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Bouldering is climbing without a rope on large boulders and was pioneered by the British in the 1880s (according to John Gill's website). Bouldering is a sport in itself, but is commonly used as training by climbers — as It was first pursued as a sport of its own during the 1950s by Mr. Gill, a former gymnast who found the movement of bouldering enjoyable. Bouldering can also take place indoors on climbing walls.

Typically bouldering is a more high impact sport focusing on individual moves rather than the endurance required in traditional climbing. Boulder routes are most commonly referred to as 'problems', because the nature of the climb is often short, curious, and much like problem solving. As in other types of climbing there are entire grading systems for bouldering alone, the most commonly used are the Hueco system, ranging from V0- to V15 (or possibly V16-V17), and the Fontainebleau system ranging from Font 2 to Font 8c. These systems are open-ended, with the upper limit extending as boulderers ascend more difficult problems.

To reduce the risk of injury after a fall, climbers rarely go higher than a few meters above the ground (anything over 7 meters is generally considered to be free-soloing although such climbs might also be termed high-ball bouldering problems). They may also put a crash pad/bouldering mat on the ground to break their fall and/or assign a spotter, a person standing on the ground to prevent the climber from landing badly. The spotter generally works to direct the climbers body toward the crashpad during a fall, while protecting the climber's head from hazards.

The region around Fontainebleau near Paris is particularly famous for its beautiful and diverse bouldering sites. Well known areas include Stanage (UK), Hueco Tanks (Texas), Castle Hill, New Zealand, and Bishop, California amongst others.

External links

• Bouldering in the UK
• Bouldering in Ireland
• Bouldering in the Lake District, UK
• Bouldering in North Wales, UK
• Bouldering in the UK, Germany, the US, NZ and more...
• Bouldering in Scotland

• Climbing