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It seems to me that the learning curve is much more of a precipice, no? Of all the gym bouldering problems, only a few are rated for absolute beginners - the re

It seems to me that the learning curve is much more of a precipice, no? Of all the gym bouldering problems, only a few are rated for absolute beginners - the rest are much harder. Even the V-grade of, "0" is compared roughly to a 5.10 roped climb. In at least my bouldering space, you'll simply run out of things to do, quickly, as a beginner. It may be also where I train, as the gym isn't one specifically geared towards beginners, the grades may not be as inflated as other places, and the route setters read like a who's-who of American sport climbers (Matty Hong, Jon Cardwell, etc).

akvadrako 8y ago
I think it's just your gym. I don't know about your grading system but with 2 being walkable, my bouldering gym has about a dozen 3s, a dozen 4s and a couple dozen 5s. Routes are replaced monthly or so.
- justinator 8y ago
  Wow! That's almost a bit of watering down of the activity! But again, I'm in a climbing epicenter (Boulder), so I can go outside and find V1's that are nigh impossible for me to do. Problems that have been put up by people like Pat Ament, John Gill - there's still boulder problems put up 40+ years ago that still haven't had a second ascent. I guess maybe my sentiment is also almost: bouldering should be hard. It's a problem! I would love to see footage of your 3's or 4's - I'm almost in disbelief.
  - akvadrako 8y ago
    I don't understand - are you surprised there are some easy routes? 3s are mostly for first timers and warming up. I'm not saying there aren't also difficult ones.
    - justinator 8y ago
      I'm surprised there's "a dozen" that are one step above, "walk-able" - absolutely! I'm used to 1 or 2 absolute beginner/warmup problems set. I do believe my gym has a V15 set at the moment. I was watching Dave Graham unsuccessfully work a tricky V12. Pros winter over and live in the parking lot of this place. What gym do you go to?

akvadrako 8y ago

I think it's just your gym. I don't know about your grading system but with 2 being walkable, my bouldering gym has about a dozen 3s, a dozen 4s and a couple dozen 5s. Routes are replaced monthly or so.

justinator 8y ago
Wow! That's almost a bit of watering down of the activity! But again, I'm in a climbing epicenter (Boulder), so I can go outside and find V1's that are nigh impossible for me to do. Problems that have been put up by people like Pat Ament, John Gill - there's still boulder problems put up 40+ years ago that still haven't had a second ascent. I guess maybe my sentiment is also almost: bouldering should be hard. It's a problem! I would love to see footage of your 3's or 4's - I'm almost in disbelief.
- akvadrako 8y ago
  I don't understand - are you surprised there are some easy routes? 3s are mostly for first timers and warming up. I'm not saying there aren't also difficult ones.
  - justinator 8y ago
    I'm surprised there's "a dozen" that are one step above, "walk-able" - absolutely! I'm used to 1 or 2 absolute beginner/warmup problems set. I do believe my gym has a V15 set at the moment. I was watching Dave Graham unsuccessfully work a tricky V12. Pros winter over and live in the parking lot of this place. What gym do you go to?