Women sharing the attempts behind outdoor bouldering

Pulenaz: the first move from gym to rock

After learning on indoor walls, Pulenaz joins an organized beginner outing with an instructor for her first outdoor bouldering session. At the gym she is used to finding colored holds; here she pauses to look for features in the rock. She wants a low problem where she can practice recognizing and using those features. The instructor and group discuss the conditions and agree on a suitable choice for the session.

On her first attempt she reaches for a small edge but loses the position before she can move farther. She comes down, looks again and notices a lower foothold she had missed. On the next try she uses it but still cannot settle into the reach. After another look and a conversation with the instructor, she shifts her position closer to the rock before reaching. This time she holds the next edge and completes the low problem.

The sequence makes the change visible: the first attempts show what puzzled her, and the final one shows what she did differently. Pulenaz is a good place to start if you want the experience of learning outdoors after the gym, with the uncertainty and the eventual success both left in.

Molly Thompson-Smith: deciding what deserves a day

Molly Thompson-Smith’s climbing blog links her own climbing Instagram and describes her move from predominantly indoor climbing to outdoor trips. In her 2016 account she recalls how uncertain she felt without brightly colored holds and how climbing with friends gradually made the outdoor experience more enjoyable.

References: Molly Thompson-Smith

In a 2017 account of the Grampians, she explains that the limited length of the trip forced her and her companion to decide each evening which areas and boulders would make the next day’s list. Rain sent them toward sheltered areas, and they weighed trying more problems against resting and pursuing harder ones. The choice of what to try was part of the trip, not just a prelude to climbing.

References: Molly Thompson-Smith

She also writes about returning to Sleepy Hollow over several sessions. An encouraging first attempt gave her hope, but later attempts brought pressure and frustration; she ultimately left without completing it. Her account is valuable precisely because she explains how her thinking changed as well as what happened on the rock.

References: Molly Thompson-Smith

Pulenaz shows a beginner’s small adjustment leading to a completed low problem. Thompson-Smith offers an experienced climber’s account of deciding where to spend limited time, including a project that remained unfinished. Read them together for both the pleasure of a move finally working and the judgment involved in choosing what to try next.

Sources and attribution

1. Molly Thompson-Smith

   Molly Thompson SmithPublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 29, 2026