I first visited Magic for a day in 2006, returning for 2 weeks in 2007 and for a further 2 weeks in 2009. It was a beautiful place with so much climbing in such a small space that I thought you could never grow tired of it. Fast-forward to 2018 and it had been nearly a decade since my last visit. I was intrigued by what Magic Wood had to offer a more mature and travelled me and so I decided to return for a short trip to the Avers Valley. Would the area still be as captivating as ever or had it become a victim of it’s own popularity in this boom period for bouldering?

I am going to cut a long story short and not keep you in suspense; in fact I imagine you know where this is headed already. To put it bluntly I was appalled by what our sport had done to this once beautiful area, and how we as climbers had seemingly just let it happen. Speaking to Bernd now it is clear he has similar feelings and is bitter sweet about what has occurred since the area was opened. 'It makes me happy when I see the forest and when I see that people are having fun but it also makes me really sad (to see the changes within the forest) and I feel partly responsible for that.'

This piece has not been written to blame or judge anyone; I was just so shocked that I thought it would be useful to bring these matters to the attention of others and create a brainstorm of ideas for what could be done to save other areas that could go the way of Magic in the future.

What was I so shocked to see in Magic?