Size matters

I'm over 190cm so I invariably get told by beginners (I don't blame them), but sometimes also by more advanced climbers (those guys should know better), that bouldering is easier for tall people. 

 Note to beginners - this is not true. I don't know about routes, but I can guarantee you that tall people have a harder time when it comes to bunched up sit-starts, barn-door swings, tricky mantels, etc. to name just a few examples. 

 So, the question is then...

 What is the optimal height for a climber? 

 Here's some recent data (as off July 2025) that, hopefully, should make people think twice.

Torwood / Tappoch Mini topo map 1

 

Torwood - Fantavision

 

Torwood - More Woodland blocs

• Lippy, sit-start, 6b
• Nosy, sit-start, 6c 

(no crash-pad required)

 The 'woodland blocs' cluster

Tappoch hillside view after the felling

Torwood - Tappoch forest blocs

 

• Balaclava, sit-start, 5+
• Lokum, sit-start, 4
• Baklava, sit-start, 4

• Balaclava, sit-start, 5+

• Smurf's arête, sit-start, 4+
• Big Blue, sit-start, 6a

Torwood - Tappoch crags III

• The quarrel, Sit-Start, 6c
• Tweedledee, Sit-Start, 4
• Tweedledum, Sit-Start, 5

In the absence of light, Sit-start, 7b

 

Torwood - Tappoch Crags II

 

• Wee Problem, 4
• Take a shelfie, 5+
• Aoife's ramp, 4

Torwood - Tappoch Crags

 

• L-R Top Trav, 5
• Lefty, 4+
• Lionel Reachy, 5
• When I grow up, 6a
• Beside the point, 5

Gleann na Muice Beag - Fisherfield Forest (AKA the Great Wildderness)

 Climbed this on my way back from a' Maighdean - grades are a pure guess, I was exhausted and it is was very warm.

That boulder seats directly next to the path in the middle of the Gleann na Muice beag (Valley of the Little Pig).

Naf Naf, 6a

The big bad wolf, 6c

Ravelston VI

Thoughts of Death, SS, 6b

The Nebit's outcrops

• Hop on, 6b
• Egg Shells, sit-start, 6b
• Suntrap Wall L2R Traverse, sit-start, 6c

• Maple Syrup, sit-start, 6a
• Pancake, 5
• Goats arête, 5
• Honnolding (goat slab), 5

Ravelston V

 

• Midge's Belly, 5+
• Mojo Dojo Casa House, 4
• I am Kenough, 5+ (big shelf is out)
• I am Kenough, sit-start, 6a+
• He's Just Allan, 6c+
• He's Just Allan, sit-start, 7a

Ravelston IV

 

Troll, Sit-Start, 6a+ (Eliminate all the jugs on the left arete, finish standing above the lip)

I am Kenough, Sit-start, 6a+ 

He's just Allan, dyno, 6c+

Ravelston III

 Plastic Duck - update

• Le Canard Déchaîné, 6c
• Taking off, SS, 6a+ dyno

Snowflake Traverse eliminate, SS, 6a+

Bouldering in Ravelston II

Firestarter - Dancer in the Dark (6b+?)

North Quarry

 A nice wee problem in the quarry, SS, 6a 

North Crags (facing Ravelston park)

• Rock-over, SS, 4+
• Black Mirror wall traverse, 4

• The Best Lip in Edinburgh, 5+
• Liposuction, SS, 6a 
• Labia, SS, 6a