UKC

What do you think climbing will be like in the future.

Will super sticky shoes make e5 a peace of cake? Will we all be so risk adverse that only a rare few will trad climb? Or will the route be so polished that they become unusable. Or have we reached the zenith and there will be few advancements.

My personal opinion is there will be no major change, just more comfortable shoes and much lighter gear.

In reply to myth:
More soloing of longer routes with sustained technical difficulty.
Perhaps an airbag around waist so falls are harmless!
Maybe a small parachute that opens on falling.And clothes that can stiffen and increase muscle strength.Perhaps a wireless ear plug that receives messages from muscle blocks telling climber how to adjust legs and arms.Maybe super sticky gear that clings to cliff face and doesn't need cracks to wedge in.

In reply to myth:

Midge spray that works.

In reply to The Norris:

You're just being silly !

In reply to The Norris: skin so soft is great!

In reply to heidi123:

If you want soft skin but don't mind midge bites.....

In reply to Robert Durran: honestly, it works for me

In reply to myth:Scotland might get some sun and the lakes will be under water.
Nintendo will bring out the best ever virtual climbing game and people will not have to go beyond their front door for the full on climbing experience

In reply to myth:

The human race will no longer exist in 30 years time.

In reply to Mr Mark Stephen Davies: There's always one..

In reply to Nath93:

No, there are many: Pylon King, Formerly known as Pylon King, Dark Mavis, Mr. Mark Stephen Davies for starters!

In reply to myth: Bonnington stops climbing!

In reply to myth: Mandatory bolts every 3 foot on all routes. Mandatory insurance. Pay to use crags. Crag marshals with rights to evict. 90% of climbers will only climb indoors.

In reply to myth:
Stanage popular end followed by the Plantation, and Burbage and then the rest of the peak will all be fenced off because of overuse and excess of polish.Then the elements will start to slowly improve the rock surface over several hundred years...
And that is only in the peak.
Most climbers will go on holiday to Madagascar and Bhutan..
Many indoor climbing walls will become churches, mosques and other religious venues..

In reply to myth:

An exact copy of Stanage will have been erected just in front of the original.

You'll be able to buy Ron Fawcetts sperm on the internet.

The Futurama style preserved head of Andy Nisbet will be available for consultation on Scottish winter nick.

Thrill seekers will be driven to ever more adrenalin-fueled forms of climbing. Concepts such as bungee climbing will appeal to those bored with simply climbing up stuff and throwing themselves off in wing suits. Climbing against a strong bungee cord attached to a ground anchor and resisting the elastic force up to the point where you are ripped from the very rock and hurled back to the ground! Wow!

Oh wait, hold on...

In reply to myth:

Three Pebble Slab will be E4.

In reply to Grim:

Jack Dee, 1992

In reply to BolderLicious:

Top roping

Top roping

In reply to BolderLicious:


... and an old bloke with weird ears and rocket boots to stop you getting hurt if you get distracted and fall off.

In reply to myth: People will eventually climb hard and bold things, rather than just hard or bold things.

In reply to myth: Harder and longer solos. Things like the speed record on the nf of the Eiger will become more commonplace.

Alpine style completly overtakes expedition in the greater ranges.

In reply to EddInaBox:

Tough, sinewy bodies.

In reply to Cameron94:


I think that would be a good thing for the sport and likely to happen, unfortunately it will probably mean more tragic deaths in the big ranges.

I would hope gear would become lighter, but how much lighter can it become...
And i would hope gear would become cheaper, yeah i know i think big haha

More alpine style expeditions, but this already happening

In reply to DaveHK:

I seem to remember Ken Wilson advocated just such a thing back in the 1980s - I always thought he was a visionary. (Actually, to be fair, he didn't suggest putting it in front of the actual Stanage, but in the cliff-starved south, in some dingy Bedfordshire gravel quarry or suchlike as I recall. But he did suggest building a facsimile of part of Stanage. Fact!).
You don't have to use the internet - Ron's happy to hand over a jam jar's worth out of the back door of his house in Hathersage - for a price.


The Futurama-style preserved head of Andy Nisbet is already available for consultation on Scottish winter nick.

In reply to Grim:


Happens just now, it's called a shit belayer

In reply to aultguish: Or bad rope management.

In reply to myth: You should read 'The Shape of Things to Come' by Tom Patey. Written in the 60's it gives a prediction of what climbing will be like some dim and distant time in the future, like the year 2000... It's very funny!

In reply to Baron Weasel:

Seacliff routes will suffer more tidal restrictions that at present, many crags on the Culm will be inaccessable at any tides

In reply to Owen W-G:

Many culm crags will be more easily accessible since they will be lying on the beach.

In reply to myth: Technologically, I have no idea, but will probably still have much of the gear I bought 13 years ago! However, I would say that there will probably be twice as many climbers as there are now. Erosion around popular crags like Stanage will have extended some routes by up to 6 feet and other routes will be polished beyond recognition. Meanwhile Lake District classics will continue to become more and more overgrown.

In reply to myth: After much lobbying by the contributors to UKC The Peak will be officially renamed The Peaks.

In reply to myth:

Climbers of the future will look back at old Peak guidebooks and exclaim: 'People used to climb on those tiny bits of sand? No way!'

Belay robots will be commonplace.

In reply to myth:

The six great north faces of the Alps will be the equivalent of the Three Peaks Challenge. Unfit blokes who bought their entire collection of kit from GoOutdoors the week before will, somehow, be able to climb all six in 24 hours after an introductory top-roping session at their local wall.

CCTV will be installed on all 'classic' crags, with the primary intention being to catch dry-toolers (now a semi-militant faction separated from mainstream climbing) red-handed.

The top end Arc'teryx hard shell will be £2000. Or £20, depends how the economy goes.

With a rise in global temperature, Scotland will have neither snow and ice in winter, or a dry spell long enough to allow the crags to dry in summer.

In reply to abseil:

Lol. The gear slot is getting worse though.

In reply to myth:

im hoping in 30 years DWS has become televised. them i, as i approach my 70s, can watch fit girls in bikinis filmed from below and not need to make excuses.

In reply to ice.solo: I like the way you are thinking, can we expedite the process?

BW

In reply to myth:

Climbers will have robotic monkey-tails attached to the back of their harness continuously adjusting their balance to make the moves easier.