Bolt hangers removed from Dali’s Hole
Climbers in Dali's Hole prior to the new fence being erected photo: Si Panton
Increasing tension over the popularity of Dali’s Hole in the Dinorwig slate quarries has prompted slate activist Ian Lloyd Jones to take action. On Friday evening he removed the hangers from the lower grade slab routes in an attempt to reduce the popularity of this highly visible area.
The following statement from Elfyn Jones, BMC Access and Conservation Officer for Wales was made in an associated thread on UKClimbing.com. It rather neatly summarises the situation regarding access to the quarries:
“The access situation at Dali’s Hole has not changed since last summer. First Hydro never have and still do not allow climbing anywhere at Dinorwig Slate quarries. Officially they are reluctant to meet with us other than to re-iterate this fact.
Unofficially they know and (probably accept) that we climb all over the quarry. They have genuine concerns regarding liability, they have had legal advice that they should remove all fixed climbing equipment in the quarry and on their land, they have even considered carrying out works to render the faces unclimbable, and have been advised by their solicitors to apply for injunctions to prevent climbing information being published.
However the local management really do not want to do this and what they want is for us as climbers to be a bit more discreet and not be seen to be blatantly climbing in highly visible and contentious locations such as Dali’s Hole.
Their real concern is that joe public and their kids see climbers at Dali’s Hole and try to follow climbers in to the quarries. They really are not too concerned about climbers injuring themselves – they are aware that it is highly unlikely that an adult climber willingly participating in a risky sport would try to sue them in the event of an incident/accident. However if any member of the ‘public’ gets injured, especially a child, then the chances are that they would be prosecuted for not having an effective barrier to prevent access, as required by the Mines & Quarries Act.
At Dali’s Hole the situation has been that groups of climbers were attracting attention from the public who were then also crossing the fence and were a real concern for First Hydro. Hence the decision to erect a new, higher fence. The site is regularly patrolled, as it is a major power station, with associated security issues (inc. terrorism threats). If the guards see climbers at Dali’s they will be instructed to leave. The occasional individual climbing here is unlikely to create a major problem, but as previously stated many times, they really do object to large groups gathering here, especially novice groups who might not be aware of the inherent risks of the site.
Slate is not and never has been a ‘safe’ sports venue, and anyone who goes there expecting a climbing wall type clip up are very mistaken. Slate is not a good medium for bolts, and many of the bolts on Dali’s are loose, and loose blocks and debris regularly fall off here.
So the advice form the BMC is the same as it has been for the last few months and is on the BMC RAD, that is avoid Dali’s Hole with groups and if you do climb there expect that you’ll be asked to leave if seen by security guards.
An increase in incidents here will lead to more attention elsewhere and probably more security and higher fences.
As an organisation we (the BMC) are very limited by what we can do here in the short term – ultimately First Hydro own the site, and they have both the authority and the means to prevent access to the quarry, but thanks to negotiations are thankfully reluctant to do this, but, and a big but, they really do object to climbers using Dali’s Hole and this is something that will ultimately annoy them and make them take greater measures to prevent climbing at other venues in the quarry.
Individuals and groups have to make their own decisions on whether to climb here or not, BMC has no authority or power over the site or any individual, but if you do climb here then your actions will contribute to the likely enforcement of a climbing ban over the whole site.”
Although Ian has received much support for his unilateral de-rigging action, others are not so sanguine, pointing out that historically ‘tolerated/de facto’ access to the quarries was only won via the adoption of a firm, uncompromising stance, and moreover that whenever temporary access bans have been accepted in North Wales that the crags in question (e.g. Craig y Forwyn) have been ‘lost’ forever.
This is certainly an issue that is likely to run and run, and will no doubt be a hot topic at the next BMC Cymru area meeting.
“At some point in the future the hangers may be replaced (the bolt placements themselves have not been damaged). In the mean time I would suggest that climbers looking for low grade slate routes should check out some of the other recently equipped areas documented on the Slate wiki.” Commented Simon Panton, editor of the forthcoming Ground Up Llanberis Slate guide.
