Why Do Some Climbers HATE Bouldering?

I'm with the other guy who stopped bouldering over busted ankles. That, and, i rarely found a problem that inspired me. No hate though.

Its all stupid, none of this makes your mama proud!

Even Daniel woods says bouldering is just training for real rock climbing.

1- every fall= groundfall
2- begins at hard 11
3- Hank is right, cuties, but they often crush

Exercises in frustration.

I don't hate bouldering, it just isn't good for my body. I have knee and hip (labrum tear) issues. The repeated impact from 10-15 feet up is terrible for me. Actually, it sounds like doctors are starting to agree that bouldering is probably one of the most destructive subsets of climbing out there.

I do roll my eyes anyone espouses some sort of "purity" regarding their subgenre of climbing. Boulderers happen to espouse this more, but whatever.

JLP wrote:It comes in the moment after you try it and realize the hardest moves on the hardest climb you've ever done are barely V2 - your ego just can't process it.

Word.

I go to the sport crag, I can do reasonably well, and my ego is intact. Same with any trad crag; I can hang with most of the moderately big boys. Bouldering, I have to put up with skinny-jeans-clad teenagers with shitty technique and super strong fingers, who warmup on climbs harder than my projects. It takes me back to gumby status, and is pretty hard on the ego.

Still, bouldering is pretty damned fun.

I don't think the two should be mutually exclusive. I've always climbed routes and bouldered to some extent, just with a greater emphasis on one or the other at different times.

I used to climb routes a lot, then I decked and broke my back. When I started climbing again a year later I was too afraid to lead anything. I started bouldering a lot, and really enjoyed it. But when I started bouldering harder, I started getting hurt. One broken ankle, a sprained ankle a couple months later, and a torn pulley convinced me to start climbing routes again.

Although, now I'm wondering if maybe I'm just accident prone and should give up climbing altogether.

mountainproject.com/v/1-pro…

Why do some climbers care what other climbers think about what they are climbing?

Philip Lutz wrote: It is probably the most simple way to climb. Find Rock. Climb Rock. (Don't Die.)

I actually knew a guy who killed himself bouldering. He was out by himself one day and pulled a block down onto his head and died from the injuries.

Ed Wright wrote: I actually knew a guy who killed himself bouldering. He was out by himself one day and pulled a block down onto his head and died from the injuries.

I can't remember his name, but was this the guy in Priest Draw, AZ? I recall hearing that story, and there's a plaque in his memory at the boulder it happened at (just uphill from the triangle boulder, I believe).

i cant allow hating on dave graham...unquestionable perpetrator of the shirtless beanie look.

Cause of the big awkward bouldering pad you have to carry around. Besides that bouldering is fun.

...because THIS is so much more inspirational:

Tuolumne Meadows area and Tenaya Lake, from Olmstead Point, Yosemite NP

JLP wrote:Lots of good bouldering in Tuolumne.

Too busy looking up at the domes.

bruno-cx wrote:Why Do Some Climbers HATE Bouldering... it's the shirtless beanie look. Makes the kids look like kooks. Even more sad when grown men dress like that.

Hmmm, let's say over 29 is too old for the no shirt and beanie look. OK?

Woodchuck ATC wrote: Hmmm, let's say over 29 is too old for the no shirt and beanie look. OK?

I've spent the last year focusing on bouldering, so I'm not opposed to it at all, but I think the no shirt beanie look is awful. No one should dress like that, regardless of age.

I didnt read the previous comments, so someone may have already mentioned this but here is my two cents. I cant stand bouldering. Why? I have numerous lasting injuries caused by mountain biking and falling hurts. Doesnt matter if I land on my feet, on a pad, or have the best spotter in the world. Secondly, when climbing I do everything possible to protect myself against a ground fall... every single time you fall while bouldering, you deck. I do however think that bouldering can, and will improve other aspects of your climbing. Just like trad will help you on sport and vice versa. So.... if you are stoked on bouldering, go wrestle those pebbles to the ground!! And if not... be like me, and enjoy a nice dynamic whipper!

The only time I boulder is while backpacking or the afternoon before an alpine climb at a bivy. Thus, I love alpine bouldering. Otherwise I don't.

bouldering? you mean sending the gnar like THIS:

either an FA or Scrotal Elephantitis

seriously, though...I've never actually heard someone say they HATE bouldering. I've heard plenty of people say they hate the 'scene' associated with bouldering. And I think that can have some validity. Personally I almost always prefer to get on a rope; but I've also had some outrageously fun days bouldering in Bishop, Vedauwoo, and elsewhere. Unfortunately my lower back is not feeling quite as sprightly as it used to feel, so I tend to shy away from bouldering more than I otherwise would these days.

I've actually heard more boulderers say they hate crack climbing than anybody else say they dislike bouldering....

edit: anyone who says they just can't seem to see inspiring lines on boulders should check out Alex Savage's "Western Gold."

trailer: vimeo.com/39651458#