Bouldering helps sharpen skills

OGDEN — For a few moments all looked stable, like a fly on a wall, only here it was, a climber on a rock. Then the fingers slipped from the narrow ridge, the toes came out of the crack in the rock and he fell ... a couple of feet down onto a thick, foam pad. He got up, brushed chalk from his hands and surveyed the rock.

Falls are common in "bouldering," or climbing big rocks without equipment or ropes, thus the use of pads. And, generally, friends standing nearby help guide the climber to the cushion.

What bouldering is is a subsport that has turned into a sport.

It was developed by serious rock climbers looking for quick and easy, and safe, ways of practicing for more technical climbing. Climbers found it fun, challenging and not life-threatening. It also offered climbing opportunity for those who may be uncomfortable with heights.

All that's required for bouldering is a big rock, a pouch of chalk and climbing shoes, pointed out Rich Koski, director of sales, Ogden/Weber Convention and Visitors Bureau.

One of the more popular boulder fields is located at the top of 27th Street in Ogden, between Taylorsville and Waterfall canyons. There are a couple of dozen very large boulders strewn over a flat area. Over the centuries, these boulders broke away from the rock cliffs above and came to rest near the city boundaries just above St. Joseph High School.

It has become, said Jeff Lowe, a world-class climber and Ogden native, a playground for boulder climbers. The tallest of the boulders there are about 20 feet high. Others are smaller.

"What makes these boulders good for climbing is the rock, quartzite, is very hard, so even the smallest holds are usable and won't break off.

Climbers can get hold of even the tiniest of edges and try to work with it. There are also some very nice overhanging problems with larger holds where climbers can go upside down," he said.

In the overall picture, bouldering is considered to be in the very center of progressive climbing. Novice climbers start with indoor climbing walls, move to bouldering and, if they choose, try more serious rock climbing on cliff walls.

Ogden has, in fact, become well recognized in recent years as a perfect three-stage school for climbing enthusiasts.

In the heart of the city is the new iRock climbing center located in the Salomon Center.

IRock offers a full range of indoor climbing opportunities, including 55-foot-high indoor climbing walls with rope climbing and a range of route selections ranging from very easy to extremely difficult. There is also a man-made "boulder" about 10 feet high that can be climbed from all four sides.