Far from the sunny shores of Mexico and the whooping crowds of drunken college students, Yosemite National Park beckoned a handful of dedicated climbers, including myself, to test our abilities on the blank faces of the valley?s glacially polished boulders.- The allure of the gloryless and misunderstood pursuit of bouldering trumped the desire for the excessive drinking and debauchery of spring break MTV style.

Bouldering is the art of rope-less rock climbing where satisfaction comes from the subtleties of strength and movement on the rock rather the sheer height of the climb.- Boulderers can easily be spotted in Yosemite skirting the perimeter of the valley floor with large square foam “crash pads” strapped to their backs looking like the army of cards from Alice in Wonderland.- They can be seen darting in and out of the forest near Camp IV and the Ahwahnee Hotel, eyeing the lines and contours of the house sized rocks strewn about the area.

The throngs of common Yosemite gawkers find boulderers a curiosity.- The climbers stand around in groups under the rocks, gabbing in indecipherable bouldering code.- “Just gaston that sick crimp, pull a drop-knee and dyno for the sloper ? but don?t grease off the mantle, you?re way off the deck,” one boulderer says as his partner curses at a bad foothold.

They often communicate by pawing the air as they brainstorm how to climb the lines, appearing quite mad to the passing tourists.- A woman in six inch heels and a $200 hat eyes me suspiciously from the parking lot of the world renowned Ahwahnee Hotel, as I grunt and swear my way up tiny edges on the rounded underbelly of an eight foot boulder.- I?m still not sure who was out of place in that situation.

The best boulders lie in Camp IV, the fabled home of Yosemite rock climbing legends of the 1970?s.- The likes of John Long, John Bachar, and Ron Kauk romped on the boulders strewn about the perimeter of the campground, pioneering the most challenging climbing sequences ever contrived.

The best known route in the area is Midnight Lightning, named after the spacey Hendrix blues jam.- It snakes up the east side of the enormous Columbia boulder which, in some bygone geologic era, sunk its hulk into the center of the flood plain that is now Camp IV.- I was lucky enough to see one of today?s great boulderers, an unassuming young climber named Greg Loh methodically working the powerful dynamic moves which culminate in a bold balancing act to reach the final holds about 15 feet from the ground.- I watch Loh rock his body up and over the lip and reach for the impossibly high edge, a point in which many great climbers have fallen on the hard slab below.- This notorious fall often results in sprained ankles, broken wrists, and compressed vertebrate.

As Loh saunters to the top, I wonder if I?ll ever be worthy to put my hands on the legendary holds of Midnight Lightning.- Today, there are only about 25 people in the country who can complete the moves.- According to Climbing Magazine, the complex sequence was first imagined by John “Yabo” Yablonski in the midst of an LSD enhanced dream.- The problem was initially dismissed as impossible but was climbed one fateful day in the spring of 1978 by Ron Kauk after he worked on the moves for over a year.

Walking among the boulders, one can sense the history of the area. From John Muir to Ron Kauk to Greg Loh, climbers have been drawn to Yosemite?s unique and mysterious beauty.- The towering granite walls and thundering waterfalls lure visitors from all over the globe.- Yosemite is a place where Man?s odd pursuits can blend harmoniously with nature?s awe-inspiring craftsmanship.

And so there I was, in Camp IV, for spring break 2002, walking in the footsteps of giants, calling myself a climber while I struggle to pull my sorry ass out of the dirt on a horrendous sit-start problem called Ament Arete.- An hour later, with fingertips swollen and worn nearly to the bone, muscles shaking with exhaustion, and a huge smile on my face, I somehow power through the desperate finishing moves, accompanied by shouts of encouragement from my fellow boulderers, all of us basking in the satisfaction of a truly unique spring break experience in one of the world?s most majestic locations.

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