page_title: Bouldering
section_title: Indoor bouldering
hierarchical_section_title: Bouldering / Indoor bouldering
caption_attribution_description: クライミングジム CoCoRock
context_page_description: Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help secure footholds, chalk to keep their hands dry and to provide a firmer grip, and bouldering mats to prevent injuries from falls. Unlike free solo climbing, which is also performed without ropes, bouldering problems are usually less than 6 meters tall. Traverses, which are a form of boulder problem, require the climber to climb horizontally from one end to another. Artificial climbing walls allow boulderers to climb indoors in areas without natural boulders. In addition, bouldering competitions take place in both indoor and outdoor settings.
  The sport was originally a method of training for roped climbs and mountaineering, so climbers could practice specific moves at a safe distance from the ground. Additionally, the sport served to build stamina and increase finger strength. Throughout the 20th century, bouldering evolved into a separate discipline. Individual problems are assigned ratings based on difficulty.
context_section_description: Artificial climbing walls are used to simulate boulder problems in an indoor environment, usually at climbing gyms. These walls are constructed with wooden panels, polymer cement panels, concrete shells, or precast molds of actual rock walls. Holds, usually made of plastic, are then bolted onto the wall to create problems. The walls often feature steep overhanging surfaces which force the climber to employ highly technical movements while supporting much of their weight with their upper body strength. However, in more recent times, many problems set on flat walls now require the climber to execute a series of coordinated movements in order to complete the route. These routes were likely to have originated at the Stuntwerk gym in Germany, and the style of climbing can be said to closely resemble the sport of Parkour. The IFSC Climbing World Championships have noticeably included more of such problems in their competitions as of late.
  Climbing gyms often feature multiple problems within the same section of wall. In the US the most common method routesetters use to designate the intended problem is by placing colored tape next to each hold. For example, red tape would indicate one bouldering problem while green tape would be used to set a different problem in the same area. Across much of the rest of the world problems and grades are usually designated using a set color of plastic hold to indicate problems and their difficulty levels. Using colored holds to set has certain advantages, the most notable of which are that it makes it more obvious where the holds for a problem are, and that there is no chance of tape being accidentally kicked off footholds. Smaller, resource-poor climbing gyms may prefer taped problems because large, expensive holds can be used in multiple routes by marking them with more than one color of tape.
caption: An indoor bouldering gym
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