By Dave MacLeod

In what direction is climbing in Scotland going, and is it the right one? It is a question asked over and over by successive generations of climbers. At best, the question is a critical one for bodies like the MCofS who are there to protect the interests of everyone who use the outdoors and the environment itself. At worst, it gives armchair climbers something to talk about over a pint, an opportunity to attack those who are 'out there doing it' or to massage egos. I often feel that such oversensitivity and self-analysis of our own motives in the hills does more to hold us all back than it does to protect us. As a committed activist in Scottish climbing myself, I feel that my contribution to the discussion and ultimate direction of Scottish climbing is best made through my actions on the cliffs and not on paper. I am uncomfortable that others might be led by my dogma as I hold the view that there is enough rock, ice and mountains in our country for us all to be able to enjoy our own 'version' of mountaineering without stepping on somebody else's enjoyment. However, I do feel that this last point can be illustrated by a look through what shifts are going on in the sport and what it all means.

The first thing that always strikes me when this subject comes up is climber's sense of history – it seems to vaporise. The most common opinion held is that climbing was somehow 'OK' before, but is in crisis now. This does not add up for me. Take Scottish winter climbing as an example. People have felt recently that things like dry tooling crags, leashless tools, and ascents done in headpoint style are a sudden threat to an otherwise sound and stable sport. However, it strikes me that these developments are pretty tame compared to historical upheavals. In a few decades, we have moved from protectionless leads to space age ice screws, step cutting to nailed boots, to crampons, and from one ice axe to two. Even in rock climbing we have 'survived' the introduction of rock shoes, chalk, friends, guidebooks, detailed grading etc. My point here is simply that climbers are still the same human beings they were when they got past these 'problems' of the past. Modern issues such as bolts and headpointing are not going to crush the sport any more than they have done in the past. Only ignorance and selfishness can crush a sport.

Often I see that the concern expressed by climbers about development such as sport climbing is borne out of a fear that the younger generation of new climbers have no sense that the mountains are a precious resource that should be treated with care. I believe this view shows ignorance in many cases and often comes from people who have never taken the trouble to listen to what young climbers have to say. Such concern also often arises in climbers who feel that new disciplines or ethical styles threaten the established ones. Again, I feel this view is short-sighted and has been proved wrong time and again.

The points above have a negative tone and this is part of the problem that arises with our culture of ethical scrutiny. It tends to create a focus on negative aspects of climbing, an atmosphere which stifles the good things that have happened and which might happen in the future. Here is one example of how new developments have made a positive impact on climbing in Scotland.

Dave MacLeod headpointing FA of The Gathering (E8 6b), The Cioch, Skye. Like many of Scotland's hardest routes, death is the consequence of a fall and on-sight attempts would be too dangerous. Repeat ascentionists can now take advantage of knowledge of the route's difficulty, making on-sight ascents a little less suicidal.

Over the past 5 years I have opened a string of hard traditional rock routes, culminating in a step forward for Scottish standards to the E9 grade. These ascents involved pre-practice of the moves using a top rope ('headpoint' style). Several people have commented to me that they feel this was in fact a step backwards in standards because of the step away from traditional (no top roping) ethics. I feel differently for the following reasons. Firstly, these climbs allowed a clarification of the working ethical styles for climbing routes, creating more honesty and a level playing field for climbers to compare themselves and routes. This is because some of the cutting edge routes of the past which were climbed in a style under the banner 'onsight' were in fact less “pure” than headpointing. They were marked by multiple yoyo's (rendering the ascent a headpoint anyway!) preplaced gear, inspection and sometimes rest or aid points which appear in some cases to have been undeclared or at least underplayed. The new method of headpointing, in which the moves are practised before a clean lead placing all gear, offers an opportunity to consign the ethically messy practices above to history and create an open and clean definition between 'onsighting' a route and prepractising it. Secondly, the headpoint style has created an opportunity to leave behind the use of hammered protection (i.e. pegs) which litter the crags and eventually rust and become dangerous, thus ruining a route. If you are not good enough to onsight the route, you either headpoint it using the natural gear there is or leave it alone. Either way, the rock does not suffer, only the ego. Thirdly and perhaps most significantly for many, headpointing has created an opportunity to gain the necessary experience on routes at the limits of technical difficulty and boldness, which in turn provide a means for breaking barriers in onsighting. I know that I could never have onsight flashed traditional E7 unless I had headpointed E8s and E9s first.

The challenges and threats we face in Scottish climbing (with regard to ethical development) are still the same as those we have always faced; ignorance, selfishness and lack of imagination. Mountaineers, even young ones who started climbing in climbing walls, like to clip bolts sometimes and maybe even drink red bull, still climb for the same reasons we all do; adventure, athleticism and many more good reasons besides. Further, they still hold the same values as past generations including respect for other people and the mountains. In fact I feel that recently, the climbing scene has begun to reclaim a sense of openness and positivity which seemed to be absent for a while, in which climbers can feel good about new developments, disciplines, practices and climbing styles, even if they don't wish to participate in them personally. So perhaps in the coming years we can be even more proud of the diversity that exists in Scottish climbing and watch with interest as this diversity translates into more enjoyment for more climbers, and increases standards as well.

The Scottish Climbing debate