3 min read

You know the expression: “Skateboarding is not a crime!” ? You should know that some urban climbers now go through the same ordeals as skaters.

“We often climb on private property so we get kicked out within 15-20 minutes,” says Alexa Fay, marketing coordinator at Allez Up.”

That’s a sentence that will surely make tons of skaters who have been struggling with the same problem for decades smile. For the past ten years, the urban bouldering phenomenon has been growing in importance, but the climbers practicing it are not running the streets.

“Urban bouldering is basically climbing on urban structures,” explains Alexa. “It’s climbing on artificial structures; buildings, a bridge or anything artificial. It’s not legal… but it’s not illegal.”

Essentially, the sport is about finding a building or structure that will be interesting to climb. The rest is quite simple: the climber drags his crash pads and climbs lines. But this part of the sport is not necessarily for everyone.

“Urban bouldering is practiced by people who normally do bouldering. When people have less time or the weather is not so good, they will go find spots to climb in the city. All the people who practice urban bouldering are first and foremost outdoor climbers. Some people wouldn’t necessarily be able to do that.”

And since the sport is not practiced in a controlled environment, it is obviously not recommended for beginners …

“Of course, the lines are often higher in the city, so it’s a little more dangerous.”

Alexa knows what she is talking about since she is making our next web-serie on the urban bouldering with the Allez Up crew, in collaboration with JACKALOPE. Do not miss that, Follow us!