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Don't headpoint boulders, they're boulders. Rise to the challenge.

Throw a rope on it and it is no longer a highball. Now it's just a short toprope.

wtf, who cares?! do what you need to do to keep from injuring yourself. it's just climbing, er, bouldering.

It is a bit fuzzy.
Maybe we should define a highball as an ascent with no rehearsal and a solo as one with rehearsal. Within the context of bouldering ticking and rehearsal are just a way to dumb it down in my book. Step Up, don't dumb down

Rope it, don't worry about what anyone thinks.

Do what you want, but personally I would only drop a rope and rehearse if the problem was more like a solo. You just have to deal with it if the problem is 15-25 feet, over that I would probably use the Kevin Jorgeson method, roped pre-rehearsal for a solo.

www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=343117585707713

Toproping has long been an accepted part of bouldering. Many of John Gill's famous boulder problems were originally done as topropes. That said, he also did some seriously bold, ground up highballs (like the Thimble).

Jump forward to modern practices, here in Bishop: many of the most serious highballs have only been done with TR rehearsal, some have been put up boldly without ever using a rope, and some have been done ground up by repeat ascentionists after being originally established using roped rehearsal.

The lesson: do whatever you like. Sometimes it is appropriate to be cautious, and other times you need to be bold.

Who cares? Make your own decisions, take your own risks, and reap your own rewards.

Bob Murray originally did his eponymous problems on the Mushroom Boulder at Hueco as topropes.

It is also worth thinking about how much bouldering has strayed from its "pure and simple" ideal in the age of highballs and pad-stacking. One of the best aspects of bouldering is the removal of the logistics that complicate other forms of climbing. It is really nice; go to a boulderfield with shoes, chalk, and a pad or two, and enjoy good movement on good rock.

This simplicity ideal falls apart, though, for highballs that demand many pads and many spotters. Rounding up 10+ pads and a number of spotters does not make for a simple outing. Doing these same problems by bringing a short rope and a bit of gear to drop a TR does, in fact, make for a much simpler and less gear-intensive outing, even if it is less bold.

Cross_Pollination:

www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1726285/At-what-point-do-yo>>>

If I ever got injured bouldering, I'd be fuggin' pissed.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Wearing expensive Prana or Patagonia climbing pants is lame when all you really need is a pair of expensive Carhart pants. It's unbelievable. These people should be banished from climbing for doing shit that I think is stupid.


Dickies 20 bucks at Wal-Mart.

I'm going to call bullshit on this entire thread now. I know, I know, having a Dorsey moment, are we? The difference is that I am going to explain myself thoroughly and not name-call unless it's very funny.

1) David's mentioned numerous times that he was around back in the day at Hueco. I refuse to believe that someone who's been bouldering at Hueco since I was squeezing out mashed bananas in my Huggies has any questions about bouldering worth posing to the assembled noobs and haters on Our Fair Site.

2) There are now 2 bouldering books out, the new Beal one and the old Bensman one. First, it's insane that people are writing books about things most people can figure out while so stoned that they've semi-permanently lost their shirts, and second, other than the meaning of a dab and a few hand/foot techniques that are available in pretty much any climbing instruction book, what the hell is there to discuss about hanging out on pads and trying tough moves, ever?

3) No one ever got miffed about the number of ropes used on a route, and for good reason-it's a personal protection issue that is very simple to figure out based on rope drag and psychological boost available from a super skinny and therefore light rope (or 3) versus the probably-not-gonna-die-since-I'm-falling-on-the-10.5 equation. Anyone reporting number and types of pads used for a problem would get laughed off the site, it's fucking bouldering, it's just pads, and who cares?

And last but not least, anyone used to climbing big walls on a regular basis is likely to call anything under 50 feet and pretty tough pretty much bouldering anyway, and using a rope or not usually is more affected by a person's desire to impress the ladymen nearby than some kind of soul pursuit a la Bachar or Jeff Lowe.

We really are talking non-issues here. Which is why I'm posting a photo of Megan Fox, which is both more interesting and more memorable than this discussion.

Feel free to continue talking about bouldering now. It is a very interesting subject. Submitted By: Killing In The Name Of on Jan 20, 2012

Having just badly sprained an ankle falling from a boulder i wish I had a rope ha. In all seriousness Gil top roped problems back in the day all the time, many people do it who are pretty respected in the community. Sure there are people who dont top rope a problem before hand, more power to them but there is nothing wrong with checking something out to avoid injury. I wish I had and then I could be climbing instead of sitting on my computer.