UKC

Whilst there are many similarities between climbing indoors and outdoors, there are a lot of differences too, and it's worth being aware of these before you head out onto real rock for the first time.

There's a whole myriad of things to take into account such as route reading, safety, spotting and ethics. This doesn't have to be overwhelming though, and our handy guide will show you what to expect when you get out of the gym.

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On the whole, a good video. Perhaps, given some of the recent issues around access, it maybe have touched on some of the other aspects of enjoying the outdoors - respect for the environment, parking, car sharing, access issues etc? Or maybe than can be the next video?

We've got a few videos coming out in this series and most of (if not all) the issues you've outlined are covered within them

Nice one Rob, good work!

As a general aside to this series, it's worth mentioning that we proactively integrated its message within our recent destination guides to bouldering at Cratcliffe/Robin Hood's Stride, Llanberis Pass, Carrock Fell and Almscliff. 

We didn't want go overboard within those and make them outright instructional, because the primary aim was to make them fun and watchable; however, we did want to interweave best practise within them (e.g. drying/cleaning shoes, brushing off chalk + tick marks) so that good etiquette was demonstrated throughout.

I think a balanced approach, using inspirational content such as that with instructional content such as this is key, as is venturing off UKC and onto other platforms such as YouTube and Instagram, because that way the message gets out to an entirely different audience.

I'm not saying for one minute that this will solve the problem, but I thought I'd give a bit of background into our thoughts behind how we're trying to address it.

Here's to hoping it makes a difference...

I'm gobsmacked that this video even exists. What ever happened to just going out climbing and using some common sense? If you need to be told to "look out for that rock" then maybe you shouldn't be there in the first place.

It's clearly not aimed at you.

Access? guidebooks? RAD? parking? cleaning feet? taking litter home? not taking your boom-box?

"soft brush" - bouldering brushes are pretty stiff (try brushing your teeth with one) but never metal brushes. Part of the reason you brush is to improve the climbing but the reason you brush after is to avoid upsetting people.

I don't adhere to some people's view that we are all linked to the RAD through some sixth sense but there is an important responsibility to discuss responsible behaviour in any material aimed at new outdoor climbers - you should have a crib sheet of the top-5 gripes/things to know.  My top three would be dirty feet, access and tw&tty behaviour (noise and littering).

Read my comment above, we’ll be covering these topics within the rest of the series. 

Did you watch the video? This is all covered within it…

I did watch the video and I don't think these topics were well covered in it.

There are on going issues, it's easy for some to point to newbies as a source of the trouble. I do think this is the prime time to cover them. I don't think a separate "how not to be a knob" video is as effective. Hence the comments!

There's a whole lot of rabbit holes we could go down and we've got to be selective about which ones we go down, because a video where I go into a five minute monologue on the pros and cons of brush types isn't going to be of much interest to the people who we're making the video for. It is, after all, super specialist stuff...

To counter this, the reason we're producing a series - as opposed to a single video - is so that it keeps this issue at the fore for longer. A one-off effort isn't going to have anywhere near as much impact as a sustained one, which is why we opted to make more - and do so via different angles (i.e. this series, then the destination guides we did in March).

Maybe it's aimed at people who fall onto rocks because nobody told them not to.

I think you are doing a good job here Rob. I think brushing does need better emphasis as it's a very important but nuanced topic. If you look where sandstone problems (including those on grit)  are damaged it's nearly all down to dirty feet and over brushing. The question is how do we reduce brushing on delicate rock? I'd prefer bans on some venues and on others, where problems are damaged, emphasise avoid brushing these where possible. There is too much emphasis in my view on clearing up chalk: on damaged problems I'd prefer we try to use less chalk and where rock is well exposed to rain, let the weather do the work.

I think making videos on not being a kn*b isn't very useful: kn*bs usually won't think it applies to them or just won't care. Kn*bbish behaviour is best dealt with in news articles.