Hey everyone! I’m Nicole, a final year NUS environmental studies major reading GE4237 Environmental Pollution this semester and I’ll be blogging about pollution in the sport of climbing over the next 12 weeks. I started bouldering around mid last year, although I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I’m part of the demographic of newbies that really only got into bouldering when it became more “mainstream” over the course of the pandemic. For someone who’s afraid of heights, it gives me a really good opportunity to attempt to face my fears head on since I’m constantly falling off the wall (yes I’m still scared even though the wall is only around 5m high):
Unfortunately, between the intermittent gym closures and trying to juggle both school and internships, I’ve been climbing less frequently than I’d prefer. One of my goals for 2022 is to commit more time to my improvement and to learn more about the sport, and what better opportunity to also explore the environmental side of climbing than through this segment of the module!
The popularity of rock climbing and bouldering has clearly been on an ascent in recent years, evident in the sport’s debut in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. With increasing recognition also comes greater scrutiny, as highlighted in this Nat Geo article that touched on the environmental concerns in climbing, particularly the usage of chalk. Climbing chalk is used by climbers to help rid their hands of moisture and improve their grip on the wall. Most climbers here in Singapore probably don’t give it much thought since we only climb on man-made holds in gyms (save for the one natural rock climbing space at Dairy Farm), but the heavy use of chalk in natural rock climbing has been shown to cause harm to surrounding vegetation (Hepenstrick et al., 2020).
That really got me wondering about what the other hidden pollutive impacts of climbing could be. What about the rubber and leather materials used to make our shoes? Or the chemicals used in the production of climbing holds and crash-pads? For a sport that has its roots in nature, I think it’s only responsible to become more aware of these issues and find ways to reduce our pollutive impact. Join me next week as I begin to uncover the pollution arising from climbing chalk, from its sourcing to its use. Till next time!
References
Hepenstrick, D., Bergamini, A., & Holderegger, R. (2020). The distribution of climbing chalk on climbed boulders and its impact on rock‐dwelling fern and moss species. Ecology and evolution, 10(20), 11362-11371.
Snow, J. (2021). Rock climbing is getting more popular-and that concerns conservationists. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/rock-climbing-is-more-popular-than-ever-is-that-a-good-thing
