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Bouldering is climbing without a rope on large boulders. Bouldering is a pursuit in its own right as well as being used for training by climbers — as pioneered by John Gill in the 1950s and 1960s. The term bouldering is also used for horizontal climbing, usually close to the ground, in artificial set-up climbing environments.Typically bouldering is a more high impact sport focusing on individual moves rather than the endurance required in traditional climbing. As in other types of climbing there is an entire grading system for bouldering alone, ranking difficulty from B1 to B3 with B2+ comparing roughly to V14 or font 8b+.
To reduce the risk of injury after a fall, climbers rarely go higher than a few meters above the ground. They may also put a bouldering mat also called crashpad on the ground to break their fall and/or assign a spotter, a person standing on the ground to prevent the climber from hitting his/her head on the ground.
The region around Fontainebleau near Paris is famous for its beautiful and diverse bouldering sites.
See also: grade (bouldering), climbing area
Climbing
