Respect your playground.

Here at karma a massive part of climbing is being outside. Some of our favorite places also form some of the most beautiful countryside and landscapes in the world. Respecting these places is as important to us as remembering our mum’s birthdays. That’s why we aim to take as little out of the environment as possible whilst getting the maximum out of it.

At present our finger boards are made with recycled North American ash, Fraximus Americana, we are always looking for suppliers of this timber which are close to home and sustainable. When we can’t obtain wood to recycle we use timber supplied to us from FSC regulated merchants in our local area and are currently looking for a supplier of sustainable English hardwoods. This timber is responsibly harvested and supplied to us with a clear conscious. We use ash due to its overall strength and durability and also for its beautiful figure.

For the campus rungs we use Tulipwood/Poplar, Liriodendron Tulipifera, again recycled wherever possible. It is straight grained and has a soft, even texture. Any new timbers are imported under strict guidelines that ensure that what we use is kind to the environment. Despite what the negative press may say about deforestation, we understand that all the hardwoods that we use are from sustainable forests, which are managed to maintain stock levels for future generations.
In the workshop we use a high quality dust extraction system that collects all the small shavings and dust. It is collected into large cloth bags and then taken away and recycled into small blocks, which are burned as fuel for heat. All off-cuts are also bagged and recycled in the same way.

We use wood for our training products because we find it to be kinder on the fingers and skin than cast resin, it won’t clog with chalk nearly as much. It’s very easy to keep clean and eventually as the wood naturally wears and gets smoother it is very simple to restore its texture by gently rubbing with 120 grit sand paper. Thus ensuring a long lasting product that is easily recycled should it need to be.