[Johnny Brown]

How have things changed since the outdoor comp at Crookrise (for those who remember it). I may be wrong but I would have thought that environmental issues would be similar, but the Crookrise Comp was widely criticised at the time, and the BMC strongly opposed to it (bans from the british team for those who attended?) but reportedly have no objections to the The St Bees Meet?

I think things were very different back then. The whole direction of competition climbing had yet to be decided, and the Crookrise comp was a pivotal moment in deciding whether outdoor comps were going to be part of it. Outdoor comps in Europe in the eighties often had totally chipped routes, so a worrying 'thick end of the wedge' which doesn't really exist any more.

I hadn't voted up to now, as (much to my shame) I've never been to St. Bees and don't feel I can pass judgement on its suitability. I am against the kind of corporate blundering detailed above though.

[shark]

I've never been to St. Bees and don't feel I can pass judgement on its suitability.

No waay dude - there's a banging festival going down there at the end of the month - slacklining, fireeating, jugglers the lot - you should go

[GCW]

101 for, 202 against   

[Probes]

 

[Probes]

.

[GCW]

Can't see any FB stuff. 

[Probes]

I realised that, nothing important, just a daft picture.

[lemony]

I'm not sure if it's made entirely clear on the comments thread on Facebook but James Swann who is making a valiant effort to stick up for the proposal there is Web Sales Manager at Planet Fear.

[andy_e]

Quite an interesting little to-and-fro there, comparing this to the Iraq war! Bizarre.

[Andy B]

How have things changed since the outdoor comp at Crookrise (for those who remember it). I may be wrong but I would have thought that environmental issues would be similar, but the Crookrise Comp was widely criticised at the time, and the BMC strongly opposed to it (bans from the british team for those who attended?) but reportedly have no objections to the The St Bees Meet?

I think things were very different back then. The whole direction of competition climbing had yet to be decided, and the Crookrise comp was a pivotal moment in deciding whether outdoor comps were going to be part of it. Outdoor comps in Europe in the eighties often had totally chipped routes, so a worrying 'thick end of the wedge' which doesn't really exist any more.

I can see how people are less worried about "thin end of the wedge" concerns these days, but this wasn't the only criticism at the time, and I think that other concerns such as the potential impact on the crag used, even for a single event, still stand. I can't think of any venues that I feel would be suitable for an event such as this in the UK.

the Crookrise comp was a pivotal moment in deciding whether outdoor comps were going to be part of it.

I guess this was my point, in that it was decided that outdoor comps weren't OK in Britain then, and given that this sort of event will have a similar impact on the crag environment to an outdoor comp, why would it be seen as acceptable now.

[account_inactive]

Horseshoe?  I've been to a fair few parties there already 

[SA Chris]

I can't think of any venues that I feel would be suitable for an event such as this in the UK.

Do you mean bouldering venues? I can think of a few, but would rather not mention them and give people ideas.

Also the idea is not a million miles from the DWS festivals.

[Moo]

This is an obvious no, I had a small hand organising a climbing event held in the lake district, a couple of years ago and we wouldn't have dreamed of focusing the event on one particular area.

[duncan]

I can't think of any venues that I feel would be suitable for an event such as this in the UK.

I'm not a fan of organised climbing events but that's mostly a measure of my old-fart-ness.  I can see how they might be appropriate somewhere that could cope with the numbers and would benefit from the traffic like Cheddar or some of the clean-ups in Lancs. quarries.  Neither appear to be the case at St Bees.

[lukeyboy]

I've no big problems with the idea of a bouldering festival, but St Bees is clearly not a suitable location. I hope they don't go through with it - they may (or may not) have a pretty negative impact on the crag, and from the results of this poll they will be achieving quite the opposite to what they set out to in terms of a PR/brand profile exercise.

[Andy B]

I can't think of any venues that I feel would be suitable for an event such as this in the UK.

Do you mean bouldering venues? I can think of a few, but would rather not mention them and give people ideas.

Yes, I'm talking about bouldering.

Shirley, if you would rather not mention venues, it's because you don't think it would be suitable to hold an event there?

I can't think of any venues that I feel would be suitable for an event such as this in the UK.

I can see how they might be appropriate somewhere that could cope with the numbers and would benefit from the traffic like Cheddar or some of the clean-ups in Lancs. quarries.

Neither of these are primarily bouldering venues as far as I'm aware.

[GCW]

Plus, the increase in damage to the bouldering in Lancs quarries means these would not be a good choice either.

[SA Chris]

I can't think of any venues that I feel would be suitable for an event such as this in the UK.

Do you mean bouldering venues? I can think of a few, but would rather not mention them and give people ideas.

Yes, I'm talking about bouldering.

Shirley, if you would rather not mention venues, it's because you don't think it would be suitable to hold an event there?

No, it's because I don't really think these type of events are a good idea at all.

[Fultonius]

260 against now! Boom!!

[Probes]

Interesting post from Jamie Bardot..... no mention of any of this before

"No, this is a bad idea and could easily damage access agreements elsewhere on crags which are in SSSI's. I appreciate that the organisers have taken some time to consider thier impacts but i don't think thats enough.

The reason for this is because as a SSSI, consent is needed to carry out 'Potentially Damaging Opera...tions' (PDO's), which are listed for each individual SSSI. The list relating to St Bees Head found at http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/... which has, as number 27 'Recreational or educational activities likely to damage features of interest'.

Now, one of the reasons why this area has been designated as a SSSI is because of the local geology. I'd have no doubt that such an intensive use of the area for this Festival would have a negative impact on the soft rock. I've not even considered the the flora and fauna of the SSSI. I wonder if the organisers have contacted Natural England (the regulator which actually matters in all of this - not the RSPB!) at all to get an opinion?

Normally rock climbing is tolerated in these areas because the numbers are fairly low and so is the potential impact... I hope this mass influx doesn't ruin the access, not only here but elsewhere in the UK. Rant over."

[Grubes]

not mentioned here (that I could spot) yet but its been called off:
From the other channel

Thanks all once again for your feedback, whichever way you happened to vote. The poll was counted up this morning with 114 votes for and 287 votes against the festival going ahead.

As a result we've cancelled the event and are issuing refunds to those who bought tickets (please call 01768 774422 if you require further information).

Just to reiterate that as climbers working for an ethical company we would not have undertaken the organisation of this or any other event if we thought that its outcome would result in a negative impact being had on the venue. We take the points on the commercialisation of venues, but our intentions were only ever to have a bit of fun and to help promote St Bees in order that it might even receive development to improve access.

A report is now on our site with further information at the below URL.

http://www.planetfear.com/news/St_Bees_Bouldering_Festival_Called_Off_2665.html

Thanks again for reading and happy summer!

pF

[SA Chris]

While this certainly feels like an unnecessary dig

While we feel that our plans have been hideously distorted and misrepresented in some circles

It's admirable that they have actually taken note of the majority of opinion and taken the brave move to cancel it at this late stage.

[galpinos]

What SA Chris said.

[Serpico]

It's admirable that they have actually taken note of the majority of opinion and taken the brave move to cancel it at this late stage.

Or more likely given the weight of public opinion they realised it would have been a huge PR disaster that would've affected their business.

[Jaspersharpe]

Good news, although this is annoying........

In order that we can better direct our event planning in the future we'd like to gauge your thoughts on the pF Facebook page.  Here you can vote for the reason you thought the festival shouldn't have gone ahead...

Er no, no I can't actually because I AM NOT ON FUCKING FACEBOOK!!!