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drljefe
climber
Old Pueblo, AZ
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The fad will fade
the soul will remain.
you know,
kinda like fanny packs.
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apogee
climber
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That's a great story, wes.
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SeanH
climber
San Mateo, CA
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All climbing is fun.
That said, this trend of hiking out to alpine areas like Mt. Evans and similar RMNP bouldering spots to do 7 heinous crimps on a pebble...kinda weird. Go climb a mountain! To each their own though.
I boulder in the gym for strength/fun, and would probably have a blast in bishop. But I have yet to make the drive all the way out to the east side with a pad in the back of my ride instead of a rope.
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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I sure hope the fad of bouldering is over...I'm tired of you clowns greasing up my boulders
Wes-best you've ever posted.
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ec
climber
ca
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The latest Climbing has an article on bouldering in the Sequoia back country (With Angel Wings right there!).
'never had picked-up a climbing rag for years and see this at a friend's house last month. Impressively. the most ridiculous thing I'd ever seen.
Then, while 4-wheeling out of Bald Mountain (near Shaver Lake, CA) after climbing, we see a ToyoTruck coming in with pads in the back...
Whatever...
 ec
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Modern boulderers do some amazing stuff, and the focus on bouldering over the last 15+ years has probably generally advanced climbing standards. (And gyms, and ...) Plus it's a pretty good entry-level drug for other kinds of climbing.
There are concerns in terms of the impacts of boulderers, who seem often to travel in herds. All the usual - trails, trampling, waste. Plus noise, and the presence of "uncouth" groups. All disturbing to land managers and some of the public.
It is sometimes hard to take boulderers seriously, given their group behaviours, the ever-present videocameras and cameras, their uniforms, and the idea that we have to treat it like it's a BFD.
ps Liked Wes' story.
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hooblie
climber
from where the anecdotes roam
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^^^wes goes platinum, hanky please
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 3, 2010 - 06:12pm PT
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First boulders are always free Anders!
Nice rambling Wes
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Captain...or Skully
Big Wall climber
Transporter Room 2
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Good story, Wes.
I didn't even know there was a fad goin' on!
It's ALL just climbing, right? Just a flava you fancy.
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
Swimming in LEB tears.
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This thread makes me SO ANGRY
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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If you would have told me ten years ago that I would end mostly a boulderer, I would have laughed at you.
Now, with kid and job, it's pretty much the only climbing I do. You know what, it's not that bad.
I'll never be just a boulderer, but it has all the good elements of climbing but compacted into a short distance.
As for popularity, I can't speak for other areas, but Bishop seems to be getting more popular with boulderers rather than less.
They are catching on that the season is longer than advertised.
The new guide book may play a role too.
In short, if it's a fad- I don't see it. It's popular because it's good.
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Captain...or Skully
Big Wall climber
Transporter Room 2
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I have a nice beanie now, too.
Score! ;-)
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10b4me
Ice climber
Happy Boulders
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at my age, bouldering is about the only thing I can do
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AllezAllez510
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Lambone says:
"are you kidding? no munge you just hang out with the crusty supertopo vets.
The Circuit is building the largest indoor bouldering gym in the country right now in Portland. "
Because there's so much bouldering in Portland right?
Plenty of decent roped climbing in town, but PDX is a bouldering black hole...except for Carver which basically has five decent problems all of which i've done a million times.
I used to go to the circuit's original location and can tell you it was gumby central. On most nights I'd say easily 75% of the clientele had never climbed outside...and they're pulling down hard.
Having said that...the place had good route setting and was a pretty good place to train...except for the music which was usually godawful Euro house crap.
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drljefe
climber
Old Pueblo, AZ
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Fanny pack bump.
Thanks for the story Wes.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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i have never seen so many climbers, period.
between the gyms and the crags,
i mean there has never been so many boulder freaks at crsp, and i have been going there since 1971.
there used to be no parking lot, you could drive all the way up to the out house.
now the only car you see up there is the meat wagon.
i talk to the rock the whole time i am climbing,
kind of like mark fydrich, the pitcher, anybody remember him?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm_jU0b5Hgw
so everybody thinks i'm a freak to be avoided, hey man,
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Also, someone recently did a piece on Himalayan high country bouldering.
Oscar Eckenstein conducted a bouldering competition for natives in a village in the Kashmirs in 1892. He gave prizes of one rupee for each "winner", and commented the best there were far superior to any Swiss guide he had known. He might have mixed feelings about the beanies these days, however . . .
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bjj
climber
beyond the sun
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I'm not really "old school", started climbing in 1995. Went to the buttermilks a fair bit back then, and usually saw only one other car (if any). Then didn't go back again until 2002. A dozen cars plus. These days, we all know the scene. I met Mick Ryan when I was down there, just as the craze was underway. Nice guy, invited me to his house. Boy, did he find the right place at the right time.
As long as climbing stays popular, bouldering will be at the forefront in my opinion. Back when I started climbing, it wasn't an end in itself so much as it was just good training for power / extreme movements to help you with routes.
"Cruxes, cruxes, cruxes" said Ron Kauk on the subject. You do enough bouldering and you'll end up doing pretty much every hard move you could ever enncounter on a route, That'show I used to look at it, prior to joining the rest of the pad people.
Even Ben Moon doesn't climb routes anymore, according to a recent interview. He said he packed away sport climbing almost a decade ago.
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Chinchen
climber
Way out there....
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My kids climb harder than most of you old crusty farts.
This is the future, you are the past.
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