'Nanny state' sends climbing into freefall

SCOTS were among the brave and hardy pioneers who gave the sport of rock climbing to the world.

But the obsession with health and safety culture in Britain is threatening to wipe out the sport within a decade, according to experts.

Dr Bob Sharp, a sports scientist, vice-president of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland and a veteran mountain rescue team leader, suggests a combination of anxious parents, the 'nanny state' safety culture, poor weather and the rise of indoor climbing centres may be to blame.

Sharp, who has just retired from the University of Strathclyde, said: "By my calculation, within the next 10 years, climbing as we know it may well have ceased."

According to Sharp, the exact number of climbers using Scotland's mountains now is difficult to count. But he no longer sees young climbers out on the Dunbartonshire crags he trained on.

"In those days the crags used to brim with people – solo climbers, families, youth groups and others," he said. "Some evenings, you could count well over 100 climbers at any one time.

"Today, very few people go there. The routes are covered in moss and grass, and ferns grow on the ledges and cracks once used for handholds. The crag has virtually been abandoned. This is not an isolated example. Many people tell the same story of other, once-popular crags by roadsides and high in the mountains which are now rarely visited."

One explanation, says Sharp, is that more people are choosing to climb indoors. "Indoor climbing is a big trend and I'm pleased that people are climbing at all, but fewer are now going out onto the high crags. Indoor centres are nice and cosy – you are not going to get wet or lose your life – but the climbing wall experience should not become an end in its own right while mountains are neglected."

Winter ice climbing was possibly a victim of changing weather. "It's a fair bet that many are now heading for the Ice Factor (an indoor wall in Kinlochleven in the Highlands] as the warmer winters in Scotland and the absence of snow-ice has limited winter climbing to a very brief time period."

But, he added, there was a more "disturbing factor" at play. "It's all related to the so-called nanny state in which we now live. Life seems to be constructed around the desire to reduce risks, avoid accidents and sidestep any form of hardship or effort.

"The net result is that we're all risk-averse, afraid of blame, apprehensive of uncertainty and overly concerned about litigation. Children, and young people especially, are no longer allowed to take risks, and whatever environment they enter is designed to be sterile and safe.

"Mountaineering was bound to suffer as a result, because at its very core there is risk, hardship and inconvenience."

Sociologists said the decline in climbing mirrored changes in society towards a widespread, safety-first culture for children. Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent and author of Culture Of Fear, said:

"Children use climbing walls, encouraged by adults, but mainly because it is a risk-free way of approaching the sport. What is sad is that parents who understand the physical challenge will, when confronted by the real thing, draw back from it."

Marguerite Hunter Blair, chief executive of Play Scotland, an agency which believes that adventurous outdoor activities are part of growing up, said climbing was just one sport which was suffering.

"Research has shown that children aged eight now have not developed the hand-eye co-ordination of previous generations who were out doing things like climbing from an early age. That's why we may not have any rock climbers in numbers in future."

Veteran mountaineers backed Sharp, saying indoor climbing centres were proving too much of an attraction for new generations. Hamish McInnes, former leader of the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team, said: "I hope Bob is not right about climbing's future, but the problem is there is no central heating in the mountains. We have a great history and tradition of rock climbing and it would be a shame if it were to die out."

But indoor climbing centre officials said their role in the demise of outdoor climbing was being exaggerated. "We are expanding the reach of climbing for people from tots to those over 60," said Mike Pinkerton, a spokesman for Edinburgh Leisure, which runs the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena at Ratho. "It is a more sheltered and safer environment but we see our role as preparing climbers for the outdoor experience. We are a complement to outdoor climbing, not a deterrent."

The family of Colin Munro, a Scots climber who died after a fall two years ago, said he would be "very disappointed" if young people were no longer taking up the outdoor sport that gave him so much enjoyment.

The 42-year-old software engineer from Motherwell died from a blood clot in 2006, six weeks after a 500ft fall in the Swiss Alps which shattered his neck and spinal cord.

His brother Ian, a sales representative, said: "Colin recognised the potential dangers of what he did but also that it could be done safely if done properly.

"He would have been very disappointed if rock climbing was to wither away because there is so much you can do to manage the risk safely.

"He was very safety-conscious and it was ironic that he died when he had turned back from a climb because he judged it too risky. He fell on the way down.

"Colin would not want his death to be used as an excuse for not getting out into the mountains. He would have wanted people to pursue their dreams."

Summit to write home about

The ascent of Mont Blanc in 1786 is often quoted as the single event which formalises the beginning of mountaineering. This makes the sport – in European terms – a little over 200 years old.

But the event that inaugurated Scottish mountaineering was the ascent of Sgurr nan Gillean on Skye in 1836 by James Forbes, Professor of natural history at Edinburgh University.

Britain was a leading nation in geological enquiry and Forbes was a leading figure of the day. Between 1835 and 1842 he devoted much energy to the study of glacier movement as he travelled, climbed and studied in the Alps.

His work helped to stimulate interest in the Alps by British climbers, ironically, not so much for his scientific work but more his descriptions of his climbs.

His gripping tales of battles high up the steep mountains along with his sketches captured the public's imagination and thirst for new areas to visit.