UKC

I was out and about on Sunday and noticed mud all over the bottom of a route that had a top rope on it, I asked the person belaying if he would please ask people climbing to wipe their feet as I feel that it has a big part in wearing out the routes. He did look at me a bit funny but said yes ok. Fair enough.
But it seems every time I go to a popular location I see at least one person with grit all over their feet climbing.
I don't really feel it will make much difference posting it on here as most of us are aware of the damage it causes, but if it just helps one person to remember next time they climb then it was worth posting.
Happy climbing and please wipe your feet.Cheers.

In reply to Phill Mitch: People always wipe their feet when they leave our house...

In reply to Phill Mitch: I always thought the idea of wiping your feet/staning on your bag was to prevent slips/falls to loss of grip - damage to a roue is not one i have personally head of - though both are good reasons to keep our shoes clean.

In reply to Phill Mitch:

Thanks for the tip, i always thought people were just been melodramatic whenever i saw them doing this at the crag. I will now make sure i wipe my feet before climbing, so therefore your post was worthwhile. When i did ask someone the question as to why he gave the reason to have better friction with the rock and to keep them clean, if he would have said it causes damage to the crag i would have followed suit sooner.

In reply to Wesley Orvis: Thanks for saying that, I was not sure if I was preaching to the converted or not but glad to have changed your perspective a little. Thanks.

In reply to Phill Mitch:
I thought you were stating the bleedin obvious, so that shows what I know.
Good on yer. ;O)

In reply to deepsoup: When I see someone not doing it every time I go out it makes me think it's not obvious, but I never know how things will be received on here. Cheers.

In reply to Phill Mitch: i take an old towel and put beneath the route. i usualy lead so my 2nd and others use it also.

In reply to Phill Mitch:

Thank you for doing your bit to help the rock stay in better condtion for longer. If only more folk did the same.

In reply to escudoturbo:

You are right, but if you are climbing in trainers that are caked in mud, it all helps with wear and tear. I got pulled to one side at Font once because one of the locals didn't feel I had sufficiently wiped every last grain of sand from my rock shoes. Fair play I guess.

In reply to EeeByGum:
Also, feet that slip polish stuff a lot faster than feet that stay put, and feet that slip while covered in fine-grained sandpaper-like grit polish stuff even faster.

In reply to Phill Mitch: One's rock shoes should never even touch the ground. Put them on before you do a route on a coat/towel and then on topping out, remove them and walk down bare-footed (unless you're at pex hill).

People wouldn't strap £20 notes to their feet and walk around, so why do they walk around in fast-wearing 100 quid rock shoes?

that always pisses me of and i even have to nag my mates who should no better and they just think im a moaning git.

WIPE YOUR FEET YOU PLANKS!

In reply to Phill Mitch:

I can't imagine why anyone would want to climb with muddy/dusty boots - we're not cavers for goodness sakes....

In reply to Ramblin dave:


This is particularly important on sandstones (of all sorts) where the sand grains doing the abrading tend to be much harder than the matrix which binds them together into rock and when bouldering!

In reply to Phill Mitch: I seem to remember it was de rigeur [sp] on to have an old bar towel as part of a rack, clipped onto a harness on multi pitch routes

In reply to Franco Cookson:

I saw a video when your rock shoes touched the ground at about 40mph !

In reply to Phill Mitch:

Cleaning my shoes has become an automatic action before starting any route and is one of the reasons I never wear shorts for climbing (trousers legs are great for wiping off mid-route sand & dirt). Anyone who's climbed more than a few routes should know that clean shoes make things far easier, safer and more pleasant.

It's the people who are just starting to climb who don't know that clean shoes are good for both their climbing and the rock and those who instruct/ introduce them need to make this clear.

In reply to Phill Mitch:

Beats me how anyone can climb grit with mud-caked shoes

In reply to Franco Cookson:

I think that is a bit of overkill. I specifically don't squeeze my feet into shoes 5 sizes too small because I would rather spend my time climbing in comfy shoes rather than continuously taking off / putting then on. My feet also aren't up to walking on rough ground unaided and carrying shoes on grit routes is a faff. Careful cleaning of shoes prior to climbing is no effort. That said, I don't think the culprits in this example were necessarily wearing rock boots.

In reply to Jimbo C:



I think you are right there, the routes showing the worst signs of wear are the ones beginers use. Admittedly those are the routes that see more ascents than others. Having said that I don't want to discourage beginers, just educate them.
I feel if we all keep an eye out and ask folk very politley, we could help the routes to stay enjoyable for the next generation.
Thanks everyone for supporting this thread and here's to the clean shoe gang!

In reply to Phill Mitch:

I usually do the bar towel thing

But is there a market for trousers with some mud-absorbing towelling on the inside lower leg?

Y.

In reply to Yrmenlaf: I remember the bay city rollers had some tartan on the bottom of their trousers, were they climbers with clean shoes as well as a 70's pop band I wonder?