Bouldering - Back to Basics

It’s been almost a year since I discovered this gloriously addictive sport we call climbing and not a day goes by when I don’t learn something new. Whether that be how to use a heel hook effectively, how to move dynamically or how not to underestimate the omnipresent power of gravity; I know I’m constantly accumulating skills, experience and bruises that will allow me to continuously improve as a climber.

Recently I added yet another lesson to my repertoire of knowledge; one that I had scarcely been prepared for:

Bouldering indoors is NOTHING like bouldering outdoors.

Now I don’t pretend to be an amazing climber with epic skills, milling around the gym rocking out some Puccio style moves, but I do consider myself to be averagely ok – I practise hard and feel like I can hold my own with our regular crowd. I’ve done both Trad climbing and Sport climbing outdoors but, mainly due to trying to find a spare £150 to spend on a mat, I hadn’t taken my love for bouldering outside.  

Until now.

Due to living in the UK, the only country to of ever declared a drought whilst most of us are paddling to the post office, the opportunity to get outside does not come along often.  So as me and The Boy were returning from a weekend away in Manchester we couldn’t believe how warm it was for so early on in April. We debated for all of 10 seconds before  deciding to abandon our money conscious minds and grab a bouldering mat enroute to finding some gritstone to clamber on. 


After trying and failing to locate a Yorkshire Gritstone  guidebook anywhere within a 50 mile radius we settled for downloading some pdfs  from the Leeds Climbing Wall. We perused our options and settled on Round Hill mainly due to the quick approach and wealth of V0-V2 climbs that were available – as we regularly climb v4-v6 indoors I had assumed we would be able to climb all of these relatively easily, oh how wrong I was.

After a few map-reading domestics we finally managed to locate the ‘space for 1 car by the dam’ and in true geek style, got the directions up on the iPad and began stumbling through the fields trying to decipher instructions through the screen glare. 1 tantrum, 20 minutes and a mistaken visit to a field of confused sheep later we spotted a hunk of rock in the distance and I charged towards it with renewed enthusiasm.

We quickly identified the main rocks and decided to warm up on a couple of V0’s, I was looking at the prospective route and trying to map the climb. Hang on. Where were the reassuring jugs and ladder type moves that the gyms had promised me?  I felt sure I had read the guide wrong…nope, after triple checking the photo I was certain this was it. Oh well, let’s crack on then! I’m sure it’s not as hard as it looks.

My mind was swiftly changed when I tested the padding out on my new mat far earlier than I intended to.

This pattern continued for most of the afternoon, we both hauled ourselves up V0 after V0, honing our falling style and getting closely acquainted with the unforgiving gritstone rock until we finally felt comfortable enough to tackle a V1 as our final climb. I’d like to say I flashed it in a graceful and delicate manner; however a foot slip as I was going for the top out resulted in a wriggling bellyflop of desperation as a not so spectacular finishing move. 

Lesson learnt? Bouldering outdoors is a whole different ball game; I found myself looking at tiny ledges and exclaiming ‘look at that awesome starting hold’ with complete sincerity, I felt like a complete beginner all over again and was humbled by the entire experience.

As I trudged back to the car, sweaty, dirty, mentally and physically exhausted I hoped the weather would hold out next weekend so I could head out and get my arse kicked all over again.

And in typical English fashion, it began to rain.

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