Shoes must be cleaned before starting up any climb to minimize erosion and to help climb the rock better. Beginners tend to not to use their feet very precisely so dirty sandy feet that scuffle along the rock, grate against the surface and erode it very rapidly. This erosion is hard to repair and will reveal the sandy under-layer which will require significant repair work and time.
So the simple solution to this big problem is to have a small piece of carpet to wipe feet on before climbing and to use a towel to make climbing shoes squeaky clean!
The BMC in collaboration with UKC have begun a Respect the Rock campaign. This includes the production of small beer mat style towles and is proving very popular, so there is no excuse for all climbers on sandstone not to have a towel now!
