I was just wondering if this topic is shunned here as the little baby brother of climbing (haha) or if anyone lives around nice spots to go to? Where I am there isn't any really decent climbing any closer then an hour (which isn't to bad) but there's a nice quiet bouldering site that is pleasantly ignored by pretty much everyone. Here are a couple of pictures. If anyone has a spot they go to or some pics it might be interesting to see the different areas that some of us, or just myself perhaps (again haha) sneak off to so we can have a little fun in a little time and stay in shape.

I like the sounds of your lotter plan! I like to go there when I can sneak away from work for an hour. Makes the day more pleasant when I go back to work with tired arms and scrapped up hands. Makes a person more productive. Maybe employers should consider this as a good idea to get more from their employees.

Before the invention of indoor climbing gyms the outdoor wall at the University of Washington was the cultural epicenter of the Seattle climbing scene. Jon Krakauer, Marc Twight, Miles Smart, Bart Paul, and Colin Haley among many other hard climbers could be found honing their skills at 'The Wall'.

Ahhh bouldering, the golfing of climbing. I only do it to stay in shape. Which is about once a month. There are great places near by where I live, but its just not my cup of tea. I enjoy the rope much better.

If I can get a day off this is where you'll find me. It's only about two hours from my house.

I don't blame you climinmandan, that place looks awesome. Lots of possibilities. I'm abit concerned about where I go because it's supposed to be protected wetlands but the past 2 years a bunch of the near by woods got flattened for new stores and such. If they flatten that area I'll be thoroughly depressed. I can get to it by a 20 minute bike ride so it's both highly convenient and it's just really pretty there.

NW, the place you sent photos of looks more like a cluster of mossy boulders than a bouldering area. Nothing tall or steep or surrounded by flat landings, etc.

BTW, I love bouldering. Though I prefer roped climbing any day, I think it's really the essence of the sport. Great luminaries of the sport--Gill, Robbins, Kamps, Holloway, Bachar, Kauk, Wilford, etc., etc.--all bouldered a lot, in a couple instances, almost exclusively. All of the climbing but none of the gear to weigh you down.

It's hard to tell from the picture but there are some decent areas there, plus it's all we have around here so I make due. The areas got some over hangs and cracks nothing huge though. Most of the spot is spent doing small problems over and over or trying to combine a couple of smaller ones into something that takes abit more time. Mostly strength exercise, not alot of technicality. Nothing higher then 25 feet. Here's a picture of another part of the area.

Long before there were rock gyms, people like Bradford Washburn (FA West Buttress Route on Denali) and Robert Underhill (FA Whitney East Face, introduced rope technique to the Sierra) trained on this building on the Harvard campus (it was also where the film "Paper Chase" was shot). I spent a fair number of afternoons in EBs there myself.

To answer your question, I consider bouldering as training for traditional climbing. I can practice complicated moves on completely inverted faces, and build a lot of grip strength in the process. But at the same time I make sure not to strictly boulder for any long period of time as to not lose my stamina. It'd be like doing lots of short sprints in preparation for a marathon. So yes, love it, do it when I get the chance, but not my preferred style.

I personally love bouldering, I'm better at those powerful moves, and I need to work on my technique more now, so its a good balance for me. The feeling of being free and not being restricted by a rope or harness is amazing, feels more pure, but thats my opinion. I still like climbing to, but for now, bouldering is my cup of tea. And, like others have said, I try not to only boulder, but it seems that I have already lost my stamina after only bouldering the past few months at the gym.

Bouldering sucks. Who would ever go bouldering?

Actually, I started climbing through the sport of bouldering. Then bouldering progressed to bold bouldering. As I got higher and higher it was basically free-soloing. After a scary fall (landed unharmed on a ledge) I bought a rope.

I would literally spend DAYS bouldering around Camp 4 and Lower Yosemite Falls. Up in Tuolomne there is infinite opportunity for slab bouldering, which is kinda scary, because you tend to get yourself WAY off the ground without realizing it.

JHH60, those buildings look like the ones at Stanford, where we used to go buildering all the time. That brick is tough, we used to say it's 5.10 just to get your feet off the ground.

When I backpack, I spent my evenings bouldering around camp. Once I slipped and put a HUGE gash in my leg when we were three days from the trailhead. Thank goodness for duct tape.

Once we were buildering on the vertical stone walls of a semiconductor company in Sunnyvale, California. It was wicked good finger training. A guy pulls in and parks his car, then asks, "What are you guys doing, training for El Capitan?"

"As a matter of fact we are."

Yea one of the main draws for me is I can go without having to plan anything with anyone else. I can just go there if I have the time free, spend some time on the rocks and plus it can be kind of a challenge in my area to get a good long series of moves tied together, so I find that fun. But yea if you do just that then your stamina won't be so great. Your body just gets used to having to put out energy for a short period of time. But if I didn't have this then I would lose alot of strength since the only indoor wall here is only open part of the year and only at certain times of the evening and I have a hard time arranging the opportunity to get away for a day on a regular basis to go to a bigger place. Plus honestly I really really prefer outdoor climbing over indoor. So bouldering for me is a way to stay in touch with what I like.
There are some nice stone churches here that people would climb if they were allowed but it's definitely not allowed. I always found the word buildering hilarious. It really gets me everytime I hear it. I may actually make it out to Yosemite for the first time ever next year. I'm looking forward to seeing the place I've heard so much about.

+1 for bouldering!
I think it's put down alot and kinda underrated. I live about a 45min drive from Leavenworth, probably the bouldering hub of WA, so I go often. Going tomorrow. Will post pics.