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Community or Clique? 11-Jul-2006 At 4:26:21 PM climbingjac

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Hurrah! I'm getting through! Try to think big Neilio. Imagine a world where bolting does not have to be done under the cover of darkness. Imagine a world, such as the world in Orpierre in France, where the mayor says "I have a massive crag in my town. I wish for it to be bolted, and pays a mob of climbers to do it." Things would be done in a controlled fashion, decided upon by an official panel. There would not be random individuals running around doing what they felt like on the day. There would be routes bolted suitable to the level of ability that the route is graded. eg no massive runouts on grade 8s. There would be climbs for people of all ranges of ability. Yes that's right kiddies, you can start lead climbing on bolts over there if you want. You don't have to find the cash for a whole rack of trad gear, nor do you have to spend the time learning to place it. While on one hand that could be seen as a shame, on the other you can say well not everyone has the time to refine the skills of trad.... and it is probably the case that not many people push the limit much on trad. That keeps the standard down in Australia. Hmmm I guess that's why we don't have that many Victorians climbing hard. Not much sport climbing - or any sport climbing for that matter - available in the easier numbers.

That was an unnecessarily long post. Anyway my point is, dare to imagine that more people in the sport could lead to great things - and in fact potentially great things we haven't even thought of yet. It never occurred to me that a corporation would offer to put up as much cash as they did for Burnley... and all it took was a little community interest and an indication that there would be routes for newcomers to try. Dare to imagine...