COMMENT
It's All My Fault!
Back in the early '70s I was a postgraduate student at Leeds University. Every day I ran the gauntlet as I made my way to the squash court along a corridor whose brick walls were festooned with bearded weirdoes practicing the new sport of indoor climbing. Lanky men with gorilla like arms and legs frequently fell on unsuspecting squash players; there were no safety mats in those days. The man in charge of this project was a certain Don Robinson, a lecturer in my department. Forward to the present day…
I was perusing the mountain accident figures the other day and noted that climbing accidents in Scotland seem to be falling. Good news! I reflected on this today as I walked my Collie to a local feature called The Whangie. Many readers will know this place well. Few people seem to climb there nowadays. The drive from home takes me past another climbing venue – Craigmore Crag. I cut my teeth on this wonderful rock some 30 years ago; lots of short, strenuous routes with good protection. Each year come April you could guarantee around 100 people climbing every night when the weather was dry and the breeze kept the midges at bay. But no longer; few people climb there nowadays. And nobody seems to climb any longer at other local haunts – for example Pillar just up from Carbeth Loch. And come to think of it, the clank of ironmongery on Ben A'An in the Trossachs is rarely heard on a good summer's day.
Today, I sprackled around the lower rocks at the Whangie and discovered that holds once polished and worn with use are now the home of abundant lichens! I sat down and gazed at the sun striking the main amphitheatre. All I saw and heard were the echoes of climbing days long gone. I was alone on a day made for climbing. And then it occurred to me; fewer accidents, no cars in the popular lay bys, and fewer folk on the rock – people don't climb any more! Where are they? Well, I suspect they're all top-roping at a warm, cosy indoor venue.
So, is there a pattern here? Are we losing regular climbers and newcomers to the safe, dry, manicured indoor havens? Are youngsters and newcomers turning away from traditions that embody risk, hardship and self-reliance (as well as challenge, camaraderie and environmental education) in favour of an indoor 'sport' that presents technical challenges but is devoid of risk assessment, discomfort and rich mountain understanding? If I'm correct and this is the way things are going then I'm prepared to shoulder some of the blame! Why? Well, Don Robinson went on to establish DR Climbing Walls. The man that started it all was a colleague of mine for three years and I did nothing to stop the folly!
Bob Sharp
(Bob is former Vice President of the MCofS and he still contributes regularly to the work of the Safety and Training Committee. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the MCofS)
Note from the Editor:
That original 'Leeds Wall' is to be demolished in 2006 when the University sports complex is redeveloped. There are hopes that part of it may be salvaged for posterity in recognition of its role in the rapid rise of climbing standards in the 1970's when climbing stars such as John Syrett, Al Manson, Allan Austin, and later Pete Livesey, Steve Bancroft, John Sheard and the Lakes 'massive' (Cleasby, Matheson and Clegg) became regulars.