Note: See the Snake Pits description for a summary on Garden Bouldering
The Blowouts area is a neat bouldering area. It is an overhanging area where the holds are mostly slopey huecos with smearing feet. The holds are fairly high off the deck with some rocky landings. So bring a spotter and crash pad in order to avoid bsuting an ankle. The problems here are mostly traversing, but like any bouldering area (and especially in the Garden) just find some holds and your thing.
Getting There
The Blowouts is on the west side of North Gateway Rock. Probably the easiest way to get here is to follow the main path around North Gateway to the west face. It is just past a large cave. It is near the disabled parking area to give you an idea of where on the rock it is.
I stand corrected. I just now noticed that William Prehm had put a summary of bouldering in the Garden. There are also comments listed under his rock area that apply to bouldering also. Alas, my attempt at helping the cause appears to have fallen short. At the very least i put up some pics that may be of use. If any of the above people is offended that I added my own thing in, I apologize. But it can't hurt to have the rocks listed, can it?
The Blowouts Area is the bouldering destination in GOG! The hike to get there is worth the walk. Start out just north of the base of Cowboy Boot Crack and follow the base of NGR, avoiding hopping the fence from the sidewalk as the area is under reclamation. Unlike the Winter Wall, you are secluded from the tourons, protected from the rain (the base almost never sees precip), and there is considerably less dust and sand on the holds. The ground-level traverse is the obvious problem, but look up, ignoring the moronic chalk ball-sized tick marks, to find a higher traverse with solid holds. A short V3? (never worried about the grade) starts out on matching pockets, traverses left through crimps via a heel-toe move, reaches up right to shallow three finger pocket, and twists out left to finish at a jug big enough to fit a pony keg in! You can either drop or elegantly downclimb the potholes. If you're first name is Uber you can reverse it and finish at the starting match. Just to the south of the cave is an neat broad arete with an interesting traverse around the base, although it's an eliminate (at least for me), it uses some pretty cool holds and creative feet. This traverse could keep going left to finish on the ramp or up to end higher. Something to work on! Enjoy!
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