Top 10 Bishop Climbs! [And a thank you!]

Hey Mountain Project! BadWater Bouldering made it to 1000 subscribers, and we made a Top 10 Bishop Climbs video to celebrate!

We made two actually, Top 10 v0-v4, and Top 10 v5-v9 routes.


I want to thank this community for all the kind words, encouragement, and subs over the last year! You all really helped fuel the fire to keep us making videos! Jake and I can't thank you enough.

Enjoy!

Also, out of curiosity, what are your favorite Bishop climbs?

Looks good. One comment would be that these are boulder problems, not "climbs" which would imply roped routes.

Randy wrote: Looks good. One comment would be that these are boulder problems, not "climbs" which would imply roped routes.

That is an interesting distinction, I've never really thought about it like that.

"Climbs" does not imply it is a roped climb in any way lol

You are climbing rocks, just shorter ones. 

J T wrote: "Climbs" does not imply it is a roped climb in any way lol

You are climbing rocks, just shorter ones. 

The lack of distinction between climbs and boulder problems or climbing and bouldering is very common amongst people who don’t actively participate in either activity. Any seasoned participant is well aware of the differences and some will even go to great lengths to point those differences out. The distinction is similar to that of top-roping versus leading or climbing versus hiking. For the layman, there is hardly a distinction to any of these terms. How many times have we come across a news article reporting a “climber” in Joshua tree or Yosemite fell to their death and worried it was one of our tribe, but soon realized it was a non-climber who was recklessly scrambling beyond his/her abilities. As a full time teacher and weekend rock climber, I am constantly amused on Monday’s with my teacher colleagues asking me how the hiking went or which mountain did I climb. A boulder problem, a climb, a scramble, a hike, a mountain, and a rappel are similar yet very unique objectives. For one to lump them all together as “climbs” shows an innocent naivety.

Personally I call boulder problems climbs.
You wear climbing shoes and do climbing moves.
Mountain climbs are also climbs, as are ice climbs and mixed climbs.
To define "climbs" as roped rock climbs is a little too narrow.
I've been climbing mountains, rocks and boulders for 50 years now, so hopefully I'm not too naive at the moment.
I think both terms are correct, although the term boulder problems is more informative in this case.

Anyways, the best climb in Bishop is either Espresso or Cardinal Pinnacle.  Maybe V2 and V0 respectively?

Point being if you are only putting boulder problems on your list of "climbs" then maybe you should get out more?

I've heard there's some good ones in ORG and Pine Creek too....

Tony Sartin wrote:

The lack of distinction between climbs and boulder problems or climbing and bouldering is very common amongst people who don’t actively participate in either activity. Any seasoned participant is well aware of the differences and some will even go to great lengths to point those differences out. The distinction is similar to that of top-roping versus leading or climbing versus hiking. For the layman, there is hardly a distinction to any of these terms. How many times have we come across a news article reporting a “climber” in Joshua tree or Yosemite fell to their death and worried it was one of our tribe, but soon realized it was a non-climber who was recklessly scrambling beyond his/her abilities. As a full time teacher and weekend rock climber, I am constantly amused on Monday’s with my teacher colleagues asking me how the hiking went or which mountain did I climb. A boulder problem, a climb, a scramble, a hike, a mountain, and a rappel are similar yet very unique objectives. For one to lump them all together as “climbs” shows an innocent naivety.

I guess Climbing mag should rebrand then...  

No one is suggesting Bouldering isn't climbing. Or that the term "climbing" doesn't include everything from Cerro Torre to The Happy Boulders.

But, when you put out a guide to a bouldering area (or feature the best boulder problems), you call it a bouldering. The term "Climbs" in this context suggest something for which you typically use a rope (whether TR, Trad, Big Wall, Sport...).

Tony's remarks were spot on.

At least call them "boulder climbs."

If you want to rate the top 10 climbs in Bishop it's not going to be primarily boulder problems. 

Would a boulder problem even make the top 10 best climbs in Bishop? Thinking of all the great routes that this area has to offer it certainly would not in my book. But maybe yours is filled with nothing but boulders not that that's wrong we're just of a different different mindset and passion for climbing. Bishop does have some great bouldering. It also has some phenomenal world class climbing trad, sport, and ice climbing.

Interesting... I'd argue that Bishop is far more world class in bouldering than any of the other disciplines.  The milks and tablelands are like a G20 summit once autumn hits.

I was expecting rope climbs (trad and/or sport climbs) to be posted up not bouldering. I kinda got dissapointed