Mountaineering Scotland, as a representative body, has conducted extensive consultation with climbers over many years and endorses the widely accepted view that adventurous bolt-free climbing remains the primary ethic for all Scottish climbs, but that there is a place for sports style climbing. 

Established Climbing Venues:

  • Sport climbing development in Scotland is considered as an integral part of the diverse range of climbing styles available
  • Bolts are unacceptable to the majority of Scottish climbers on established (documented) mountain cliffs and sea cliffs, in both summer and winter
  • Established (documented) ‘traditional’ and sport venues would be expected to remain in their documented style. If a change in style is to be considered in the future (bearing in mind the above guideline on mountain and sea cliff venues) then generally:

– Retro-bolting (the addition of bolts to established climbs without them) would only be considered with the agreement of the first ascensionist and after wide consultation with interested climbers at local and national level

– Retro-trad (the removal of existing bolts) would only be considered with the agreement of the first ascensionist and after wide consultation with interested climbers at local and national level

New Sport Venues:

The development of sport climbs is welcomed within the context of a clear overall ethical framework

  • Mountain and sea cliffs with a wild, remote character (also reflected in their surrounding environment) and adventurous nature are not suitable locations for bolts, either for the development of routes or their limited use in order to facilitate easy retreat: self-rescue and descent without fixed equipment are all part of the adventurous nature of traditional climbs
  • Crags with good or adequate quality protection within strong natural lines (obvious routes) would be regarded as traditional venues. Crags where an overall lack of natural cracks for protection together with a lack of strong natural lines may be suitable venues for sport climb development as long as they could not be classed as wild mountain or sea cliff venues
  • Sport mixed climbing (and dry-tooling i.e. climbing with ice axes on rock) has an important role to play in the future of Scottish winter climbing, but should not be at odds with these guidelines
  • Those seeking to develop new sport mixed venues should enter into consultation with interested climbers at local or national level before taking action
  • Bolts should be placed using current best practices

Mountaineering Scotland’s position on bolts

These guidelines allow climbers to make informed decisions about sport development and allow the climbing world to self-regulate. If there are any doubts, or ‘grey areas’, an informal approach to gaining opinion is best at local level. Mountaineering Scotland will offer assistance (through awareness / distribution of information / debate / mediation) to aid consultation when required.