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The Complete Guide to Bouldering
The honest, no-hype guide to what bouldering really costs (time and money), what gear you actually need, and how to decide if it's the right hobby for you before you spend a dime.
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Is Bouldering and Why People Love It
Let's clear up one thing right away: bouldering is climbing, but without a rope and without a partner. You don't go very high off the ground—the walls in a typical gym top out at around 12 to 15 feet, which is roughly the height of a one-story building. You climb across the wall and sometimes straight up, and when you finish (or when you can't hold on anymore), you jump off onto a thick, padded mat that covers the whole floor. That's it. The entire activity is: pick a route, climb it, drop down, rest, pick another one.
The routes in a bouldering gym aren't just "climb up the wall." They are color-coded problems. A problem is a specific sequence of holds, all the same color, leading from the floor to a final hold at the top. The difficulty is rated on a scale, though you'll mostly just see numbers at a gym: V0 (the easiest) through V17 (the absurdly hard, professional level). A V0 is basically a wide ladder—big holds, a gentle angle. A V3 is where you start needing to actually think about foot placement. A V6 means you're doing something that resembles gymnastics on a wall.
So let's walk through a real session, because it's so different from what you might picture. You walk into a climbing gym, and it's loud. There is music playing, people talking, and the rhythmic thump of bodies landing on the floor