You know what Jams my Cams? Boulderers climbing on the bottom of Routes.
Now I am not against bouldering in general. The fine art of pebble wrestling is a well respected craft and I partake at least once a week. However, I am also a dedicated sporto and I like to take people for their first roped experience, both indoor and outdoor and that is where some lines get crossed. There are plenty of boulders in the world, somewhere in the thousands just on the East Coast, let alone the untold millions worldwide, most of which that have never been climbed. So why then do some boulderers have to climb the first 15 feet of routes? Believe it or not, this actually has a profound effect on the environment both for the rock and the community.
Outside:
Another example is Coopers Rock, WV. Seriously guys, the boulder field at Coopers is expansive, even more than the current guidebook shows which is already over 200 problems. But there are only 40 routes, including the variations. Can we stop fooling around on the routes up to the break on Jimi Cliff (Sunset Wall) and go around the corner to the actual boulder problems? It’s like less than 100 feet away.
*Addendum: Carderock also has some slightly more difficult routes to reach and those are still really awesome (read: rock that still has friction).
Every gym is different depending on the square surface area of each of the areas (bouldering cave, top-rope area, lead area). Some gyms are small and space for each area is at a premium, plus, the holds get stripped, cleaned, and re-set. However, if your gym is large and has copious space for each area, they gave each area discipline its space for a reason. For those in Baltimore, remember how small the original Columbia Earth Treks boulder cave was? Traversing the bottom of the wall was a tradition to warm up before stuffing yourself back in the literal hole of a cave. Now that the gym has expanded to more than twice its size and everyone was happy. The leaders have their pump wall and arch, the top-ropers have the varied terrains, and the boulders have their very nice and new slab, prow, and top-out area. In the Timonium Earth Treks, however, a different blend occurred. The only expansion that that they could do was add the slab area behind the new desk and develop the vacant upstairs room. The leaders hav their lead cave and pillars, the top-ropers have nearly everything except for the pump wall, and the boulders have their national competition quality cave and a large, adjustable systems wall upstairs. Then a funny thing happened; they started putting up hard boulder problems in the lead cave. My first question was why, because I thought that was what the adjustable systems wall was for. The answer is because the lead cave has more varied terrain and a natural finish at the roof, but now the lines have blurred. Boulderers leave there chalk pots and shoes (and sometimes themselves) in the way as leaders try to stack their ropes. Some even try to boulder while leaders are high up on the wall and while the leader may not hit them in a fall, it is certainly unsafe for the belayer. So, I have to ask, can we go back to a cleaner separation for safety as well as convenience?
*Addendum: Bouldering the bottom of a gym route to the first bolt is acceptable if the intention is to test the start of the route before tying in to complete the whole thing.
I understand that time and accessibility for outdoor bouldering can be difficult to come by. I just ask that if there are bouldering options available (read: Coopers) then please stay off the routes and leave those open for people with a rope. As for the gym, boulders, please stay in the boulder cave and leave the lead cave to the leader. And top-ropers, please stop straying onto lead only routes and risking a big swing that could hurt someone, but that is a discussion for another day.
-Tylor Streett is an accomplished complainer depending on whether or not he has on a harness.