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General Climbing Discussion

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What is it about Bouldering that turns you on? 29-Jul-2004 At 2:57:19 PM Goodvibes

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I spend a reasonable amount of time boudering and one thing I like is the simplicity of it. You just walk up, put your shoes on and climb. Maybe bring along a pad and a mate to give you a spot but that is about it. I feel a certain kind of freedom when bouldering that I don't get on routes. There is no saying take, I am going to work these moves etc, you just fall and start again from the ground, so long as you can get up that is. The risks in bouldering are often more real and apparent than in other areas of climbing. You don't get scared because you might take a big winger only to end up falling safely out in space, you end up getting scared because if you fall you will definetly hit the deck.Pads and spotters are good but there is a point that you seem to reach all too often where their effectiveness is somewhat limited. This is the situation that illustrates the difference between high ball bouldering and free soloing. When highballing you plan for the eventuality of a fall, you take on the problem not knowing if you will send, and a true highball has the difficult moves up high. With soloing you don't take that risk, for good reason.

It just feels great going for moves at your limit where you try fall and then finally stick it and crank on up to the top out with nothing more than shoes, maybe a chalk bag and hopefully some pants.