A Very Brief History of Bouldering

Although the emergence of bouldering as the rock ascension sport of choice is relatively recent, the act of cranking hard on boulders has a much longer history.

For the majority of its history bouldering has been considered part of mountaineering, and the earliest boulder problems were developed in the mid-1800s during the Golden Age of Alpinism. Early boulderers, such as Whymper, Coolidge and Tuckett are often better known for their alpine sends than their bouldering prowess. Many famous problems were developed at this time, including North Sloper of the Eiger (F5a) and Mini-Plan Traverse (F5a+).

In the early 20th century the bouldering community turned its attention to the greater ranges and to some of the world’s highest boulders. The defining problem of this era is the Hillary Step (f.a. S Tenzing), which at 8,760m is the certainly the world’s most famous highball. Originally ticked without a boulder mat and graded K3+ in the obsolete K-scale, it is now a crimpy F5a.

After the war, and despite the best efforts of the Climber’s Club, bouldering went into somewhat of a decline. Some of the leading climbers at the time, such as Brown and Whillans, lacked vision and just weren’t nails. Others, such as Bonington, looked like a twat in a beanie.

It wasn’t until the 1980’s and the arrival of the messiahs Moffat and Moon that the world finally basked in the true glory of bouldering. Moffat and Moon showed us the path to true enlightenment with problems such as Jerry’s Crimp (F8a) and Ben’s Left Sidepull High Right For Good Jug (F7c+). What’s more they were ripped dudes and looked the bomb in a beanie.

...and the rest is history!