UKC

Anyone aware of bolt funds in Catalonia?  Google's not helping much.

Not sure about other areas but for Margalef I think it's coordinated through Jordi Pou at the Refugi de Margalef.

Thanks!  Anyone else got any leads?

Whats your motive ? If you buy local topos, then you will contribute. There's a tin for local bolting in the Abella refuge ...

As far as I am aware, the majority of areas in Spain (and France largely) don't run bolt funds in the same way that we run them in the UK. The bolting is funded in a variety of ways but they seldom have a central pot that you can contribute to as a climber, apart from the odd rattle tin in a refugio. I know this because I have tried to find these funds. 

Alan

Off the top of my head I can't think of any 'official' bolt funds for new routing in Catalunya but you often see donation boxes sitting on the counters of climbing shops, bars and refugis.

Occasionally the Catalan climbing federation (FEEC) will supply material, but only for re-equipping, and the lengthy form-filling and bureaucracy required tends to put most people off

My experience is that most revenue for bolting derives from guidebook sales or, where that's not applicable, equippers just dig into their own pockets. You'd probably surprised how much of the latter goes on — just ordinary people spending extraordinary amounts of money to create something to be enjoyed by others... a bit like Gary.

Pete.

Thanks, Alan.  This is a bit frustrating, but explains why I haven't found any info elsewhere.  Perhaps locals will know if there's someone who'll take donations directly.

Thanks Pete.  I know a lot of the bolting is very localised.  As you say some areas don't have guidebooks so I guess these are more likely to be random locals funding themselves or going through the FEEC.

If you're buying local guidebooks in Catalunya (I include Lleida Climbs and Tarragona Climbs in this category, though I know some may disagree) then I don't think you need to worry about direct bolt-fund donations, unless you want to target a particular zone and/or group of equippers.

For the record: since 2010 Lleida/Tarragona Climbs guidebook sales have enabled us to purchase and pass on to equippers somewhere in the region of €10,000 worth of bolts, hangers and lower offs (and this is with bulk purchase discounts) though I need to add that this figure includes bolting gear that I've used myself in developing new routes and sectors in the region. 

We have also given many climbing refugis (which are generally the epicentres of climbing deveopment in Catalunya) deals which allow them to sell our guidebooks with no money upfront and then keep between €8 and €10 per copy sold. In certain cases the revenues for individual refugis have run into thousands of euros... with obvious benefits for bolt funding.

Pete.