What is Bouldering?

Here's a slideshow of me bouldering in the Cuttings Boulderfield, Portland. It's called bouldering because the problems (bouldering routes) are either on boulders or are about the height of a boulder, though this allows a great deal of variation. The guidebook calls the problems in the Cuttings Boulderfield "100 ways to stand up" because the routes are so short. Higher boulder problems (called highball problems) mark the cross over area into rock climbing routes (micro routes). The distinction between the two comes down to protection - on a rock climbing route you would use a rope, on a boulder problem you would use a foam pad or mat and a spotter (someone to catch you / direct your fall towards the mat / give you verbal abuse or encouragement).

The slide show may take a while to get going - depending on the speed of your connection.

Route: Cat Killer, V3 on the Cat Skull boulder, Cuttings Boulderfield, Portland

I did top out, but it was not a pretty sight and Andy did not photograph it (though he did make a video clip, which included the abuse that he was giving me for making a mess of the finish to the problem before I added a sound track).