[jonP]

There's been a bit of discussion about this in the past but it's been raised again on yorkshiregrit. Has the smear out left been chipped/artificially enlarged? Did the crimp break naturally?  More generally is chipping of boulder problems a big problem thesedays?

My own opinions are that New Jerusalem isn't chipped, the smear has eroded and the crimp has broken because of the amount of traffic the problem sees.  And more generally I feel there's a tendancy to see any damage as deliberate damage rather than the inevitable consequence of the popularity of bouldering.

[dave]

My Two Penneth:

Regarding the smear/dish out left, it never used to be there, but i have no real memory of what was there before. The shape of this indicates wear, but of course it is quite possible that something was chipped there and then it wore, especially since that bit is frequently wet and the rock is soft.

There must be someone who was seen that problem at regular intervals over the years who could tell us whether that dish appeared gradually, or appeared suddenly, indicating chipping.

What broken crimp are you talking about?

[Bubba]

It's always a difficult one this and whilst I'm not familiar with the wear on NJ, this problem seems to be happening in many of our grit areas.

Often, because the rock wears so fast once the surface has broken, it's impossible to distinguish betwen whether the damage was initially caused by wear and tear or by deliberate vandalism.

I don't think that every new bit of damage should automatically be put down to chipping, as this is just being alarmist, but at the same time, I think we should be just as wary of assuming that it's always down to wear and tear.

There are those who abuse the rock, but in my opinion this is more likely to be through ignorant use of wire-brushes, etc than by some "evil chipper" who's turning up to the crag with a hammer and chisel in his sac.

[AndyR]

P - that crimp broke last year didn't it? Natural breakage I'm sure. Has that dish out to the left got worse in the last six months then??

[jonP]

Yep, the crimp broke last year.  Apparently the smear was also damaged at that time.  I haven't seen the problem since then, so I don't know what it's like now.

Wire brushing - has anyone ever seen a wire brush at a crag?  I haven't.

[dave]

I've once saw some chump with a WB dangling from is chalkbag at burbage south of all places, and of course johnny dawes is never parted from his. Also seen some prick WBing holds at an indoor wall.

[AndyR]

Wire brushing - has anyone ever seen a wire brush at a crag?  I haven't.

Errr, I use mine quite a lot over here - but that's 'cos the rock is superhard, and there's quite a lot of lichen on the new problems. Shoot me now.....

[jonP]

I'm appalled!

And I was shot down in flames for suggesting that Sypeland needs a good dose of wire brushing.

[Bubba]

I can't say I've seen many wire brushes at the crag, but somebody must take them out - there's a boulder at Stanage with big orange wirebrush marks on it - I don't think your average boulderer has one in his bag, but perhaps the problem is the misguided few who just get one from Halfords or whatever coz they think "that'll be great for cleaning grit".

I've got one, but it doesn't get used much - we cleaned some boulders up last winter and I used one then, but you've still got to be very careful with them.

The problem is, it only takes one person operating in any given area who is over-brushing to potentially knacker a lot of problems.

[jonP]

If wire brushing is such a massive problem, why is it that we don't see people wire brushing?  It  just doesn't add up.

[dave]

Its because a hold only needs to be WBed once for it to be a problem. What i mean is you can't expect to see people doing it every week. It only takes 5 seconds to ruin a hold afterall.

[Bubba]

I don't think it is a massive problem in terms of every man and his dog is up to it, but like I said above it only takes one person to havoc a lot of problems.

And can any of us say for certain that there isn't some idiot out there chipping stuff? Anyone who's deliberately vandalising rock is going to make damn sure that they're not seen so we'd never see them anyway.  

Why are you so adamant that all the damage is purely down to wear and tear? Don't you believe that anyone would deliberately vandalise rock? I'm not so sure, there's some right pricks about who have no concept of respect for the rock.

[AndyR]

I'm appalled!

And I was shot down in flames for suggesting that Sypeland needs a good dose of wire brushing.

Ha! To be fair, you wouldn't get anywhere on the granite round here with a colgate special - you really need a wire brush to get rid of the thick lichen that's present on many of the boulders.

Sypeland is tricky though, 'cos it's definitely sandy and dirty in places, but maybe a bit fragile for serious wire brushing?

[Big Frank]

Probably areas like Sypeland need only be brushed with a nylon brush. The thing is the traffic is so low it will always need brushing.

[jonP]

You would acheive much with a nylon brush at Sypeland!

When I was trying the Clattering Stones dyno recently I used a toothbrush (actually a Carrefour denture brush acquired on my recent visit to Font) on the top hold.  Several small bits of rock broke off.  So a brush doesn't have to be made of wire to do damage.

[AndyR]

When I was trying the Clattering Stones dyno recently I used a toothbrush (actually a Carrefour denture brush acquired on my recent visit to Font) on the top hold

Jesus christ - are you mad! Those denture brushes are notoriously savage!

[jonP]

It's ok - no one saw me.