[lagerstarfish]

in light of this

One particular point of interest to people on here, and I'm sure one that many won't have even considered before, is the impact of night bouldering with lamps. The concern being that it interupts the quiet nighttime period for wildlife, and also gives the land less recovery time between the bashing it gets during the day.

As I said on the other thread...

We know that our night bouldering does not significantly impact on the land/wildlife/global warming etc, but neither does leaving draws on routes - and look at the potential problems connected to that.

It is important to consider the perception of out antics by land owners, farmers, members of the non-climbing public etc. If they can be calmed by showing them a list of generally accepted guidelines for our nocturnal bumbling then everyone wins.

Some sort of internet forum used by boulderers would be a good place to pull a few ideas together...

...and that BMC thing might have some experience in distributing the results of such a discussion (if they haven't done so already)


"perception gaps" are interesting things

Suggestions for a responsible night climbing code of conduct?

and of course a prize for the best acronym/name for the guidelines

to kick off...

lights off during the walk in - head torches only - to reduce the impact on wildlife and livestock

try to make sure that the light is falling on the rock and not shining off into the distance

consider turning lights off/down in between climbing

ensure that gas/fuel burning lights are either hung from a secure stand or firmly placed on non-flamable bits of countryside (rocks being a good example of this)

[granticus]

Since becoming a dad I have taken to night bouldering on regular basis.  Generally at coastal venues so the fire risk is minimal.  Have had some amazing encounters with wildlife during these sessions, Monday night we had bats flying very close to our faces catching insects attracted by our head torch beams.  We generally only use one gas lantern which creates a small 'pool' of light, creates little or no disturbance and attracts no attention.   I guess if folk are turning up in the countryside with the intention of 'floodlighting' boulders and blazing out tonnes of light with multiple lanterns/torches wildlife/people might get upset.  A lot of landowners get very twitchy about anyone wondering around their farm land at night time, especially as there has been a spate of thefts and rustling in our area.

So I guess all the usual rules apply for using the countryside but people need to take additional things into account.  Like am I going to set fire to the countryside, am I gonna disturb or piss a farmer off, am I gonna get the coastguard called out unneccesarily, am I gonna disturb nocturnal wildlife?  The majority of this comes down to keeping a low profile ie. keeping noise down, climbing away from residential areas, climbing in small groups, using the minimum amount of light for the job..

[lagerstarfish]

using the minimum amount of light for the job..

I've thought about making some kind of matte box for my lights. I'd better get on with really.

initial thoughts are to make a flexible cone thing out of chicken wire wrapped in kitchen foil

[Offwidth]

Take extra care to avoid any litter.
Always avoid areas with known access problems.
Keep noise levels down.
Use chalk sparingly (harder to judge at night).
Take extra care to keep boots clean (harder to avoid damp ground or sand).
Something about advised protocol if approached by landowners or wardens.

Really good idea by the way.

[andy_e]

initial thoughts are to make a flexible cone thing out of chicken wire wrapped in kitchen foil

Kitchen foil doesn't work too well unless it's smooth.

I'd never really considered the wildlife implications of night bouldering before but I've done quite a bit of it over the last year or so. We tend to stay away from houses which may be able to see the lit-up area from their windows, avoid long walk-ins over dangerous ground (calling mountain rescue out at night would be a nightmare), we keep our noise down and lights to a minimum (it's always nice to see an owl or two!) and we go by the same unwritten zen bouldering rules as we would during the day- no unnecessary chalking, no overbrushing etc. and generally be a good gritstone warrior.

[lagerstarfish]

initial thoughts are to make a flexible cone thing out of chicken wire wrapped in kitchen foil

Kitchen foil doesn't work too well unless it's smooth.

I meant as something to limit what the light shines on rather than as some kind of reflector

[philo]

shaftoe is a good place for protocol as you have to go past houses and then through a few fields of livestock.
A few times we have been followed most of the way to the boulders by a farmer in the distance watching us (prob thinking we are going to interfere with wild stock)
Leave a message on your windscreen?  Off bouldering for a few hours ring xxxxxxxx
Let the farmer know before hand?

the only issue we have found is that our cars have been covered in cow saliva, well the metal parts

[SA Chris]

Nightbouldering deserves a quiet night

The photograph on the website taken years ago,
turned the lamp around so the chalkmarks  show.
Every lamplight reveals a picture of a traverse
Still it's so much clearer

I forgot my shirt at the boulder's edge
The moon is low tonight

[grumpycrumpy]

Nightbouldering deserves a quiet night

The photograph on the website taken years ago,
turned the lamp around so the chalkmarks  show.
Every lamplight reveals a picture of a traverse
Still it's so much clearer

I forgot my shirt at the boulder's edge
The moon is low tonight

Nice  ........ And now I have that song running through my brain, which is no bad thing at all ......

[SA Chris]

a successful earworm then.

[RopeBoy]

Had our first night sesh last week up at Stanage Apparent North, a bit warm but the wind kept it cooler.

There were quite a few walkers about and someone taking photos.

Low profile kept and light off between problems.

J 

[SA Chris]

Did first unintentional night session on Wednesday too. Did a new prob by the light of mobilephone

[cha1n]

Has anyone watched the climbing film 'The Sends'? There's a big section night bouldering on it because they're so far north that they only have a few hours of daylight in the winter.

They were using very small, diesel generators (sub £60) and then plugging quite powerful lights into them. This way the boulder was lit up very well indeed. If a system like this was used and the light was accurately directed onto the boulder, would this sort of thing be acceptable?

[SA Chris]

Depends where, but generally I would say not due to excessive noise from genny.

[Dolly]

I've got a mate called Genny - it's true he does talk a lot

[dave]

Has anyone watched the climbing film 'The Sends'? There's a big section night bouldering on it because they're so far north that they only have a few hours of daylight in the winter.

They were using very small, diesel generators (sub £60) and then plugging quite powerful lights into them. This way the boulder was lit up very well indeed. If a system like this was used and the light was accurately directed onto the boulder, would this sort of thing be acceptable?

Are dewalts not available in scandanavia?

[Oldmanmatt]

Has anyone watched the climbing film 'The Sends'? There's a big section night bouldering on it because they're so far north that they only have a few hours of daylight in the winter.

They were using very small, diesel generators (sub £60) and then plugging quite powerful lights into them. This way the boulder was lit up very well indeed. If a system like this was used and the light was accurately directed onto the boulder, would this sort of thing be acceptable?

Are dewalts not available in scandanavia?

That'd be pre-LED...

You can probably get more light with a couple of AAA's now...