UKC

Not that I'm not as guilty as the next man - but fk me the state of some of our bouldering areas look bloody awfull - had a trip out to the Secret Garden the other day and the place looks an eyesore - chalk splats everywhere - no attempt to clean it off it seems and its ground into the rock...that and shit loads of litter everywhere

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In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Found the same problems at High Rocks (SS) over the weekend. Can't be long before that's banned again as it's privately owned.

What's going on with chalk?? Piled up on footholds and actually filling up big incuts where it can't possibly make a difference.

Ian

In reply to i.munro:

Maybe thats why the French prefer to use POF?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com: Definitely too much chalk on holds in the peaks. If you really must chalk the rock rather than your hands, just chalk the bit of rock you are actually going to use. But doesn't brushing the rock (even with a toothbrush) damage the rock?

In reply to Ackbar:

"The landowners of this excellent Peak bouldering crag have unfortunately stated to the BMC they are currently not willing to allow access, and intend to install fencing around the rocks. The owners are decent people with a young family and appreciate the quality of the crag. However, the bottom line is large numbers of visitors, damaged fencing, defecation near the house, toilet paper and noise have eroded their patience. The boulders are located on private land (effectively their back garden) and the owners are within their rights to eject you."

I await comments about it not being climbers/boulderers causing the damage, but a bunch of Chavs.

In reply to Ackbar:

Any idea what the idea is behind chalking the rock rather than hands?

ian

In reply to i.munro:

It's a territorial/display thing......especially on unchalked rock.

In reply to i.munro: no.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Or do you refer to 'tick' marks.....that guide the eye and hand?

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

No, not tick marks. There was just so much chalk around this weekend, literally piled up on some holds, including footholds that it must have been applied directly to the rock, from the look of it with a trowel. Just wondering why anyone would do this?

Ian

In reply to i.munro:

Like the rest of the chalk addicts....they've been conned into thinking that they need it/this is how it is done.

I'm trying to stick just to chalk balls......the crux will be in hot weather.

Mick

In reply to i.munro:

I was at High rocks on Monday and noticed a fair bit of chalk around Nemsis and the Isolated Boulder. It's so ugly. I find chalk particularly useless on Southern Sandstone in relation to other rock types. Is this a general view. I find what I did use to use would just come off after one move anyway. So it's pretty useless. Maybe this is why people chalk the rock?

There was loads of litter about. A shocking amount. But then loads of chavs wander around high rocks.

£5 is a steep fee to pay and loads of people I know jump the fence. I wouldn't be surprised if those factors will add up to access problems.

In reply to tommyzero:

Certainly the bleausards are convinced that it reacts with the similiar rock at Bleau & makes it 'soapy' & back in the day this was the opinion of the sandstone regulars during the 'chalk wars' of the eighties.

What's infuriating me is that loose sand on the holds kills any friction on sandstone & rather than slapping that off with a cloth people seem just to be throwing chalk on top!! & then climbing without even bothering to clean their feet adding further to the mess & creating a really effective grinding paste to trash the holds.

This seems to me to be more serious than the chalk misuse, irritating as that is.

Ian

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

It's a problem that needs addressing. With so many people turning to bouldering and bouldering areas being small concentrated areas, which compounds the problem of littering and crapping the BMC needs to get on the case quickly. The same ethics that exist in climbing need to continue in bouldering or the sport will start to erode.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

I think in most cases you can't blame chavs for the mess.
It's the climbers who are the chavs.

If you go up to the Plantation at Stanage on a weekend, you have all different demographic of groups climbing there, all with their own problems.
Students - loud, noisy, chalk bags, exploding when they fall off
Serious climbers - over chalking, finger tape, smoking (they think it make them look like serious climbers

Everyone has to take some blame and it's fair enough to ban people off rocks, especially if people are shitting by them...

In reply to i.munro:
On the Czech/Dresden sandstone they frown(ed?) on the use of chalk as there was a belief that a chemical reaction could make the sandstone more brittle and susceptible to damage to the hard veneer, especially on incuts where there could be a build up leading to the snapping of the hold. True or false I do not know.

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:
And I went up to one of the most pefecet little spots last week - the Caseg boulders - and found finger tape and chalk wrappers along with a couple of water bottles. It only takes one......

In reply to compact:


I agree. You will find many climbers blaming others for the mess...wrongly.

It's OUR mess we need to clean up OUR act.

In reply to Andy Say:


Nobody will know for sure unless some experiments have been done? But that seems to be consitent across 3 sandstone areas. Any such feeling in Northumberland?

ian

In reply to compact:


Now that does sound messy...

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:


I agree.

There is no point moaning about a mess and not doing something.

Pick up some litter next time you are out and reward yourself with a pint/star/pat on the back/feeling of well indignation.

Fag ends and matches are litter too.

rgds
lowerSharpnose

In reply to grizz:

Yep..and the huge chalk "buckets" beloved of boulderers. One of the bouldery guys I was with last time I was at High Rocks used as much chalk in an afternoon as I do in a year...handfuls of the stuff all over the place...said he "couldn't get enough on to do any good" with a chalk ball.

In reply to lowersharpnose:

Try Flock Hill in NZ....

Access here is restricted by the farmer requiring you to apply via email for a permit. It is farmland so there are a few normal behaviours to be expected. it is seldom denied.

Recently found was :

A bouldering pad padlocked to a rock
Someone taking a dog
Poo and poo paper all over the place

And people wonder WHY there are access issues?

Common sense people will go a long, long way

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Even if it's not OUR mess, there's nothing to stop us picking it up. Last weekend I brought off:

- 2 chocolate bar wrappers and an empty plastic bottle from the gearing up area of Commando Ridge

- an empty biscuit packet, a bottle and a plastic bag from the start of the descent route to Porthgwarra Buttress and Hella Point

- half a bag of "gummy bears" and some mint wrappers from the top of Sennen.

Doesn't take a second to stuff it into your sack, and if we all did it wherever we saw it instead of saying "well I didn't drop that" and just leaving it, things'd be a lot better.

I'd draw the line at carrying someone else's shit out, though.

In reply to Rob Naylor:

Yes, you have the best attitude there. There are so many things wrong in the world that we can do nothing about, and litter is so yucky and yet so easy to do something about. Just keep some bags in your pockets/sack and it only takes a few minutes to make a huge difference.

Going on a litter pick up this morning, as it happens...

In reply to Mick Ryan - UKClimbing.com:

Mayhap the attitude(s) displayed in this thread is part of the problem?

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=237581