UKC

anyone wanting to climb on the Cracked Butress Area of Brimham on Sunday August the 19th dont bother you have a charity Abseil taking place !!! a guy called David Ferguson from York running it £10 pound to book your place and £50 pound minimum sponsorship..what the xxxx is this all about .it may well be a good cause ,but in my view as no place taking place on the crags ,especially popular ones ..I may go and get myself stuck on there on the day ..

In reply to victorclimber:

Well at least you have 6 weeks to find somewhere else to climb on that particular day.

In reply to a crap climber: it will probably rain anyway ..

In reply to victorclimber: What a knobby thing to do. Unless he has paid NT something for the privilege he can go get ...... Ask him how much he cares about rock erosion too. I suggest we have a mass takeover of the buttress on the day before he gets there. I would also like to see him produce full records of the transactions and see how much actually goes to the charity itself or whether "running costs/expenses" are deducted. Why can't he use a block of flats or a railway bridge like everyone else does? Oh, that'll be an insurance related question won't it. If I found them there I would be cutting some ropes.

In reply to victorclimber: Do you have any more information about who is running the event, what times and where you heard about this.

In reply to muppetfilter:

thinking of taking part

In reply to muppetfilter:

http://www.facebook.com/YorkTeachingHospitalCharity/posts/395497940497252

Sadly I can see this sort of thing happeneing more and more. NT gets money (I hope!). Parking is easy. Brimham is great for the family. Access is easy to the top and bottom, belays are good and the rock is clean from the climbers. Never mind the very sensible BMC advice on groups and abseils about trying to avoid popular climbing areas on busy days.

In reply to victorclimber: Happen email Harrogate Climbing centre with your objections. hopefully they will have measures in place to reduce their impact on the rock and surrounding areas.

In reply to victorclimber:
Get a portaledge out, right in the way.

Anyone who sets up minimum sponsorships for charity should be dipped in dog shite.

In reply to victorclimber:

Harrogae Climbing Centre (a very well run wall actually) already has a partnership with NT at Brimham for outdoor courses. Even so they ought to know better than to be running an abseil on one of the most popular butresses on a Sunday. Then again, they are the plonkers who got climbing banned at Foredale with one of their money-making wheezes aren't they?

In reply to higherclimbingwales:


Seeing as I get paid to abseil off oilrigs in West Africa I dont think I will be jumping at this "thrilling jape"...

Lets face it, this is one or two climbs in a small area of Brimham, its not like 80 students descending on Frogatt and hogging the whole crag.

why you making such a fuss ? its for a good cause and hopefully they raise lots of money and im sure this is not the only crag you guys can climb at! go to another crag !!!

In reply to victorclimber: Wrong wrong wrong, I have organised literally hundreds of charity abseils over the last 25 years.

I strongly believe they should be run from structures, towerblocks,bridges,monuments,viaducts,lighthouses. there are all sorts of interesting (and scary) artificial structures to run charity abs.

Absolutely no need to run one on a natural crag. Remember, the members of the public will be turning up with all sorts of footwear, some of them will be very nervous and scrape their way down, some wil want to do "commando" jumps, whatever, the impact on the grit will be massive, compared to the careful footwork of climbers in modern footwear.

Complain to the NT. Brimham is a special and finite resource.

In reply to Jordon Fleming:
You are missing the point. Or at least the main one. The damage from abseiling is not good.
Would you like someone to tell you to go to another crag because repeated group top ropers polished your favourite route?

In reply to muppetfilter: its in the york press today and I have his e mail adress and i will be mailing him

In reply to David Hooper:

Agreed.

In reply to victorclimber:

I'm sad to see the climbing wall lending their name to this. Makes me think they value the rock about as much as the plastic holds they use inside. Anyone from harrogate wall care to comment? BMC?

In reply to victorclimber: might it be worth emailing the climbing wall to protest about this?

In reply to icnoble: i will be calling in to the wall and eveyone who climbs there should make there views known

In reply to victorclimber: You are going to have a pretty busy few weeks if you are going to protest to each and every Outdoor center, Climbing Wall, school, college and University group that chooses to use Brimham as a venue for Climbing and Abseiling.....

In reply to muppetfilter: but you miss the point I arent going to protest at them all ,only this Charity thing ..

In reply to muppetfilter: I think Muppet is a real good name ..nice one ..

In reply to victorclimber: I didn't miss the point at all, I merely point out the hypocrisy of singling out one user group of Brimham when there are literally hundreds of groups each year responsible for a much greater erosion than this one event. Some local centres visit three or four times a week yet you don't protest this?

In reply to muppetfilter: afraid you do miss the point Muppet its the charity aspect of it I hate..

In reply to muppetfilter: The fact is that this Charity event is over and above the usually use the crag gets. most other users have a vested interest in protecting the crag from accelerated erosion and adding a charity element doesn't make it alright

In reply to victorclimber:
You hate charity?

In reply to unclesamsauntibess:

Cool to see a reasoned and well-informed response to an issue.

Get out there with a sharp knife.....

In reply to victorclimber:

We have been asked to support this charity event, for a maximum of 20 people, as they had seen similar offers on adventure and activity websites. As the National Trust's partner at Brimham Rocks, we work hard to ensure that any climbing activities at this wonderful venue is delivered in the most respectful and sustainable way possible. The press release issued incorrectly identifies Cracked Buttress as the area to be used. As climbers, we would not use this, or any climbed area for group abseiling, for the reasons mentioned above. 

Brimham offers a wonderful outdoor experience for a wide variety of users, and our aim is to assist the National Trust to manage this diverse area to ensure it is, and remains, a great area enjoyed by all.

We hope that this will alleviate some of the concerns raised by the incorrect press release.

In reply to Parthian Climbing:
As the National Trust's partner at Brimham Rocks, we work hard to ensure that any climbing activities at this wonderful venue is delivered in the most respectful and sustainable way possible.

There's something about this, and perhaps it's just the choice of language, that really disturbs me. Possibly it's just shades of the recent olympic commercial hype, and I'm just being oversensitive

In reply to victorclimber: Who cares, it's only one part of the crag. Climbing should be for everyone not just people who people who call themselves climbers. As long as the money this guys raising is going to charity I couldn't care less.

In reply to victorclimber:

Let me get this straight .... It would be ok for a corporate hospitality group from the battery Hen association to toprope at a crag BUT it would be wrong if someone else did it to raise money for the research for a cure for Puppy Asthma !

What a terrible world you must live in where altruistic actions are singled out for attack.

In reply to Parthian Climbing:



...plus the inevitability of an abseiler ending up with their foot wedged in a jamming crack.

In reply to Parthian Climbing:
As climbers, we would not use this, or any climbed area for group abseiling, for the reasons mentioned above. 

Out of curiosity which areas would you use. I suspect Cubic Block which is NOT on NT property? Or Fag Slab, again not on NT property.

And how does your partnership with the NT and the use of these areas work?

In reply to A Nidderdale boulderer.:
good questions...........

In reply to Parthian Climbing:

good to see a proper response from an involved party on here, I've been watching the thread for one while the usual assumptions were jumped to without info.

As the above poster has asked though, what areas are being used?

In reply to andyathome:


Way to go lads, really responsible, round of applause for the monkeys with a keyboard

In reply to Scarab9: I have been informed that the area that will be used is the Notice Board Wall area but avoiding any of the climbs on there ,and all precautions will be taken not to harm the rock and surrounding areas ...as for me not liking charity events ,whats wrong with that .I think we live in a democracy..nothing wrong with Charity its the so called events ,you know pay £2000 to ride the Great Wall of China,pay £10 pound to Abseil on Brimham,etc

In reply to victorclimber:

better nip down tonight and put up some new routes on all the unclimbed (unrecorded) rock on Notice Board Wall

In reply to victorclimber:

The forums on UKC are amongst the most entertaining I've come across. I guess it's something to do with the mix of personality types that become climbers. That individuality/total-mentalness thing. Mesmerising. This thread is amongst my faves though.

They are doing charity! The bastards! Cut their ropes! Dip them in dog shit! They are being reasonable! They must be lying!

Class.