Home › Forums › Climbing Talk › Lichen and moss, cleaning views?
- This topic has 6 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 20 years ago by John Knight.
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John KnightGuest
G’day!
Around my area, there’s lots of boulders and faces which are unclimbed or only just recently touched. The rock usually is covered either in lichen, moss, or loose crystal from lack of use.
What does the rest of the climbing community think in terms of face cleaning? Does it ‘ugly up’ the rock, or would most consider it acceptable to aid in friction?
Any thoughts and tips on face cleaning would be appreciated.
Cheers! 🙂
CharlieMemberWhat the eye does not see the heart does not grieve.
Best not to think about it.
benMemberDO:
Pull off loose flakes otherwise they will break and smash into your face or spotter when loaded.
Brush off moss & lichen with a nylon brush (tooth or dunny) to unearth existing holds & smears. No need to take a firehose to the whole boulder though.
DONT:
Chip, drill or glue.
No bolts on boulders. Anything smaller than 6m high can be climbed without fixed protection.
TocMemberHi there,
I wouldn’t go cleaning a whole boulder just to climb a little bit of it. Just what I needed and absolutely no more. Use your discretion, lichen is life as well and is part of our environment. If we sterilize every boulder in Perth, we will catch some flack and rightly so.
Cheers
John KnightMemberSo just uncover lichen for the line then?
How about excess crystal, okay to sweep?
AndrewMemberId take off enough moss/ lichen to make the line? though if theres that much moss that its really thick wont the holds be pretty damp? just a thought. ditto for the excess crystal on the climb.
I think its pretty silly to make hard and fast rules about the placements of bolts. a 6 metre boulder could still harbour a nasty fall especially if the landing is nasty. Maybe a topic for the bolting forum though…
John KnightMemberPersonally I wouldn’t have any objections to bolting a boulder that was 6 metres or so, provided it was discreet and not visually obtrusive. Perhaps a bolt with no hanger, or as Andrew suggested to me, a carrot up there?
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