Rock Climbing Styles: Bouldering | Self Improvement Articles and Tips

Bouldering is basically a variation of rock climbing. In bouldering, you get only about twelve feet off the ground whereas in Rock Climbing, you get a lot, lot higher. Bouldering also requires total body control, physical endurance and upper body strength, much more than what is required for Trad or Sport climbing.

Bouldering allows climbers to perform moves which can?t be done while trad climbing, as they might be dangerous to do at a higher altitude.

In bouldering, the climber takes a boulder route, as the name suggests. These boulder routes are referred to as ?problems?. It may sound simple, but climbers need to perform special moves to get through a problem. It?s not as easy as it sounds. The climber will need intense practice and training to pull off these moves.

Bouldering doesn?t use, or require, most of the equipment used in Rock Climbing. Ropes, Carabiners, Harnesses? none of these. It only requires good rock climbing boots to scale better, chalk to get a better grip, a chalk bag to hold the chalk and crash pads, of course, to soften the landing if the climber should fall.

For many years, Bouldering was a part of Rock Climbing, which was in turn part of Mountaineering. In the late 1950s, a climber and gymnast, John Gill, who is considered the father of Modern Bouldering, brought Bouldering to light, and made it a sport on its own.

Bouldering has made its way through the extreme sports ranks, and is gaining more popularity as a sport which develops endurance, stamina, fitness and creativity. Bouldering is basically for Adrenaline junkies, people who aren?t afraid to take risks and adventurers, maybe for a few fitness freaks as well.

Why Bouldering?
Bouldering doesn?t only require physical strength and stamina, but also creativity and the ability to think quickly to solve boulder problems. It?s also a great motivation for physical fitness. Bouldering needs physical and mental strength, and maybe even a bunch of tries to solve a particular problem. It?s great motivation to get you to work out.

Bouldering is also the perfect sport for a thrill seeker. There?s never a moment during the course of the problem, where you can?t get hurt, or the risk of getting injured is zero. This factor attracts daredevils from all around to give it a try.

Bouldering Competitions
Bouldering competitions are gaining popularity in the extreme sports world, and competitions are becoming especially famous. It attracts participants and spectators alike from around the world, like bees to honey. It?s become extremely famous in the past few years, and as of today, there are over 300 bouldering competitions held every year. The problems in indoor bouldering competitions are usually around 8 feet, not more than 12 feet high. It usually doesn?t take a climber more than 12 moves to solve the problem. However, in outdoor competitions, the problem length may be doubled.

A bouldering competition consists of rounds, each round having 5 to 10 problems. A competition usually consists of a qualifying round, a semi-final and a final elimination round. Competing climbers aren?t allowed to watch the other?s solve the route.

A climber?s score is accumulated through all the problems they?ve solved, and the cumulative score decides who goes to the finals.

Bouldering contests may be widely classified into two types, the difference between the two being quite drastic. A ?Day? Competition is usually held for an hour or so, with a maximum of 30 problems. A ?Aggregate? competition, on the other hand, can go from 1 to 4 months at a time, and consists of around 150 problems.

Bouldering competitions have various categories, some of them being Men, Junior Boys, Women, Junior Girls, Professional and Amateur.

It?s very important to have proper training and practice before entering a competition. One needs to have perfect body control and balance, and have loads of practice before entering a bouldering competition.

A climber will require strong, effective moves to be executed perfectly without the help of ropes and harnesses, so it is important to practice a lot to get that perfect balance, and judgment as to where you need to move next, and how you?re going to get there.

Related posts:

1. Rock Climbing Styles: Sport Climbing
2. Rock Climbing Styles: Traditional Trad Climbing
3. Rock Climbing Styles: Solo Climbing
4. Rock Climbing Styles: Indoor Climbing
5. Rock Climbing Styles: Scrambling
6. Rock Climbing Styles: Ice Climbing
7. Rock Climbing Styles: Mountaineering
8. Rock Climbing For Women
9. Rock Climbing And Aching Joints
10. Rock Climbing Guide: Training By Climbing Walls
11. Rock Climbing Gifts
12. Journaling And Recording Your Rock Climbing Trips
13. Rock Climbing Guides
14. Rock Climbing Training Boards
15. Rock Climbing Equipment

Source: http://www.e-self-help.com/rock-climbing-styles-bouldering/

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