In climbing, Bouldering refers to climbing a short, difficult route on large rock boulders without the safety of a rope. Smart climbers will buy crash pads to soften their landing in the (very) likely event of a fall.

Bouldering at Joshua Tree, courtesy of Wikipedia

The term Project refers to a specific route or series of bouldering moves which someone is working on. Like a school project, slowly the route comes together, until the climber/boulderer can send (climb) the route clean (without falling and/or resting on the rope).

I am not what one would call a Boulderer.  I do not like to boulder. This is mostly because I don’t like to fall – something about the sensation of landing always frightens me. I won’t even jump off a high diving board into water. Call me a wheenie if you want, but I just can’t hang with the big bouldering boys.

I do, however, have my own version of a Boulder Project. In September, I alluded to my budding obsession with the outdoorsy mountain town of Boulder, Colorado. In November, my partner in crime Allison accompanied me on a weekend trip to Ft. Collins, Boulder, and Denver.  The goal was to get a ‘feel’ for the ‘vibe’ of Boulder to determine if I was 100% sure that I wanted to relocate.

Boulder – do you belong here?

Well, Boulder had me at hello. We landed and the sun was out. We found our rental car, which we promptly named Rosy, and drove off down the Colorado Welcome Mat into Ft. Collins. Beginning with a delicious lunch,.the visit easily became one of the best weekends of my life. Seriously.

The whole weekend was completely serendipitous. With nowhere to stay 48 hours before we left some fellow Couchsurfers took us in and spent the weekend showing us around. We drank local microbrews, visited the Boulder Street Market, went for a hike, made a delicious dinner, ended up at a bar with a mechanical bull, heckled bar-goers as they dropped their IDs, ate yummy breakfast where I learned I do like eggs over easy, went for a run, and checked out my new happy place Movement Climbing Gym. Before I knew it the weekend was over and we were back on a plane to the land of clouds and fog.

So what exactly is MY Boulder Project you ask?  It’s the challenge of finding a job and moving to Boulder where I won’t have the Seattle Safety Net to catch me.

Unlike bouldering, I’m not afraid to ‘fall’ – moving to Boulder is a risk I’m willing to take, and one I’m very excited about. I’ve thought about this for a long time and my heart is in it – I’m ready to leap! I will put as many crash pads into place before the move to catch me should challenges arise. I can’t wait to get there and to build my life surrounded by mountains, snow, and sunshine. In Boulder it won’t even be weird that I climb, ski, run, and cycle, it’s just expected that I do those things! I will of course miss my Seattle Family, but I won’t be too lonely, especially since I’m pretty sure I can make about eight of them move down there with me *insert evil laugh here*

I’ll leave you with some photos of my first Boulder adventure – it certainly won’t be my last!

Crawfish at Lucille’s, a must for anyone heading to Colorado!

Free Hugs?  Yes please!

View from atop the Flatirons.  Is that sunshine I see?

Of course I would greatly appreciate any job leads or support you can provide as I complete the Boulder Project. I’m really looking forward to this next chapter in my life!