Rock Climbing in Scotland
A Visitors Guide
- STYLE AND ETHICS:
- A Brief History
- Current Style of Scottish Climbing
- Climbing New Routes
- The Use Of Bolts On Scottish Rock
STYLE AND ETHICS:
The predominant Scottish climbing style is the same as that found in the rest of the United Kingdom. It is perhaps unique in the world as it is not primarily dependant upon in-situ protection such as pegs (pitons) or bolts as is the case in many other countries. The ethic regarding protection is that climbers should rely upon ‘natural’ protection [e.g. ‘nuts’, ‘micro nuts’, ‘Friends’, ‘Tricams’, ‘RP’s’ etc.] placed into cracks and fissures that are naturally available in the rock. The use of pegs is regarded as a last resort when the natural protection is non-existent, and then usually only used by first ascentionists establishing new routes (see advice below). This has left a legacy of climbs that are best described as “adventurous”.
Sport climbing crags have been developed across Scotland although those developing sport venues are conscious of preserving the integrity of adventurous routes and venues.
You could say that it all started on the remote Outer Hebridean islands of St Kilda. A visit by the writer Martin Martin ca.1697, recounted tales of a society built around climbing: the capturing of sea birds was central to their existence for food, trade and social structure. The islanders were even physiologically developed for a climbing life with prehensile divergent toes and especially strong ankles for barefoot climbing. Martin’s accounts and others (notably Donald Monro in 1549) are evidence that climbing was important for more than just livelihood.
Courage and skill as cliff fowlers was highly regarded as a test of manhood. The social importance of The Mistress Stone is a good example – prospective husbands had to handstand on a stone jutting 300m above the sea! Other tales include that of 3 year old boys being encouraged to climb the outside walls of their houses in preparation for future climbing. This is the first instance that MCofS can find of sport-specific ‘training’ on artificial structures which many people would regard as a relatively modern innovation, and one which we now take for granted at indoor climbing walls. Another tale concerns the difficulty of climbing attained; Stac Biorach was reputedly the hardest of the stacks to climb and it was said that any man who failed to climb it did not get a wife!
Other evidence shows that the islanders relished climbing for its own sake. There is an account of an ascent of Stac Biorach by Sir Robert Moray in 1698 which describes a climbing technique known as a ‘dyno’ – a dynamic upwards jump. Martin’s description of the ascent of Stac Dona similarly goes into detail, describing a mantleshelf onto the climbers thumb! This section of the climb was known by the St. Kildans as ‘The Thumb’.
Hence, historically, Scottish climbers can justifiably regard St Kilda as the birthplace of Scottish climbing. Indeed, this is compelling recorded evidence that it is the first example of recreational rock climbing in the UK!
The development of climbing in Scotland through the last 100 years has paralleled that of the rest of the UK. It has changed as gear development allowed different styles to be taken forward and thus allowing standards to rise. Since recreational climbing ‘began’ in Scotland in the late 1800’s, the predominant style employed has been that of ‘free’ climbing without the excessive use of in-situ protection, either for direct aid or simply for protection. Throughout Scottish climbing history new climbs were done in a style known as ‘on-sight’. This involves climbing from the ground up without any prior knowledge of the intended route. Protection whilst climbing was rudimentary in the beginning, involving only a rope and a few slings to place over spikes of rock. Later, from the 1960’s onwards, pitons (‘pegs’) were used for protection as ‘running belays’ (or ‘runners’), but again whilst climbing on-sight. Some ‘aid’ climbing was undertaken particularly during the 1960’s and 1970’s. This involved the use of both pegs and of hand-drilled ‘bolts’ for direct use to progress up a face, again usually climbed on-sight.
In the late 1970’s and 1980’s the remaining new routes were on the more blank faces and inspection on an abseil prior to an ascent (to clean the route and to check out holds and protection) became accepted as standard for first ascents of the harder routes, although many routes were still climbed ‘on-sight’ when rock conditions allowed. An unspoken ethic concerning the repeating of established climbs means that an ascent is only regarded as legitimate when completed on-sight. The development of technical ‘natural’ protection devices allowed even the blankest looking walls to be climbed without the use of ‘in-situ’ pegs or bolts. This style of climbing coincided with the biggest boom in development since climbing started and many new areas were opened up.
The pre-placing of bolts to create ‘sport climbs’ started in the late 1980’s. The bolts are pre-placed by abseil. It has been a contentious development and has split climbing communities, with early ‘bolt wars’ seeing venues bolted, de-bolted and re-bolted. The MCofS has tried to arbitrate between the differing views to reach an agreed compromise, and there is now some guidance to help decide on suitable venues (see the MCofS Crag Code, and the Ethic’s Debate). As a result, although there has been a considerable increase recently in sport development (with a dedicated guidebook published in 2007), it has not led to acrimony and a repeat of previous disagreements. Ethics are of course not static and the MCofS website will continue to offer a forum for debate on the subject.
The majority of development of new areas from 1995 to 2007 has been on sea cliffs, particularly in the Outer Hebrides where most ascents have been ground-up, on-sight and reaching E7 in standard; and on outcrops in the North West, particularly around Gairloch and Scourie.
Finally, although bouldering was undertaken by most climbers over the years (a good description of the ‘art’ appears in one of Harold Raeburn’s instructional books in 1920; and most indoor walls concentrated on bouldering until the 1980’s) it was not until the 1990’s and the lack of virgin rock in England forced a fresh look at bouldering being worthy of recorded description, particularly via the internet, that bouldering really took off. The technical advance of ‘crash-mats’ certainly helped the older generation to take it up again! As a result, bouldering in Scotland is the fastest growing activity in the ‘naughties’.
Current Style of Scottish Climbing
The legacy of this history of climbing development and ethics has meant that there are now two types of route in Scotland: ‘gear routes’ and ‘sport routes’. The vast majority of the climbs in Scotland are ‘gear routes’ which require the use of natural protection. Guidebooks describing the range of gear routes on offer do not give detailed information about what protection devices are required so climbers have to carry a full rack of gear (‘Rocks’, ‘RP’ nuts, ‘Friends’ etc) in order to protect themselves on these climbs. Some climbs require more esoteric protection devices such as ‘Tricams’ and ‘sliders’ (even aid climbing devices such as ‘Skyhooks’ have been employed), or vital protection may be slightly off-route or difficult to find. In these cases the protection is often mentioned. Some of these routes have the occasional in-situ peg for protection. These have been placed by the first ascentionist. They should not be removed (nor entirely relied upon – check their condition yourself). On the other hand, climbers should not add pegs (or bolts) to such routes either as this would be regarded as a retrograde step, be destructive to the rock and would be frowned upon by most climbers.
Gear climbs vary in their degree of seriousness depending upon the natural occurrence of cracks in which to place protection. There are many climbs of every grade that are as safe as a bolt-protected sport route when all the available natural protection is found and used. On the other hand there are also many climbs (again of all grades) that are very poorly protected and where a fall may be serious. Indeed there are some with virtually no protection and failure on these would mean a fall to the ground with very serious consequences. This makes for highly exciting climbing.
A new (2007) Sport Climbing Guide details all venues in Scotland, but most are also described in the main guidebooks alongside gear routes. They are currently all single pitch and tend to be in low-lying areas. Many are characterised by being short and hard although the full range of grades are catered for with many good beginner crags. They are fully equipped with bolts which are very close together, often closer than found on sport routes in other countries in Europe. They are usually equipped with lower-off points just below the top of the crag.
There is a still wealth of unclimbed rock across Scotland where routes could be established at all grades. Should a climber wish to climb new routes here, the most important points to remember concern not just the ethics of Scottish climbing (where and where not to bolt) but also the impact on the cliff environment. This involves being aware of the existence of any important plant life on the cliff or nesting birds of all species (although specially protected species such as Eagles and Peregrine Falcons are particularly important) and making sure climbing activity creates as little disturbance as possible. Gardening of vegetation from routes can be particularly destructive and restraint should be exercised. Both flowers and birds are protected in Scottish Law from damage or disturbance. Many cliffs are also within areas with conservation designations and full information can be obtained from the MCofS.
For those establishing new gear climbs the main ethical issue concerns that of placing pegs. Pegs on sea-cliffs deteriorate rapidly and may be unusable after only a few years. Their use here should therefore be avoided completely. The mountain cliff environment offers extremes of freeze and thaw which will mean a more rapid deterioration than on low-lying outcrops and the use of pegs here should be a last resort. Pegs used on outcrop routes should also be minimised.
For those contemplating establishing new sport routes, the same environmental issues relevant to gear routes are important but there is an added ethical issue to be taken into account. Decisions leading to which crags can be bolted are left to the individual to decide but the placement of bolts is a contentious issue and if placed in areas where other climbers feel are inappropriate then they may well be removed. Guidelines have been drawn up by the MCofS which will help climbers make informed decisions when deciding where to establish sport climbs. These are:
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The Use Of Bolts On Scottish Rock After considering the views of many of Scotland’s active climbers on the issue of bolts in Scottish Rock Climbing, the MCofS offers the following policy which it is hoped will act as a guideline to all climbers (present, future and visiting) on bolt use in Scotland. The MCofS and Scottish climbers acknowledge that there is a place for bolts in the future development of Scottish climbing. However, to ensure that the highly regarded ethos of, an future development of, traditional climbing (involving the use of leader placed / second removed protection) is not threatened, it is felt that the use of bolts should be limited to the production of sport climbs (there should be no retrospective bolting on established climbs for protection or belay, and there should be no minimalist bolting). The production of sport climbs with bolts is acceptable on NATURAL ROCK only when ALL the following circumstances are satisfied :
Concerning QUARRIED ROCK it is felt that any future development should be constrained only by points 2 and 4 above. Finally it is felt that bolts should be located to ensure minimum visual impact and should be placed using current best practices. It is intended that these principles are not seen as simply constrictive rules, but a guide to promote the positive development of Scottish rock climbing, where sport climbing, rather than becoming the substitute for traditional climbing, grows alongside it. |
This means that climbers will not find bolts on mountain cliffs or the majority of outcrop crags or sea cliffs.
