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<h2><a name="0">Where to boulder</a></h2>

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        <td valign="top">Bouldering is one of the easiest types
        of climbing to prepare for - just tie on your shoes and
        clip your chalk bag on, and you're ready! Bouldering and
        traversing are slightly different, but the terms are
        often used in each other's place. Bouldering usually
        refers to climbing on large boulders or small faces.
        Traversing can be done on or off belay, unlike
        bouldering, which is almost always done without a belay.
        Bouldering is usually done close to the ground, within
        about ten feet or so. One can traverse at any height, on
        or off belay.<p>A &quot;route&quot; on a boulder is not
        called a route. It is usually refered to as a problem, or
        a boulder problem.</p>
        <p>There are many places to boulder, probably many more
        bouldering areas exist than do vertical climbing areas.
        Since the only development of a bouldering area needed is
        clearing of dirt and possibly a rating of some of the
        problems, bouldering areas are very widespread.</p>
        <p>Most climbing gyms have a bouldering area. They
        usually have a cave and a ceiling as well as vertical
        walls for traversing. There are even some gyms that are
        devoted entirely to bouldering and traversing.</p>
        <p>Bouldering can be done on any good sized chunk of rock
        laying around, but it can be hard to find good areas with
        many boulder problems. If you are looking for bouldering
        in your area, check with <a
        href="../../where/index.shtml">the listed locations</a>
        on our web site first. If you want to develop your own
        area, look for old avalanche zones. Don't go anywhere
        that is an active avalanche zone though! Old avalanche
        zones often have large boulders with lots of space around
        them. This is ideal, because you want a safe landing if
        you fall off of the boulder. Look for variations in the
        rock that would make an interesting climb. Overhangs and
        sharp edges make for a great problem.</p>
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        cellspacing="0" width="100">
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                <td width="100"><a
                href="../../media/images/general/full/andy%20bouldering%201.JPG"><img
                src="../../media/images/general/thumb/andy%20bouldering%201.JPG"
                alt="Bouldering on a large face." border="0"
                width="100" height="150"></a></td>
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                <td><font size="2">Bouldering on a large rock
                face.</font></td>
            </tr>
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        </td>
    </tr>
</table>

<h2><a name="1">Traversing on belay</a></h2>

<p>Traversing is much like bouldering, but done mainly on the
same horizontal plane. Sometimes the traverse leads upwards or
downwards slightly. If you want to traverse a route that is high
up, then you need to be on belay. When traversing, runouts
between protection can be more dangerous than runouts on a
vertical route because of the danger of the pendulum. A pendulum
is when a climber is far horizontally from their last piece of
protection and falls. When the climber falls, they will swing
from side to side, much like a pendulum on a clock. This is very
dangerous, because it can damage the rope if the rope is run
across sharp surfaces, and the climber can be injured if they
swing into rocks, especially sharp ones.</p>

<p>When traversing on belay, do not make long runouts! It is very
dangerous to top rope a traverse, unless it is very short,
because a top rope anchor is fixed, and cannot move, therefore a
pendulum is almost certain in a fall.</p>

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