Highballing Vs Solo

I'm sure this is on here some where but When do you consider a climb a free solo instead of a highball Boulder problem 20-30feet with pads = Boulder 30 +feet with no pad = solo or pretty much when you're high enough that your going to die is a free solo I'm really just wondering for my own knowledge thanks!

If the route is normally climbed with a rope, it becomes a solo without. If it's a boulder problem, it's a boulder problem.
If someone did a sport route with a bunch of crash pads instead of a type... I have no idea. Baby solo?

Maybe I'm wrong Sean but I thought this was a general climbing forum where you can ask anything that deals with climbing? and a decent question at that on where the line is drawn between the two. sorry I'm not Royal Robbins like your self And I'm just assuming you have no idea since your answer is just like half the other answers I read on these forums trolls or your going to die! Because you feel that you're to good of a climber or some type of Climbing genius to give a straight answer to a question that I'm sure you once wondered. Spread piece and love not hate.

Jaredsup,
you wanted to have this discusion ?
I'm not going to join the climber speak,
or a climbing gym where it is a required Language skill.

Climbing with out a rope is dangerous, the potential for
Injury is not mitigated by safety procedures .

So as unpopular & un-cool as it maybe:

I don't believe there is a difference

Bouldering / climbing / soloing / third classing All without a rope attached
all risk ground fall.
Splat! Hey don't do that & you will climb a lot longer injury free.

An old scale was once class 1-5, then the segmentation of
the 5th grade into the - points X (5.3, or 5 . 7)
3rd class was a term that described what is now accepted as
Soloing,
(with or without the use of gear, the addition of the word FREE, now denotes gear less )

The focus on smaller height or traversing climbing is referred to
by the definition of the medium relative to other (types of ) climbing that
is a larger & requires more commitment of time to climb
due to size / height. Making that type of climbing or
the result of falling less forgiving & requiring safety gear to survive

Safe climbing happens when you are attached to a safe belay

Verses any and all types of climbing where you are unattached .

Making ground fall the result of any mistake has consequences .

Ground strike while on a cord,? Is almost always due to climbers' errors.
Bad gear placement, rope stretch or intention of belayer/spotter
BUT
When there is no cord, every fall is a grounder.
( pads, only cushion the blow, the shock going to the joints is barley offset )

It is a semantics' debate, - words describing climbing rocks

EDIT
Ho snap!

Cut to the quick,

Ho the burn


Really I do try to Stay away ,minimally wasting time here, while waiting for life to happen . Glad I have been so well schooled. If you have nothing nice to add why bother, Climbing with out a rope & thinking pads will help is Delusional. I certainly both solo'd and boulder'd. After 40 years I've learned a thing or two, but far be it from me, to try to tell anything To anyone

Michael Schneider wrote:Jaredsup, you wanted to have this discusion ? I'm not going to join the climber speak, or a climbing gym where it is a required Language skill. Climbing with out a rope is dangerous, the potential for Injury is not mitigated by safety procedures . So as unpopular & un-cool as it maybe: I don't believe there is a difference Bouldering / climbing / soloing / third classing All without a rope attached all risk ground fall. Spat! Hey don't do that & you will climb a lot longer injury free. An old scale was once class 1-5, then the segmentation of the 5th grade into the - points X (5.3, or 5 . 7) 3rd class was a term that described what is now accepted as Soloing, (with or without the use of gear, the addition of the word FREE, now denotes gear less ) The focus on smaller height or traversing climbing is referred to by the definition of the medium relative to other (types of ) climbing that is a larger & requires more commitment of time to climb due to size / height. Making that type of climbing or the result of falling less forgiving & requiring safety gear to survive Safe climbing happens when you are attached to a safe belay Verses any and all types of climbing where you are unattached . Making ground fall the result of any mistake has consequences . Ground strike while on a cord,? Is almost always due to climbers' errors. Bad gear placement, rope stretch or intention of belayer/spotter BUT When there is no cord, every fall is a grounder. ( pads, only cushion the blow, the shock going to the joints is barley offset ) It is a semantics' debate, - words describing climbing rocks

Please just go away

its interesting that jared uses no punctuation or line breaks and schneider uses way too much but they are both incomprehensible.

I actually enjoy reading jared's writing style. gives it personality.

Mitchelle Kelly wrote:its interesting that jared uses no punctuation or line breaks and schneider uses way too much but they are both incomprehensible. I actually enjoy reading jared's writing style. gives it personality.

I think it demonstrates that there is genius on both ends of the IQ spectrum.

Highball = fall from top, get hurt.
Solo = fall from top, die.

I agree fully with Will S.

Although there is a grey area. Some highballs would kill you.

If it's literally a free-standing boulder, it's a boulder problem, I don't care how high it is.

Earth is a free standing Boulder.

Will S wrote:Highball = fall from top, get hurt. Solo = fall from top, die.

climbing friend,

yessssss, but what if you fall from 25' boulder and die, and what if you fall from 90' free solo and live?

Aleks Zebastian wrote: climbing friend, yessssss, but what if you fall from 25' boulder and die, and what if you fall from 90' free solo and live?

Furthermore, if no one sees or hears you hitting the ground...did you actually fall, or a you just faking it for attention?

The possibilities are endless!

Jaredsup wrote:And I'm just assuming you have no idea since your answer is just like half the other answers I read on these forums trolls or your going to die! Because you feel that you're to good of a climber or some type of Climbing genius to give a straight answer to a question that I'm sure you once wondered. Spread piece and love not hate.

I still think you're a troll (1 month old account from "Donora"), but I'm waiting on my truck to be serviced anyway.

I never wondered the answer to your question, because -

"Highballing" refers to boulder problems, and free soloing refers to climbs where people rope up.

Sean H wrote: I still think you're a troll (1 month old account from "Donora"), but I'm waiting on my truck to be serviced anyway. I never wondered the answer to your question, because - "Highballing" refers to boulder problems, and free soloing refers to climbs where people rope up.

"donora" is the name of a village that is pretty close to the climbing spots that he talks about. It took me like less time to google than it did for you to type. i know who the real troll is now, "sean h from salt lake city".

bouldering=muscle tendon injuries
solo=broken bones

just my opinion though.

Andrew Wood wrote:bouldering=muscle tendon injuries solo=broken bones just my opinion though.

Just got back from a hike, and taking a break.

At my age, (70) I would probably break bones falling as little as 10 feet. I've broken both ankles bouldering, ( before pads). I suck at bouldering anyway, so I haven't done it in years, but I still free solo occasionally, up to 5.8

Jimmy Dunn told me recently that he would rather fall soloing than end up in a nursing home, from old age.

"Sean h from Salt Lake City" says he is waiting on his truck to be serviced, but I don't see any pictures of trucks in his profile. Definitely a Troll.

stephen arsenault wrote: Just got back from a hike, and taking a break. At my age, (70) I would probably break bones falling as little as 10 feet. I've broken both ankles bouldering, ( before pads). I suck at bouldering anyway, so I haven't done it in years, but I still free solo occasionally, up to 5.8 Jimmy Dunn told me recently that he would rather fall soloing than end up in a nursing home, from old age.

I agree with Jimmy Dunn's perspective to an extent. I too have switched to longer, less impacting climbing style, glad to see your injuries haven't stopped you.

I actually think this is one of the more interesting questions in climbing (ducks). I like scaring myself but I also feel that I have a responsibility to friends and family not to take stupid risks. In my mind that means that highball bouldering is ok but soloing is not (whatever that means).

The question is, can I then get on something like the southwest arête of Grandma Peabody without feeling like I'm lying to myself about where I'm drawing the line? What if there are 10 pads under me? Obviously a fall onto your head from that height, even with pads, would be almost certainly fatal, but that's also a pretty unlikely scenario, no?

I'm willing to climb things where there is a decent possibility of serious injury (broken legs etc.) but I never want to put myself in a situation where grevious injury (broken spine, brain damage, death) would be considered something other than an unlikely freak accident. I never want anyone to be able to say "he had it coming."

So yeah, I like runouts, I like highballs, and I like being a little scared, but I don't want to be the sort of person people speculate about behind their backs about when they are going to kick it.

So this question pops into my mind rather often.

Dylan Colon wrote:The question is, can I then get on something like the southwest arête of Grandma Peabody without feeling like I'm lying to myself about where I'm drawing the line? What if there are 10 pads under me? Obviously a fall onto your head from that height, even with pads, would be almost certainly fatal, but that's also a pretty unlikely scenario, no?

Weird shit can always happen. I was in Eldorado the day a woman died while bouldering at the base of the Bastille. Her head hit a edge when she landed, shattering her temple and causing a fatal TBI. She fell only 3 - 4 feet.