UKC

I was watching a video of three lads bouldering on Curbar.  One of the route they done was "Unreachable Star".  It struck me that is was a high climb which was confirmed by a comment in the crag guid.  What length/high dose a boulder problem become a solo climb or is this a grey area

There are some short routes that get given a bouldering grade above pads. This might be alongside the E grade or the E grade might not be mentioned at all. The climb you mentioned gets a trad grade too, depending on the guidebook. 

Depends on the crag/crag moderator/first ascentionist too, if someone does a new high ball on an existing bouldering crag then it'll get a bouldering grade - even if it was possible to lead it with protection. Equally if someone does a highball on an existing trad crag then there's a good chance it'll get a trad grade too, but with bouldering grade mentioned in the description. 

might also depend on the style it is likely to be climbed in, for example: A 8m problem with a low crux and easier climbing above with no gear is likely to be climbed & graded as a bolder problem. Where as a 8m route with a easily protected but hard crux at the top which would involve a nasty fall will probably be graded a route.

With Unreachable Star if you try it with enough pads the bouldering grade will probably feel appropriate but do it with none and the E grade will still fell valid as it was first climbed. Many bold micro routes have been transformed into highballs but grades in guidebooks don't always reflect the never style they are now usually attempted in.

Ps was it the recent UKC video where they traversed off at the break? For the full route you need to top out fully without using Dogleg crack at any point or you have just done a bad beta version of that route. 

That route in particular even has a tiny tricam at a nice height for a hard, and fairly high move. I fell on it a couple of times a few years ago, but when I completed it, it was above pads with no gear.

The answer is there's no answer and always apply common sense. I've looked at things a few times and thought '6B, I can have a go at that'. And then realised there's a reason it used to get E3. Example: all of Frodsham gets V grades, you're into serious territory on some and lucky to spot the mat from that far away

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To fight the unbeatable foe
To reach the unreachable star

Interesting one. I've done it both ways, but opted for the traverse off within the video as that felt more logical from a boulder problem perspective. It's in the guide as finishing direct, but maybe that needs updating, as you can do it either way - it just depends on how highball you really want it to be. It definitely adds a couple of moves, although I don't think it actually changes the grade; however, it would have more severe consequences if you fell from the final moves!!

I agree it probably doesn't change the grade but those final move are still not easy and are not too secure for something that high. Any description would just need clarity that the crack can't be used for hands or feet until you are established in the break (as you do in the video) as unfortunately it is within easy reach the whole way up if you clamp between the two. I seem to remember seeing photos of a sponsored athlete doing it on facebook once with hands on the edge of the crack the whole way which is quite different. As does one of the videos listed on the UKC logbook page. Probably still is a good problem climbed like this but probably should be called out or it gets pretty confusing as not everyone seems to be able to tell when something should be climbed as a logical eliminate.

Having just delved back through a few different guidebooks it's interesting to see that not a single one of them says not to use the Dogleg Crack. I've always assumed that was the case, and still do, but it's interesting to see that the point itself has never been explicitly made - or at least not within Peak Bouldering (Rockfax), Peak District Bouldering (Vertebrate) or Froggatt to Black Rocks (BMC).

Obviously there's various ways in which you can climb it, all of which look good, although I'm assuming that using Dogleg Crack makes it quite a lot easier (although no less high).

I'll have to try it when I'm next up there now!!

i expect the grade will vary quite a lot depending on how you use the crack. With one quick hand on the edge of the crack when you do the move where Tim palms near the crack in a similar way to the video I referred to in the previous post it might be 6A+(?). Where as using it the whole way with one hand as a jam and for feet at which point you have just climbed dog leg crack badly at 3+. It would be pretty hard to distinguish between the two. 

I'm ignorant about this and also keen to hear of landing experiences.

My guess is that at about 4m, a fall onto level pads needs to be done correctly to reliably avoid injury, at 7m it becomes more a case of the pads hopefully reducing the extent of the injuries. 

A few weeks ago, I saw a boulderer bounce off the pads on a ledge (under The Captain at Froggat) to then fall over the 5m drop onto jumbled rocks. She miraculously was totally fine.

Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. Pads and landing skills can sway the luck one way or another, and some people just happen to be at bit bouncy.

Generally I'd be happy dropping off with my hands at 4m onto a single pad. Maybe a touch more if it's soft dirt beneath the pad. Maybe less if it's a bit sloping or uneven, and that's before you consider the nature of the move and the fall it may cause! That said, I've fallen from higher and put my foot straight to the floor through a gap and been fine, but some others have fallen not very far and hurt themselves quite badly. There's a great video of someone on Too Big To Flail in Bishop, he took an ~8m lob onto a load of stacked pads and was fine. And someone doing a backflip off Saigon!

Edit: I had a play on The Captain years ago, how on earth did that happen? I appreciate it's not the widest platform but generating that sort of momentum is impressive!

It’s simple: there are boulder problems, and there are bolder boulder problems. The second sort sometimes get E-grades as well.

I've fallen/jumped from about 5, possibly 6m at a push plenty of times (6 less so!) on to 2 pads, it jars a bit but I've always been fine. 3 weeks ago I fell from 6m, missing the pads, onto flat ground and rocks and broke a few bones. 

Then there’s The Boulder Problem

- pitch 22 on Freerider