Why Do Some Climbers HATE Bouldering?

Bonneville wrote:THIS THREAD IS THE EPITOME OF WHY 98% OF ALL CLIMBERS ARE DEUSCHBAGS. Grow the fuck up guys (and girls). I love climbing and will always be a climber but yáll are a bunch or sorry ass burnt out tools. And to think when I picked this passion up I thought I'd run into a lot of rad people with similar interests. Instead I found out most of us are no different than the rest of the idiotic general populace you claim to be so much above with your goddamn deity (or inferiority) complexes and shitty attitudes towards everything in the sport that doesn't pertain directly to your trendy little asses. Fuck. I wish this rain would stop so I didn't have to come across another shining example of the worst part about climbing itself. THE CLIMBERS!!!

Hmmm..... People are people. It doesn't matter so much what the activity or hobby is. Though so far I've found that most of the climbers I've met are very cool people. Maybe this is because I've not reached the higher grades where people become competitive, maybe I'm just not a threat to anyone's ego, maybe I've just been lucky. However, I've noticed that most of the people I've met in person are rather thoughtful individuals. And in direct contradiction to finding over-inflated egos, I've found more experienced climbers to be very encouraging and helpful. Sure some of them have rigid opinions, but those people just know what they like. And just as with any opinion, that's fine with me, so long as they don't try and push it on me as if it were fact.

Rob Gordon wrote: I think a lot of people hate on it because they aren't good at it.

So true. It’s funny to watch these macho hot shot trad and sport climbers come and try Bouldering only to eat face and walk away saying how lame it is. Climbers that Boulder can smell these folk a mile away. Way less ego in Climbers that Boulder

Candice Spenst wrote:

So true. It’s funny to watch these macho hot shot trad and sport climbers come and try Bouldering only to eat face and walk away saying how lame it is. Climbers that Boulder can smell these folk a mile away. Way less ego in Climbers that Boulder

So true, but what's even funnier is to watch someone go dig up a thread that's been dead for over three years!

Cause we're weak and bouldering is hard? Also seems like people get injured bouldering more frequently than sport climbing at the gym, which is, you know, most climbers.

I don't boulder much because my single serious climbing injury ever was from bouldering. I'm too old to be ground falling every climb, even on a pad. I don't have anything against bouldering, it's just not for me because the chance of injury is too high.

What's the difference between a boulderer and a trad climber? A trust fund. Hanging around the Gunks, I've talked to a lot of boulderers around campfires. The #1 reason I hear people boulder in an area better known for trad is money. Bouldering costs less than any other form of climbing. Knowing this, it comes ascross as a bit classist when trad climbers talk crap about boulderers.

That said, the best solution to this problem is for people to just stop taking themselves and their identities as a specific kind of climber so seriously. I think Paul Graham's Keep Your Identity Small correctly identifies that most internet holy wars are because people take an attack on an idea (like bouldering or trad) as an attack on their identity (boulderers or trad climbers). Friendly banter is fun (I made fun of boulderers on the stairmaster trail last week--boulderers work legs!?) but on the internet, text makes it much easier to mistake banter for serious criticism and people take this stuff way too personally.

I always thought the question was, why do boulders hate climbing?  

Well a friend of mine who climbs V7 boulders outdoors shit his pants and didn't make it up 5ft when we did a 5.5 (1 pitch 5.8) 500ft multi pitch. The plan was orignally that I would do the first 5.8 trad pitch with 30-40ft runouts and he would than do at least 1 of the easy 5.5 crack pitches that you could put gear in anywhere on the pitch... after gearing up etc he shit his pants and I had to take over and finish the rest of the leads.

Why does Pho close at 9:30?

Because they are weak.......nuff said

ViperScale wrote:

Well a friend of mine who climbs V7 boulders outdoors shit his pants and didn't make it up 5ft when we did a 5.5 (1 pitch 5.8) 500ft multi pitch. The plan was orignally that I would do the first 5.8 trad pitch with 30-40ft runouts and he would than do at least 1 of the easy 5.5 crack pitches that you could put gear in anywhere on the pitch... after gearing up etc he shit his pants and I had to take over and finish the rest of the leads.

I can believe this, it takes some falls to learn to trust ropes.

I'm finding that bouldering in the gym is helping me with finger crack strength

Nathan Burns wrote: WHY WAS THIS THREAD BROUGHT BACK

Also, that Bonneville person sucks.

Because they are angry and want to hate on somebody and boulderers are an easy target. I'm not huge on bouldering but that's more so because it just isn't as fun for me and because of the high injury rate. Risk vs reward, bouldering just isn't worth it for me most of the time.

On the other hand, if I only have an hour to climb or only an hour of daylight, bouldering is gonna give me to the most bang for my buck.

Also, I don't know how much I buy the whole inexpensive bouldering thing. Crash pads are pretty expensive and a lot of times you might need more than one. A rack is a pretty big investment up front but if you take good care of your gear and aren't whipping on it left and right then you rarely have to replace it, unlike crashpads that get worn out.

And if you get a burly rope with a high core % and a harness with a plastic wear protector, sport climbing can also be pretty cheap, albeit with a higher buy-in price. If you use these draws you won't need to be buying new draws for a long time.

Climbing

                        Bouldering

Anyone who hates bouldering is a ************

John Barritt wrote:

Climbing

                       

Bouldering

You mean sport, bouldering...

...trad

climbing friend,

this is been covered the manytimes before, yes?

it is for obvious because they are weak and pathetic, and cannot pull hard moves, and instead prefer jimmy-jackin' around with rope and "devices" and "gear" for countless hours, waiting for their partner to climb, staring at the butt cheeks and naughty harness crotch bulge of the partner, feeling quite special that they are off the ground 80', all this enjoyed more than actual climbing, it is too hard to pull on the small holds and do the radical more unique moves of boulder type, they would rather climb 70' of 5.10 or 5.11 to get to their crux, haha ha ho ho! myah!

Mike Lane wrote:  But when your only talent is limited to bouldering, we just don't take you seriously; get some proud redpoints in and then you earn your way out of the taunting. Also, the lack of getting anywhere; and despite all the power moves you still are done in about 2 minutes is just not enough of a thrill or challenge for the vertically inclined.

You do realize that this is a two way street.......right?

Because I'm soft so I can't boulder!

Tim Lutz wrote:

bouldering is practice climbing

So true.

I got into climbing through bouldering. As I'm sure everyone else has. I have matured and grown as a climber through bouldering but have a technical mind so I gravitated towards trad climbing. Anytime a friend asks to go boulder I kinda shrug and keep reading Freedom of the Hills.