Bouldering
Bouldering is the sport of ascending difficult problems on boulders up to 25 feet or so high. Bouldering is the pure essence of climbing and the pursuit of extremely difficult climbing sequences that are called boulder problems.
Boulderers, those who climb on boulders, usually climb without the protective use of a rope and use a crash pad, a thick foam pad, to cushion their falls. Bouldering is a fun discipline of climbing that can be done wherever boulders are found. It requires only rock shoes, chalk, and a chalk bag.
Many boulderers use crash pads to cushion their repeated falls, although the use of crash pads is controversial at many bouldering areas because it hardens the ground beneath boulder problems and leads to loss of vegetation and erosion.
