Bouldering mat

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Boulderer with crash pad

A bouldering mat or crash pad is a small foam pad used for protection when bouldering. There are various sizes and makes, but the most common type is a folded mattress, 8 to 10 centimetres thick (3 to 4 inches), that when unfolded measures about 1 x 1.3 metres (3 x 4 feet). Bouldering mats often have shoulder straps so as to easily move it between boulders. Bouldering mats often come in either dual or triple density foam inners to provide differing levels of support with the bottom or middle being the softer.With the higher density foam at the top this will prevent the climbers foot from sinking through the foam and either gaining impact on the floor or getting a foot stuck in the mat which would increase the chance of injury. Mats are often used to cover dangerous sections of the floor below a chosen climb such as protruding rocks or grass tufts.

Mats are also said to provide environmental benefit in that they protect the base of a boulder from erosion. Considering that boulderers expect to fall a few times during a session (why else have a mat?), and considering that bouldering is often a very sociable sport during which many boulderers compete on problems they may not be able to do, this becomes more evident. A mat also provides a fine place to sit when you're out at the crag or sitting outside your tent on a climbing trip.

In the UK mats were not accepted too quickly, regarded as unnecessary, since climbers had bouldered for around a century already as practice for higher roped routes. Nowadays they are well-accepted (for all the reasons above) and are a symbol of how bouldering has become a division in its own right of the full spectrum of mountaineering-related pastimes, on a par with scrambling, ice-climbing, crag-climbing etc in terms of its popularity, independence and development. Although you may use your climbing shoes and your chalk-bag for crag-climbing also, your mat marks you out as a boulderer.