The British Mountaineering Council has produced a new poster featuring '10 Commandments' for bouldering good practice.

There seems no limit to the growth in popularity of bouldering, particularly among younger climbers – but that popularity has come at a price. Environmental pressure is increasing at established venues, a pattern no one wants repeated at sites more recently developed.

So in conjunction with Simon Panton, author of the North Wales Bouldering/Bowldro Gogledd Cymru guide and with funding from Sport England and support from the Association of British Climbing Walls, the BMC has published a poster encouraging climbers to think about and reduce their impact. The poster lists ‘10 Commandment’ that offer tips on climbing sensitively, and has been distributed to climbing walls and popular climbing cafes.

“It’s clear to me,” says Panton, “that if we don’t make efforts to limit our impact at these special places, we are in danger of ruining the very thing that we love so much.”

The BMC wants to make climbers aware that simple consideration can make our use of the crags and boulders that we love to climb more sustainable. Most climbers agree that chipping or excessive brushing create permanent damage. We all have a responsibility to stop such activities.

“We need to change the way that we boulder, considering our own actions, and how the way we behave at the crag might influence others. These 10 Commandments are a good starting point for everybody, regardless of whether they’ve been at it for years, or have discovered bouldering more recently.”

Copies of the poster, featuring an illustration by Ray Eckerman of smallmountains, are available from the BMC office. Just call 0870 010 4878 or email office@thebmc.co.uk and they will send you one for free.

Relevant links:
      Larger (readable) version of 10 commandments poste