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Bouldering is a type of rock climbing undertaken without a rope and is normally limited in respect to the height the climber ascends the route so that any fall will not risk significant injury. This variation of climbing can be practiced on large boulders, at the base of larger rock faces/climbing routes, in indoor climbing centres, or even on man-made structures (see buildering). Its documented origins may be found in the United Kingdom and France in the last quarter of the 19th century ^[1]. The British coined the word bouldering at that time. For many years, bouldering was usually practiced as training for climbers, although, in the 1930s and late 1940s, Pierre Allain and his companions enjoyed bouldering for its own sake in Fontainebleau, considered by many to be the Mecca of bouldering. However, the first climber to actually make bouldering his primary specialty (in the mid 1950s) and to advocate its acceptance as a legitimate sport not restricted to a particular area was John Gill, an amateur gymnast who found the challenge and movement of bouldering enjoyable. ^[2]

Typically bouldering is a more high impact sport focusing on individual moves rather than the endurance required in traditional climbing or sport climbing. Boulder routes are most commonly referred to as problems (another British appellation), because the nature of the climb is often short, curious, and much like problem solving. Sometimes these problems are "eliminates", meaning certain artificial restrictions are imposed. As in other types of climbing, bouldering has developed its own grading systems for comparing the difficulty of problems. The most commonly used grading systems are the John Sherman V-grade system, beginning at V0 and increasing by integers to a current achievement of V16 (The Wheel of Life by Dai Koyamada in the Grampians, Australia^[3]), and the Fontainebleau system which ranges from 1 to 8c+. Both scales are open-ended at the top, and thus the upper grade of these systems is always increasing as boulderers ascend more difficult problems.

To reduce the risk of injury after a fall, climbers rarely go higher than a few meters above the ground (anything over 7 meters is generally considered to be free-soloing, although such climbs might also be termed high-ball bouldering problems). They may also put a crash pad/bouldering mat on the ground to break their fall and/or assign a spotter, a person standing on the ground to prevent the climber from landing badly. The spotter generally works to direct the climber's body toward the crashpad during a fall, while protecting the climber's head from hazards.

The region around Fontainebleau near Paris is particularly famous for its beautiful and concentrated bouldering sites. Well known areas include Stanage (UK), Hueco Tanks (Texas), Castle Hill (New Zealand), Bishop (California), and Horse Pens 40 (Alabama) amongst others.

Bouldering is continually gaining in popularity, partly as evidenced by the growth of bouldering areas in indoor climbing gyms and even entire climbing gyms dedicated to bouldering. Children are joining the sport now as well as adults. In fact, studies have found that young climbers develop better skills as adults from their experience with youthful disadvantages such as height and strength.

Contents 1 Gear 2 Bouldering Terms 3 See Also / Related Articles 4 History of Bouldering 5 List of Bouldering Sites or Gyms 5.1 Lists by U.S. state:

Chalk

Boulderers use loose, powdered chalk on their hands as a drying agent while climbing. The chalk is stored in a small hand-sized pouch worn on the climber's lower back called a chalk bag. Climbers may, on occasion, mix their chalk with cleaning alcohol, benzine etc. This is to ensure that the climbers hands are not only dry, but that any grease or other impediments to good grip will dissolve in the alcohol and evaporate. However, continued use of this mixture can have adverse effects on the climber's skin. It is therefore not a recommended technique and should only be applied before extremely difficult climbs if at all. John Gill introduced the use of chalk into climbing in the 1950s, in America.

Pads

Boulderers commonly carry a mattress-like object called a crash pad. These are generally 50" x 40" x 3" foam pads with a heavy-duty fabric shell. Crash pads are made to be either rolled or folded in half and worn like a backpack. They are opened and placed at the base of a boulder to cover irregularities in the landing and provide some cushion if the climber falls. Often a group of climbers will boulder together, each carrying his or her own crash pad. When using many crash pads together, the landing zones are larger and safer. A crash pad is not a substitute for a human spotter to protect a climber in a fall, and crash pads cannot eliminate all risk of injury. The first commercial pads, designed by Greg Kinnaloa and others, appeared in the early 1990s.

Ropes

Ropes are generally not used in bouldering these days. However, top-ropes were used prior to the introduction of bouldering pads on particularly high or dangerous boulder problems, and are still occasionally used to practice such moves; however, many boulderers now consider this to be poor form.

Shoes

While shoes designed for technical climbing are not required to participate in bouldering, they can offer the climber a distinct advantage. A large variety of climbing shoes are now available from climbing shops and online. First produced by Boreal in the 1970s, all modern climbing shoes incorporate "sticky" rubber soles that increase the friction between the shoe and the rock. Prior to that time, normal black rubber had been used for many years.

Brushes

Often, a toothbrush is carried while bouldering to "dust" off any grime that is on the rock. The toothbrush comes in handy on very crimpy small holds. Wet holds can be easily dried up with the use of chalk and a toothbrush. However, in many regions, boulderers have come into conflict with other climbers and with conservationists due to problems with over-use of chalk, which leaves white marks and changes the acidity of the rock; and with over-brushing, which can lead to serious erosion of certain rock types in particular. Heavy duty wire brushes are also sometimes used in order to remove large amounts of dirt and other debris, although much care should be taken not to damage the rock, especially on softer types of rock.

Athletic Tape

White sports tape is useful for covering cuts or blisters, as repeated attempts on a particularly sharp problem can injure the climber's hands in the same places. Taping over blisters, rips and other injuries provides a buffer layer so that climbing can continue, as well as providing support for joints that may have been strained.

Climbing Walls

Climbers often build small climbing walls to practice their technique. Bouldering can also be practiced at the base of full scale climbing walls, and short structures designed specifically for bouldering can be found in many commercial climbing gyms.

Beta

Any helpful tips, solutions to problems, guides, tricks, etc. that one climber passes on to another.

Boulderer

Any person participating in bouldering.

Crimp

A hold that is so small, you have to crimp your fingers on it in order to have a good hold. Having a lot of crimps on a problem increases its difficulty.

Dyno

Shortened form of dynamic movement. Essentially any movement that requires you to jump or swing from one hold to another. Frequently increases the difficulty of a problem.

Flag

Dangling of a leg in such a way that you can obtain a better balance.

Flash

Completing a problem on the first try with no falls, but with beta.

Highball

A term for a boulder that is so high, falling when close to the top could cause serious injury. Some highballs have anchor bolts at the top, to allow for protected top-rope climbing.

Hold

Any piece of rock that you can grab or place your foot onto, and pull/push yourself up.

Jug

A hold that is large enough that you can reach your entire hand around, making it a good hold to pull yourself up with.

Matching

Matching implies that the feet or hands are at the same point on a hold.

Offwidth

An awkward crack or split in the rock, that is too wide to jam a hand in, yet not wide enough to back and foot. These typically require a combination of several different methods to achieve a good hold.

Onsight

To ascend a problem on the first try with no falls and no beta.

Problems

A generic term describing a short rock climbing challenge, normally on a boulder or small outcrop. Originally used by the British to describe as well a short severe pitch on a longer climb.

Sit Start

A start to a problem beginning with the boulderer sitting on either the ground or a crash pad, at the lowest point of the boulder. Typically starting from a sit start indicates greater difficulty, as you have to climb much further.

Sloper

A hold that tends to slope, or is round. Sometimes very difficult to grasp.

Traverse

Generally a horizontal climb that involves traversing across a face or overhang, or sometimes around a boulder, occasionally finishing off at an arête in order to top out.

To send

Slang for ascend.

Top out

Most problems top out, meaning that you must reach the top of the boulder for one to have successfully climbed the boulder.

• Buildering
• Le Parkour
• Rock Climbing
• Ice Climbing
• Tree climbing
• Glossary of climbing terms

1. ^ Origins of Bouldering - from John Gill's Website
2. ^ The Art of Bouldering by John Gill, The Journal of the American Alpine Club, 1969
3. ^ http://www.climbing.com/news/koyainaust/index.html

• List of New York bouldering sites
• List of Utah bouldering sites