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Eco-friendly climbing

What environmental impact do you make when climbing on natural rock faces? Find out more in this research challenge.

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You’ll need

  • Pens or pencils
  • Big pieces of paper
  • Access to a computer
  • Access to the internet

Before you begin

  • If you don’t have access to the internet (or devices such as tablets), you could print some information about each of the topics and bring it along. You could also ask people to research before the session.

Plan for the day

  1. Draw a horizontal line across the middle of a big piece of paper.
  2. Split the line up into hours, so it covers a whole day.
  3. Everyone should work together to create a timeline for their day climbing on a natural rock face. They should include travel (for example, driving to the crag and walking to the bottom of the wall) as well as setting up, climbing, taking down, and travelling back. It can look something like this:

Research time

  1. Everyone should think about the different equipment they’ll use while climbing.
  2. People should take it in turns to share their ideas. Everyone should quickly chat about what the purpose of the equipment is, and one person should keep track of everyone’s ideas by writing down a list.
  1. Split everyone into groups of up to four people. Each group should find a space.
  2. Give each group a piece of equipment or topic. We’ve included a suggested list (and some pointers) below. Don’t share the pointers with the groups!
  3. Each group should spend about 15 minutes researching the equipment or topic they’ve been given. If they’re researching equipment, they should find out what it’s used for and how it impacts the environment.
  1. Each group should also look back at the timeline – when is their equipment or topic relevant? Does this affect the impact it has?
  2. Once the groups have finished, they should take it in turns to present their findings. How they do this is up to them – for example, they could talk about their research or show everyone a poster they made.
  3. Everyone should gather back together. Which things had the greatest environmental impact? How could they work together to reduce their impact when climbing on natural rock faces?

Climbing chalk

  • It’s not natural to the rock. If it’s left on the rock it erodes and damages it.
  • When it rains, it drips down the face and gets into the soil.

Walking shoes

  • They can erode footpaths.
  • If people walk through brambles or bushes, they’ll damage them. This affects wildlife.

Climbing shoes

  • They damage the rock. If the same route’s climbed all the time, the rock will wear away.
  • People wearing climbing shoes may also accidentally break off parts of the rock.

Rubbish

  • Rubbish isn’t usually bio-degradable so it sticks around for a long time.
  • Wildlife may try to eat rubbish.

Top-rope anchor points

  • These can wear away and damage the top of the rock face.
  • The anchor points also put strain onto (and weaken) the trees or boulders that are used.

Bolts

  • They break the rock when they’re driven in.
  • They create an entry point for water (and other things) which creates a weakness in that part of the rock.

Cams, nuts, and hexes

  • When they’re used within cracks on the rock, the friction that holds them in place wears the rock away.
  • Over time, this damages the rock and makes the cracks bigger.

Animals

  • Noise drives animals away – this can affect the ecosystem of an area.
  • If any birds nest in the rock, their nests may be damaged by climbers using the holds.

Reflection

This activity was all about valuing the outdoors. Climbing’s a fun sport, and it allows people to enjoy being outside and experience nature in a different way… but it has an impact on the environment too. Was anyone surprised by how much climbing affects natural rock and the surrounding environment? Why is it important to find ways to reduce an activity’s impact on the environment? Does valuing the outdoors just mean enjoying it, or do people have responsibilities too?

This activity was also about developing skills. Did people learn anything knew about reducing the environmental impact of climbing? Why is it important to keep the environment in mind when having fun? When else might people need to think beyond themselves and consider the environmental impact of their actions.

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You don’t have to break it down like this – people could think about all aspects of the day at once.

People don’t have to speak in front of others if they don’t want to. They could give someone else notes or a poster to present. Equally, if some people would prefer to remember what they found and chat about it, rather than writing things down, that’s OK too.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Scouts Climber Activity Badge

Visit a crag as a group and remove rubbish that’s impacting the environment. Keep an eye out for other ways climbing’s impacted the crag, and chat about how people could reduce the impact of their climbing.

This activity’s all about people doing their own research. You could let people choose their own equipment or topic too, rather than giving them a topic.