Minutes of BMC South Wales Action Group Bolt Discussion - 17th April 2008

BMC South Wales Action Group Bolt Discussion

17th April 2008

Dynamic Rock

This is a summary of the evening using as few words as possible.

1 – Current Bolt Policy & related problems.

• Any new crags found on Gower are to be bolt free.

• Part 6 of the Bolt Policy needs to be more specific.

• “Worn placement” (Part 6) means pegs NOT nut or friend placements.

• Several people wondered why the First Ascentionist gets the final say on the future of their route when re-equipped or proposed for retrobolting, rather than local consensus. What should be done in instances where first ascentionist is no longer alive or is uncontactable? This is a historical issue that applies to the rest of the UK. It reflects some very strong opinions on the matter from the open meetings and was designed as an extra restriction on bolting.

• Mark Winder is the BMC’s Access Rep for the Gower area. It’s important that he’s one of the first points of contact for any access concerns. (Contact: [email protected] or 01792 850578) The BMC rep for the rest of South East Wales is John Custance (contact via: [email protected] or 02920 594398 [Does Gower cover Camarthenshire for the purposes of BMC coverage]?

• Some felt that nesting restrictions are sometimes either vague or not related to the facts or not always kept up to date. This is an issue for the BMC’s access team, and is a problem elsewhere in the country. It’s dealt with effectively in other regions so it can work here.

2- Problems/Conflicts with Bolt Policy

• In a review of the Trial Wall saga Andy Sharp, (first free ascent of all the old aid routes on the wall including Crime & Punishment) suggested that consensus must be reached over recent bolting and de-bolting. He was also clear that it’s up to the active climbers of today to take the situation forward in a positive way.

• Latest bolting of Crime and Punishment (C&P): 3 bolts put in, point for point in accordance with the policy. Noted by Andy Sharp that there were many bolts in on the first free ascent.

• Shake Out:- bolt policy may have been broken: 2 pegs have been replaced with 3 bolts. Actual position is not clear.
• It was suggested that some sort of dispute resolution procedure be put in place to resolve these and future conflicts.

• Minchin Hole:- The situation is not clear. There are reported violations of the ban by climbers. Facts are needed to make progress on this. We will get the facts! BMC advice is to avoid MH until the facts are known.

• If there are any further problems anywhere in the region, contact Martin Kocsis at the BMC Office who will know the right people to talk to in order to solve the problem.

3- Decluttering

• On trad crags, ie those where any bolting is prohibited the initial assumption should be that existing fixed gear (pegs, threads, bolts etc) should be removed or left to rot .

Climbers should feel free to remove fixed gear from trad routes if the following applies :

• The crag is scheduled as ‘No Bolting allowed’ in the bolt policy

• The overall character of the route will not be changed.

• The fixed gear has no aesthetic character (eg the wooden wedge on Osiris)

• They have climbed the route without using the gear

Otherwise the climber should consult with other interested parties and avoid any action until a consensus has been reached.

It is incumbent on anyone who has removed gear in this way to ensure that the wider climbing community is informed to avoid potentially dangerous situations. This can be done via the new routes page on the SWMC website and UKC.

It is also incumbent to clean up the placement as far as possible and avoid breaking rock.

Where threads are to be removed, the full body of the thread must be removed. It is unacceptable and dangerous to cut threads, but leave them in (as has been done in the past).

It is not the intention of the de-cluttering statement to prevent like for like equipment replacement (eg a peg for a peg) on routes whose character would be radically altered, eg hard trad routes at Ogmore.

Crags where bolting is allowed are not subject to the de-cluttering statement.

4 & 5 - Mix and Match /Designer Danger routes

• These routes are largely covered off by decisions made here about in situ gear replacement. Where there is no clear ruling, the disputes resolution procedure can be used.;

6 – South Wales Bolt Fund

• There is no SWBF yet. It needs local climbers to get involved and make it happen. The BMC is about to buy more bolts and lower offs, and that gear is only available to bolt funds. The bolts can only be used to replace bolts that currently exist. The first bolt workshop will kickstart the SWBF. If you are interested, contact Dan Middleton directly on 0161 438 3326 or [email protected]

7 – Crag Clean Ups

• There is a BMC Crag Care Fund. £10,000 is available for equipment & professional services, e.g. tree surgeons. The money is there to be used.

• South Wales Mountaineering Club see clean ups and replacement bolts as legitimate uses of club funds.

Decisions & Progress

1. If you believe that non-bolt fixed gear is superfluous after your ascent, remove it, make sure the placement is clean, and inform BMC/SWMC/UKC crag moderators so that this info can be updated and publicised.

2. There will be a prevailing assumption that rotten fixed (non-bolt) gear on a trad crag, ie one where no bolting is permissible under the current policy, should be removed and the placement made clean, where this would not radically alter the character of the route.

3. On sports crags, dangerous bolts should be replaced with shiny new ones.

4. Chris Wyatt will circulate a draft proposal for a “dispute resolution procedure” This procedure will seek to deal with difficult areas and seek to uphold rather than undermine established policy - Obviously it won’t allow people to take the mickey and get sport crags debolted, or trad crags bolted! Goi Ashmore and others to review for workability.

6. Goi Ashmore will come up with a statement that clarifies part 6 of the bolt policy.

7. Llanbradach clean up and bolt workshop Saturday 7th June 2008

8. Taffs Well West clean up (6 weeks later) Saturday 19th July 2008

9. Bolt Workshop to be done same day as the clean up at Llanbradach.

10. The issue of bolt lower offs at trad crags was missed out from the meeting by mistake. This will be dicussed after the Llanbradach clean up.

11. There will be a review of nesting restrictions in May.