Bouldering: Enjoy a versatile recreational pursuit

By Stephen Hlawaty
Outdoors Columnist

According to the beta, the V1 rating presented a clear problem, so we left our crash pads at home and opted for spotters instead.

For many, this sounds like a foreign language, something engineers might say, perhaps, before an aircraft test flight. But for members of the bouldering culture, the message is clear: the information collected testified to the climb's minimal degree of difficulty and easy route, so the climbers left their protective mats at home and decided to rely on each other instead.

Although bouldering today is distinguished as a sport in and of itself, with its own unique language, its roots testify to playing a more supportive role in the past. Some have suggested that bouldering began during the middle of the 19th century in Sweden, as alpinism began to make its mark on the outdoor world. Traditionally, climbing on small rocks and boulders was merely a way to train and experiment for longer alpine climbs. As such, one might argue that bouldering defines traditional climbing insofar as advancements in traditional climbing have oftentimes come from the application of harder bouldering techniques. And these techniques span the gamut from easiest to most difficult, making bouldering a versatile sport for any skill level.

Today, bouldering is a stand-alone recreational pursuit. Part of its declaration of independence from traditional climbing has to do with its higher standards of difficulty, which evolved as boulderers took on more challenging problems.

Much like competitive gymnastics, bouldering requires chalk, spotting and safety pads, with a boulder as the apparatus. The series of moves - rock dynamics - that the boulderer makes on a problem is similar to a routine that a gymnast might perform.

Unlike climbing, bouldering is close to the ground, so it requires far less protection (crash pads and spotting) than traditional climbing, which uses ropes, carabiners, webbing, nuts, bolts, spring-loaded camming devices and more. Moreover, bouldering has its own rating system, the most common of which is the V-scale, which is a scale of difficulty ranging from 0 to16, with V0 being the easiest and V16 being the hardest. These and other defining characteristics give bouldering its own unique identity.

Perhaps no other individual has done more for individualizing the sport of bouldering in recent times than John Gill, seasoned traditional rock climber turned bouldering innovator. Gill, the first person to bring chalk to the rock, also worked out specific tricks and training exercises for bouldering, including a one-arm front lever and a one-finger pull-up, which he demonstrated in Fort Collins in 1967 after bouldering the Mental Block and Eliminator boulders at Horsetooth Reservoir.

The following year, Gill would make the first ascent of Horsetooth's Pinch Overhang (V5). The Pinch Overhang is a classic. According to the September 1999 issue of Rock & Ice, the problem is "an intimidating power-squeeze lieback dyno followed by a doubly committing, distressingly sloping mantel." In short, this boulder requires that you pull on your hands while pushing on your feet before leaping for a target hold that would otherwise be out of reach to surmount the boulder's sloping ledge. With respect to those capable of performing such dynamic climbing techniques, the boulder is Dakota sandstone. Its hardness and compactness make it an ideal climbing surface, which grips like sandpaper.

Since Gill discovered the world-class bouldering at Horsetooth Reservoir, the word has gotten out. Indeed, Rock and Ice, along with Patagonia(r), and most recently the 2007 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour have all paid tribute to this world-class, year-round bouldering venue.

Other northern bouldering venues, such as in Estes Park and Vedauwoo, an area just 16 miles east of Laramie, Wyo., provide exceptional bouldering opportunities. The huge boulderfield lining the base of Lumpy Ridge to the north of Estes Park is an excellent place to boulder and is growing in popularity. These boulders lie just beyond a dense cover of pirouetting pines and aspens. The Little Twin Owls Area offers great warm-up potential, while the Book and Pear Boulders provide high problems, cracks and easy slabs. Vedauwoo recreational area also provides excellent bouldering opportunities. One classic spot is the University of Mars in Lower Blair. The Mini Roof provides easy to more moderate problems.

For more information on these and other bouldering destinations, contact local outdoor and climbing retailers. Otherwise, Phillip Benningfield's "Colorado Bouldering" or Bob Horan's "Colorado Front Range Bouldering" make great resources. For more information on the history of the sport, visit John Gill's web site at www.johngill.net.