The Bishop Area Boulders,
Buttermilk Boulders

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The Buttermilk area has long been the standard for granite bouldering since the first feldspar crystal was fingered some thirty years ago. All the heavies of their day goofed around on these very boulders, including Blanchard, Robbins, Herbert, Bard, Bachar, and even Bob Harrington. Keeping with the local ethic of the time, virtually none of the problems were named or graded...they just did them and let the memories fade into another hangover. The modern climber who has a name for every move has probably taken some liberties with some of the oldtimers problems and named them as they saw fit. So be it. Some ascents are still clouded in mystery, as world class boulders would show up, tick the newest and hardest, and then scurry back to some far off land, uttering nary a word of their achievements. In these cases, those problems too were probably renamed and overgraded by indigenous pad people. You can boulder here year round, but snow can be a problem in some winter months.

Tom Klinefelter on the "Green Wall Boulder", V4.
(FA: unknown / photo: Ryan)