NZ bouldering from a euro point of view...

Bouldering NZ is as different from bouldering in the states and Europe as everything is different here. Not just smaller and more condensed, but also "grown" in a exotic way for us. What fools the visitor, is that it is an English speaking country and that we therefor compare with England and the US, whereas NZ really is a continent by itself in the south pacific.

Just some examples of what it's like at Castle Hill...

Castle Hill is in a class of itself worldwide. I don't know of an area with so much potential and so little development. When I talk about development, I mean the effort we have to do to squeeze some lines out of the little rock we have in Europe. Actually, we have the rock, but it is never as easy to "use" as in Castle/ Flock Hill. A lot of gardening, preparing landings (sometimes with major earth moving) and cleaning is involved. Sitstarts and traverses are commonplace. If you visit places like the Blaueis glacier bouldering, you have to be with 6 committed spotters and at least as many crashpads, whereas the Tessino for example only has a tiny fraction of potential. But the real deal with Flock/ Castle Hill is that the rock is so 3dimensional, the moves are so unique and the setting is so magic. Even in the states there is no area like that if it comes to the combination of all these factors.

According to the Dalai Lama the energy center of the Universe: Flock Hill!

For the future I see any grade being bouldered not only at Castle Hill, but also, with the vision of a great developer (not that the locals would do a bad job, but as an additional creative source!) like Fred Nicole, Klem Loskot or Toni Lamprecht, in Paynes , Waitomo, Queenstown, Baring Head and who knows where...

More Castle Hill Magic here!