New Bolting Guidelines

04 August 2026

We are asking the climbing community on the island of Ireland for feedback on a draft document in relation to sport climbing development.

In 2016, Mountaineering Ireland produced its climbing Development Guidelines and the 2016 Bolting Policy. Since then, we have identified a substantial increase in sport climbing participation, sport climbing development, requests for clarification around consultation processes, and the need to provide updated guidance on access, environmental and legal considerations and best practice in bolting.

The objective of these new Bolting Guidelines for Mountaineering Ireland is to support responsible sport climbing development which also respects and protects the ethics and values of traditional climbing on the island of Ireland. We ask the climbing community to review these documents and provide us with your feedback so that we can develop them further. 

In addition to the main document, we have also produced a short summary version. For the purposes of this feedback form, we are asking for anonymous feedback specifically on the main document. If you would like to comment on the short summary document, please use Q6 in the form.

 

 

As we are trying to gain feedback from as many climbers on the island of Ireland as possible, please feel free to share the information above with anyone you think may be interested in contributing.

Thank you in advance, and we are looking forward to hearing your feedback.

 

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