[BRidal]

a free evening left me pondering what I would speculate to be the 10 best boulders in the world. I'm pretty sure similar things have been done on UKB for UK problems before, I don't know that it has been done worldwide though. I'm not nearly well traveled enough to make the list based purely on personal experience. So i'm basing my choices largely on, history/classic status and aesthetics/movement quality from pics and videos. I actually found this very difficult, it's easy to think of very good problems, but to be the very best that means being near faultless and widely known. I think this inevitably means they are mostly harder boulders, these are usually the most famous, allow for the most interesting movement, and follow the most impressive lines.
I haven't ordered them just listed of the ten I came up with:

Midnight Lightning
Evilution Direct
Meadowlark Lemon
Careless Torque
Misericorde
La Marie Rose
New Base Line
Ammagamma
Livin Large
The Hatchling

Thoughts? Is this list an abomination that is wrong in every way?

[turnipturned]

Meadowlark Lemon

The Hatchling

Thoughts? Is this list an abomination that is wrong in every way?

Meadowlark looks nice but its a choosy sandy piece of shite, you can replace that with Spectre

[Sasquatch]

Midnight Lightning
Evilution Direct
Meadowlark Lemon
Careless Torque
Misericorde
La Marie Rose
New Base Line
Ammagamma
Livin Large
The Hatchling

Thoughts? Is this list an abomination that is wrong in every way?

Yes - It's an abomination.   

I'm not sure most of those would even be the best in their given area... Most well-known might be a better list to make.

[jwi]

+1

[Will Hunt]

You can have Marie Rose off there straight away. Nothing special other then for the history and reputation.

[TobyD]

You can have Marie Rose off their straight away. Nothing special other then for the history and reputation.

Did you find it really hard then?

[abarro81]

There's better than ammagamma in the gramps.  Cherry picking and on the beach are supposed to be be the 2 best 8bs there

[cjsheps]

What about Karma? And +1 for Spectre.

[tomtom]

This list is for the best problems - not the best 8* grade problems....

[James Malloch]

No Burden of Dreams? Hard as it gets, no trickery and few moves.

The other nine would probably be in Parisellas...

[dave]

Miseriecord and Marie Rose can't be the best problems in font, jeez.

[moose]

Miseriecord and Marie Rose can't be the best problems in font, jeez.

I'd be surprised if Marie Rose was the best problem in font named after a seafood dressing.

[fatneck]

The OP is young and psyched and we're old and jaded. Just saying...

[User deactivated]

All ten from the cave I reckon! 

On a more serious note, most of the original list are dream ticks. Marie rose and misericorde aren't for me quite as good, especially Marie rose. Misericorde is up there but can think of better in the forest.

[nai]

Miseriecord and Marie Rose can't be the best problems in font, jeez.

I'm not even sure Marie Rose is the best problem on that block.

[Fiend]

Sounds like the "Marie Rose is grossly overrated" correction is in full effect, well done lads, don't need to add anything to that.

There's the usual confusion between acclaimed / sought after and actually "best".

[tomtom]

How about 're-igniting'* this thread into

"Top Ten DREAM Boulder Problems"...


*I've been reading too much marketing material...

[mrjonathanr]

New Base Line looks very dabbable and not that special to me. The Understanding on the other hand looks incredibly good.

[BRidal]

I was considering how classic a problem was as a substantial part of the criteria, perhaps more than should be if the title is 'best'. Spectre instead of Meadowlark seem's reasonable, I'd forgotten about that boulder. Clearly people are not a fan of Marie Rose, we'll agree to disagree on that  what would be in there instead? The forest has a lot to offer up.

[36chambers]

Partage > Misericorde
Lanny Bassham > Careless Torque
the walk from the car > Marie Rose

Livin Large is a definite. I wouldn't argue with Karma being on there either.

[cjsheps]

We've all missed the obvious list-topper that is Malc's One Armer. The essence of bouldering, distilled down to pure poetry in the motion of cranking  yourself two feet upwards off an arbitrary edge at The Tor.

[Johnny Brown]

Midnight Lightning doesn't climb that well either, it's like crimping glass. It does look good though.

[Doylo]

Vecchio Leone. And Dustkick in Parisella's.

[Will Hunt]

Lanny Bassham > Careless Torque

Back around. Careless Torque is way better looking than Lanny.
Also, I get that Karma is a classic, but it doesn't look like much fun to me (obviously moot as I'm not going to do it!).

[Wood FT]

Midnight Lightning doesn't climb that well either, it's like crimping glass. It does look good though.

"Pretty cool" though "huh"

[SFrancis]

I would love to see a worldwide Classic bloc (5+-6B+), hard bloc(6C-7B+) and extreme bloc list (=>7C)

[standard]

We've all missed the obvious list-topper that is Malc's One Armer. The essence of bouldering, distilled down to pure poetry in the motion of cranking  yourself two feet upwards off an arbitrary edge at The Tor.

alright nibble

[Sasquatch]

My earlier comment came off as a bit of an arse. 

I think what could be a different way to look at this would be to select the top bouldering areas and then a top two from each that were the best there. 

For example in the US, I'd say Bishop, Hueco, and the Chatt area are the prime areas (not saying they're the best, just the best known.)

So for Bishop I think it would come down to Spectre, Stained glass, Mandala, southwest arete (grandma peabody), High Plains or evilution. My gut would say Spectre and High Plains, but I think many would say Evilution instead...

For Hueco, I think Full Service, The Feather,  power of silence, or Slashface. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few, but i haven't been in a while.

I don't know the southeast as well, but prob the shield(voted best in US a while back), god module, The wave, Millepede, or some such...

Midnight Lightning doesn't climb that well either, it's like crimping glass. It does look good though.

"Pretty cool" though "huh"

as they say - Location, location, location.

There are many better lines with better climbing around...

[tomtom]

Shocked that the eatswood traverse hasn't been mentioned yet...

[jwi]

Midnight Lightning doesn't climb that well either, it's like crimping glass. It does look good though.

I thought it climbed very well and deserved its status as a classic three star problem. The first foothold and the first two handholds are polished, but not too bad? The holds are big and comfortable, the moves dynamic and fun, and the mantleshelf move adds a bit of interesting 5c-spice. I only did a handful of problems in Camp 4, but I don't think any of them was as good as Midnight Lighting. Maybe the hard problems are amazing, I wouldn't know.

[moose]

The only truly worthy grit problem is obviously the reverse of Crucifix low traverse into Crucifix Arete without the break: purity, aesthetics, cow-shit - the total package.

For UK problems, in terms of pure aesthetics, would any of the Queens Crag biggies be up to scratch - Queen Kong, Arc Royal etc?

[James Malloch]

Shocked that the eatswood traverse hasn't been mentioned yet...

Which way?

[BRidal]

So with a few amendments:

Livin Large
The Hatchling
Midnight Lightning
Careless Torque
Meadowlark Lemon < Spectre
Misericorde < Partage
New Base Line / The Understanding
Ammagamma / Cherry Picking
Evilution / Mandala
La Marie Rose / Horseradish / Salad Cream / Wading through condoms...

[the_dom]

So with a few amendments:

Livin Large Shosholoza
The Hatchling Pandemonium
Midnight Lightning
Careless Torque
Meadowlark Lemon < Spectre
Misericorde < Partage
New Base Line / The Understanding
Ammagamma / Cherry Picking
Evilution / Mandala
La Marie Rose / Horseradish / Salad Cream / Wading through condoms...

Some amendments from an SA perspective.. And maybe Sky, although I don't know how it climbs.

[Doylo]

Midnight Lightning doesn't climb that well either, it's like crimping glass. It does look good though.

I thought it climbed very well and deserved its status as a classic three star problem. The first foothold and the first two handholds are polished, but not too bad? The holds are big and comfortable, the moves dynamic and fun, and the mantleshelf move adds a bit of interesting 5c-spice. I only did a handful of problems in Camp 4, but I don't think any of them was as good as Midnight Lighting. Maybe the hard problems are amazing, I wouldn't know.

Thriller's better.

[Johnny Brown]

Only problem I've ever clapped one-handed when popping off the glass holds.

[Coops_13]

So with a few amendments:

Livin Large Shosholoza
The Hatchling Pandemonium
Midnight Lightning
Careless Torque
Meadowlark Lemon < Spectre
Misericorde < Partage
New Base Line / The Understanding
Ammagamma / Cherry Picking
Evilution / Mandala
La Marie Rose / Horseradish / Salad Cream / Wading through condoms...

Some amendments from an SA perspective.. And maybe Sky, although I don't know how it climbs.

From watching videos alone, Sky has got to be in there

[remus]

Shocked that the eatswood traverse hasn't been mentioned yet...

Which way?

There and back. Best of both worlds.

[turnipturned]

Shosholoza over Living Large????

What the.... Shosh is broken and it keeps breaking...... and I can't span between the holds so clearly should be removed from list.

[Moo]

Imhotep for font I think

[Doylo]

Shosholoza over Living Large????

What the.... Shosh is broken and it keeps breaking...... and I can't span between the holds so clearly should be removed from list.

Midget

[cjsheps]

Shocked that the eatswood traverse hasn't been mentioned yet...

It would be interesting to make a Bottom 10 list. Boulders that are so lowball, shuffley, eliminate or forgettable, yet somehow have become a big deal - usually for their difficulty. The kind of problem that would make a non-climber despair. For example,

Malc's One Armer
eatswood traverse, there-and-back
That 7B traverse in the Cromlech where people park their cars
Something on Pinches Wall
Diesel Power
Etc etc

[dave]

Shocked that the eatswood traverse hasn't been mentioned yet...

It would be interesting to make a Bottom 10 list. Boulders that are so lowball, shuffley, eliminate or forgettable, yet somehow have become a big deal - usually for their difficulty. The kind of problem that would make a non-climber despair. For example,

Malc's One Armer
eatswood traverse, there-and-back
That 7B traverse in the Cromlech where people park their cars
Something on Pinches Wall
Diesel Power
Etc etc

To be fair EW trav is outstanding, just that i'ts slightly less desirable now it's been relegated to it's current status of Shark's ill-advised Oak training problem.

[SA Chris]

For UK problems, in terms of pure aesthetics, would any of the Queens Crag biggies be up to scratch - Queen Kong, Arc Royal etc?

Either of the above look great, but no idea how they climb. Malc's Arete at Torridon?

[Dexter]

Shocked that the eatswood traverse hasn't been mentioned yet...

It would be interesting to make a Bottom 10 list. Boulders that are so lowball, shuffley, eliminate or forgettable, yet somehow have become a big deal - usually for their difficulty. The kind of problem that would make a non-climber despair. For example,

Malc's One Armer
eatswood traverse, there-and-back
That 7B traverse in the Cromlech where people park their cars
Something on Pinches Wall
Diesel Power
Etc etc

Jerry's traverse at cratcliffe? Finger mashing jug campusing

[AMorris]

Shocked that the eatswood traverse hasn't been mentioned yet...

It would be interesting to make a Bottom 10 list. Boulders that are so lowball, shuffley, eliminate or forgettable, yet somehow have become a big deal - usually for their difficulty. The kind of problem that would make a non-climber despair. For example,

Malc's One Armer
eatswood traverse, there-and-back
That 7B traverse in the Cromlech where people park their cars
Something on Pinches Wall
Diesel Power
Etc etc

Can we kindly remove Diesel Power from the list while my psyche is still high to get it done?

[joeisidle]

Shocked that the eatswood traverse hasn't been mentioned yet...

It would be interesting to make a Bottom 10 list. Boulders that are so lowball, shuffley, eliminate or forgettable, yet somehow have become a big deal - usually for their difficulty. The kind of problem that would make a non-climber despair. For example,

Malc's One Armer
eatswood traverse, there-and-back
That 7B traverse in the Cromlech where people park their cars
Something on Pinches Wall
Diesel Power
Etc etc

Jerry's traverse at cratcliffe? Finger mashing jug campusing

What about a worn traverse at the Plantation with confusing/arbitrary rules, next to far better lines and movement that see less attention, that somehow still inexplicably gets mobbed whenever there's a sunny weekend? Maybe with an arse-scraping extension into it for extra value?

That or Captain Hook

[36chambers]

Shocked that the eatswood traverse hasn't been mentioned yet...

It would be interesting to make a Bottom 10 list. Boulders that are so lowball, shuffley, eliminate or forgettable, yet somehow have become a big deal - usually for their difficulty. The kind of problem that would make a non-climber despair. For example,

Malc's One Armer
eatswood traverse, there-and-back
That 7B traverse in the Cromlech where people park their cars
Something on Pinches Wall
Diesel Power
Etc etc

Can we kindly remove Diesel Power from the list while my psyche is still high to get it done?

haha my thoughts exactly. Whilst it's not exactly a king line, it is good, basic, hard climbing. Which is currently my favourite style.

[WillRobertson]

Shocked that the eatswood traverse hasn't been mentioned yet...

It would be interesting to make a Bottom 10 list. Boulders that are so lowball, shuffley, eliminate or forgettable, yet somehow have become a big deal - usually for their difficulty. The kind of problem that would make a non-climber despair. For example,

Malc's One Armer
eatswood traverse, there-and-back
That 7B traverse in the Cromlech where people park their cars
Something on Pinches Wall
Diesel Power
Etc etc

Can we kindly remove Diesel Power from the list while my psyche is still high to get it done?

haha my thoughts exactly. Whilst it's not exactly a king line, it is good, basic, hard climbing. Which is currently my favourite style.

And this is why no consensus will ever be reached for "best" problems, it's totally subjective and people like different things. For example I had my first play on Captain Hook and really enjoyed it, I'm looking forward to getting back on it. And whilst I admire the clean lines of big aretes I don't really enjoy climbing them (not as much as other styles anyway).

Trying to get a consensus for best lines is a different matter, I doubt you'll find many people who won't be impressed by Living Large or Careless Torque.

[Luke Owens]

Really surprised Split Traverse hasn't been mentioned yet

[Dexter]

Shocked that the eatswood traverse hasn't been mentioned yet...

It would be interesting to make a Bottom 10 list. Boulders that are so lowball, shuffley, eliminate or forgettable, yet somehow have become a big deal - usually for their difficulty. The kind of problem that would make a non-climber despair. For example,

Malc's One Armer
eatswood traverse, there-and-back
That 7B traverse in the Cromlech where people park their cars
Something on Pinches Wall
Diesel Power
Etc etc

Jerry's traverse at cratcliffe? Finger mashing jug campusing

What about a worn traverse at the Plantation with confusing/arbitrary rules, next to far better lines and movement that see less attention, that somehow still inexplicably gets mobbed whenever there's a sunny weekend? Maybe with an arse-scraping extension into it for extra value?

That or Captain Hook

You're forgetting the "excellent" reverse mantle extension for an extra half grade

[fatneck]

 Split Traverse!!!

[Sasquatch]

So with a few amendments:

Livin Large Shosholoza Sky
The HatchlingC Pandemonium
Midnight Lightning Thriller
Careless Torque
Meadowlark Lemon < Spectre
Misericorde < Partage
New Base Line / The Understanding
Ammagamma / Cherry Picking
Evilution / Mandala Haroun and the Sea of Stories is better than either... 
La Marie Rose / Horseradish / Salad Cream / Wading through condoms...

Some amendments from an SA perspective.. And maybe Sky, although I don't know how it climbs.

Lets see how far we can take it

[AMorris]

Maybe we should change this list to 'Problems that most of UKB think rank somewhere between "worth having a quick play on if you are in the area" and "undeniably world class"' and see if we can get to 10.

[Sasquatch]

So with a few amendments:

Livin Large Shosholoza Sky
The Hatchling Pandemonium
Midnight Lightning Thriller
Careless Torque
Meadowlark Lemon < Spectre
Misericorde < Partage
New Base Line / The Understanding
Ammagamma / Cherry Picking
Evilution / Mandala Haroun and the Sea of Stories is better than either... 
La Marie Rose / Horseradish / Salad Cream / Wading through condoms...

Some amendments from an SA perspective.. And maybe Sky, although I don't know how it climbs.

Lets see how far we can take it

Whoops - This is what it was supposed to look like....

[the_dom]

Shosholoza over Living Large????

What the.... Shosh is broken and it keeps breaking...... and I can't span between the holds so clearly should be removed from list.

Hah.

I take it you'd argue against El Corazon too, in that case?