In reply to BeeDaurn:
Hi there, as others have noted, the best preparation for starting bouldering is to do lots with a group of boulderers who are more advanced than you.
However, as you asked for book suggestions, there are some really good reads around. As a caveat though, I think some require a decent appreciation of bouldering, so you may have to ‘grow into’ some of them.
here’s my list of (occasionally eclectic) faves..
Top of the list for every branch of climbing is Dave Macleod’s ‘Nine out of ten climbers’. Top for content and relevance, bottom for an enjoyable read everything you need to know is in here, but it’s a bit dull. Maybe that’s part of the test?
At the other end of the spectrum is Pat Ament’s biography of John Gill, ‘Master of Rock’. While Brits in our inimitable insular way thought we were great, Gill was quietly putting up the hardest problems in the world at the time up to V9 in the 1950s
You’ll want to go to Font, lots, so if you can hack it being in French, ‘Fontainebleau 100 ans d’escalades’ is an inspiring coffee table book with a section by Bleausard Jacky Godoffe, and highly recommended is Jacky Godoffe’s ‘Le Jouer de Bloc’ which has similar content to 9 out of 10 climbers but was written in the late ‘80s
as the Climbing Wall Critic posted, you need ‘Peak Bouldering’. I would add Ground Up’s ‘North Wales Bouldering’ and the new Lakes bouldering when it comes out around Easter.
that’ll keep you going for a while -)
