The temps are starting to fall and the friction is getting stickier...especially at Rumbling Bald in North Carolina!!! Rumbling Bald has been one of my favorite boulderfields for over 10 years...I dont get to visit a few times a week nowadays like a did back when I first started bouldering there, but everytime I get to grope that perfect granite, a HUGE smile always ends up on my face! The Bald is notorious for tough grades and tough problems, and sends many boulderers home humbled...especially if they're used to the soft grades at the southeast's sandstone boulderfields like LRC, HP40, Rocktown and Lilly. Before the guidebook came out in 2007, the boulderfields were much more silent and peaceful, with only the dedicated boulderers heading out to climb, but nowadays the boulderfields are chocked full of more and more boulderers.
I consistently hear from beginner boulderers that the Bald is too hard and that they don't have fun there because they can't send the same grades they do in the gym or at other boulderfields. I've always had the opposite opinion...the lower grades at the Bald have some phenomenal climbs, some just as classic as the harder classics! Over the years, I've been able to send all of the V0's, V1's, V2's and most of the V3's at the Bald and have found so many awesome climbs that some folks know about and some that other have never heard of.
In this post, I wanted to list my favorite easy problems from the Bald in hopes that beginners can use this to guide them to some of the better problems in the boulderfield. I stuck mainly to V0-V2 problems, but I have listed a few of my favorite V3's too (I mean come on Shady Grove and Slave Driver would be mega classics no matter what boulderfield they were in!!!). Its easy to use this list with the guidebook to find your way around the best easy problems, and its a lot of fun to link 20-40 of these together in a circuit and try to send them all in the same day...one of my favorite ways to enjoy the Bald when I'm not working on a project!
I used the
Rumbling Bald Bouldering Guidebook as the main reference for this list, and routes are simply listed with the number and letter used in the guidebook, instead of using the names for the problems. I think there is a pretty fun list of problems for both the West and East Boulders and enough easy problems for complete newbies to enjoy their first boulder session at the Bald or first ever outdoor boulder session. There is a great support website for the guidebook that Chris Dorrity has made and maintains, that list new problems, grade changes, beta for problems you're having trouble on and much more...
if you have checked it out, click on over and get oriented to the info that will show up in the next edition of the guidebook. Enjoy crushing!!!
Easy Problems At Rumbling Bald:
West Boulders:
Obscure Area:
-Teardrop Boulder: 6a V0, 6b V1, 6c V2, 6d V2, 6d1 V1, 6d2 V2
-Egg Boulder: 4d V0, 4e V1, 4f V1
-Skinny and the Beast:* 3f V1 and slab to the left of it is a V0
Trailside Area:
-7f V0, 7g V0, 7i V1 and other V1’s to the left of this are great, but highballs for most
-8a V0, 8b V0, 8c V1
-10a V0, 10b V1, 10f V2, 10g V3, 10l V0, 10m V0 (there are now several more V0-V1’s on the same boulder as 10m
-11d V1, *11f V1, *11g V1
-14a V2, 14b V2, *14d V2, 14j V0, 14k V0
-15c V2, *15e V2
-16a V0, *16b V2, 16d V1
Hull Area:
-20a V2, *20b V3
-23a V2, 23b V2, *23c V3, *23e V2, *23f V1, *23g V3, 23h V1
Cluster Area:
-28a V2, *28c V3, 29h V2
-*30a V3
-*31a V2
-36b V1, 36d V1
-38a V0, *38b V1
-*39a V3, *39b V1, *39c V1, *39d V1, 39e V2
Washing Machine Area:
-40a V0, *40b V0,* 40b1 V1, *40b2 V0, 40g V0
Terraces Area:
-49a V0, 49b V0
-*50b V3
-56a V0, 56b V2, 56c V0
-*59a V2
Central Boulders:
-6a V1, 6g V0, 6h V2, 6k V2
-7b V2, *7c V2
East Boulders:
Breakfast Area:
-*1a V2, 1b V1, 1e V1, 1f V0, 1g V0, 1h V0
-2a V2, 2c V1, 2d V1, 2e V0, 2f V2, 2g V1, 2h V1, 2i V2
-4d V0, 2e V2
-5d V0, 5e V0
-9a V1, 9b V2,
-14a V0
Politician Area:
-17a V0, *17c V2, 17c V0
-*20a V2, 20b V2, 20c V2, 20d V2
Slave Driver Area:
-25a V2, ***25b V3/4, 25e V1
-26a V2, 26c V1
-*29f V1, *29g V1
-34b V2, 34c V1, 34d V0, 34e V2, 34f V1, 34g V1, 34k V1
Southeast Area:
-41a V2, *41b V3
-46a V1, 46b V0
-48a V1, 48b V2
Cereal Buttress Area:
-52a V0, 52b V2, 52c V3
-58c V2, 58d V2, 58e V1
Middle East Area:
-*75a V0, 75b V3, 75c V0, 75d V1, 75e V0
Far East Area:
-76a V0, ***76b V4
-81a V2, 81b V2, 81b1 V1, *81c V2, 81d V2, 81e V1
-82a V0
-*83c V0, 83c1 V2
-85c V2
-86a V0, 86b V0, 86b1 V1, 86c V0, 86d V1
-88e V2 There are a couple of new problems listed on the Rumbling Bald website on this boulder worth climbing
-90a V1, *90b V2, *90c V2, 90g V0 (listed as V2 but downgraded)
