fault”.
Simon Jacques, Peak District

"Some popular places like Burbage are so close to huge population areas that they’re amazingly well preserved, all things considered. I’m all for experimenting to see what works. Like the green mesh at the Stanage car park, I think that works really well. You never know till you try!”
Mark Pretty, Peak District

"The rest of the country could learn a thing or two from the Southern Sandstone volunteers. The fact that you can now see the full glory of High Rocks is an example of what can be achieved through a lot of careful negotiation and hard work. Crags all over the country are becoming overgrown and we have a choice. Sit on the sidelines and mope or get up off our butts like the Sandstone Gang.”
John Horscroft, Ex-Pat Londoner

"The key issues in the south east arise from the need to conserve and maintain the fragile sandstone, which in places has suffered badly from overuse. Placing top roping bolts and promoting good practice has brought damage under control, and old rope-grooves have been cemented in. Worn holds, where the hardened outer crust of the rock has given way to soft, sandy rock, have been chemically treated.

Much work has been done to reverse ground erosion, and most recently, extensive woodland management has been carried out at two crags where the tree and scrub growth has been shading the rock, making the rock almost continuously wet and greasy. Without these actions it is no exaggeration to say that we would soon be losing the use of these crags to climbers, but continual maintenance of all of this work will be necessary in future. All of this work is carried out against a background of regular consultation with the owners of the crags, and with English Nature.”
Bob Moulton, South East

"Climbing in Scotland has thankfully far less overuse and erosion issues to deal with than the rest of the country. Some smaller scale schemes have taken place, but usually when action is required it’s on a much bigger scale, like the Ben Nevis path. But that doesn’t mean we should be complacent. A perennial concern is winter climbing conditions - climbing a route when it’s just not in condition can do a lot of damage to the rock and rare alpine plants.”
Kev Howett, Scotland

Read the full set of articles:Big Issues part 1: The state of British climbing
Big Issues part 2: Ethics
Big Issues part 3: The eleventh commandment - the crag environment

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