[yaysyu]

Bouldering seems to be really popular amongst Software Engineers I know.

Taps into many things that Software Engineers typically like.

Walls often require problem solving as well as physical ability.

Walls are shorter than rock climbing walls (fast iteration cycles/“dev loop”)

Lots of different difficulties for a clear sense of progression.

Indoors (usually). Can be done solo.

[gus_massa]

I make math problems for Math Olympiads for kids, and bouldering feels similar. To build an interesting wall it must not be obvious, but it must be solvable. From time to time I fell in the rabbit hole of a YouTube channel that explain unusual solutions "Beta Break!" by Albert Ok: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsfWe31L6Quop7WDY7ky7... (Note: I only climb stair, and only if they are not too stepped :) .)

[_huayra_]

Every one of my coworkers who boulders gets injured (usually lightly) on a regular basis. After climbing (on a rope) for more than a decade, I've never had an injury.

Due to the fact you have to ramp up the per-move difficulty much faster on a bouldering problem as the grade increases, the chance per injury on any given move is much higher (e.g. if you chopped a bouldering-sized section out of a 5.12a, it wouldn't be that hard of a problem, but having to do 3-4x such problems in a row is much more grueling). The types of injury one gets from such intense exertion will impact one's ability to type too (e.g. finger pulley injuries, elbow injuries either in terms of the rotation of one's wrist or spraining if one does the typical "fall off the wall and put your hands behind you" thing I've seen on the bouldering wall).

> Can be done solo.

I'd argue this is a bug, not a feature. I've made so many great friends at the climbing gym by just asking people on the autobelays if they want to pair up for roped climbing (or joining an odd-numbered group of people to even it out), yet I see so many boulderers just silently do their thing with their airpods in.

For software engineers who don't get a lot of reps in social situations in the nature of our jobs, this is a very easy venue to learn to meet new people in a low-stakes situation.

[leetcrew]

injuries come from pushing the limits of your skill and physical fitness. an aggressive climber is much more likely to get injured on a bouldering problem, but you can still mess up your hands crimping on a toprope route you haven't trained for appropriately. you get to choose whether you want to be this person. I never "fall" on bouldering problems. I just climb down if I'm not confident I can make a dyno. I'll never tackle a V8 this way, but who cares?

as for the social aspect, I'd say that depends a lot on your local gym. the toprope area tends to be pretty packed where I go. people are either climbing or belaying; it's not a good place to stand around and chat. in the bouldering area, there's almost always an active conversation going about the newest problems. I find people are very open to a quick chat between problems.

[0xbadcafebee]

Bouldering has to be the nerdiest sport. You spend most of your time sitting and problem-solving with intermittent short bursts of work, you can do it at any level of fitness, and there's no competition. I'm kind of surprised nobody has combined a math game with it yet, where as you climb you uncover numbers that tell you where the next hold is so you can't pre-plan your route.

[camtarn]

I remembered coming across an interactive bouldering game a while ago, which used a projector to light up holds to create a custom problem each time. I couldn't find it with a quick search, but I did find this list of bouldering wall games:

http://www.canadarockclimbing.com/games.html

which includes 'Pointer', where a partner uses a broomstick to point out the next hold in the sequence just as the climber has reached the previous hold.