Photos by popol

The art of bouldering - bouldering art..

Ollie on his favorite boulder problem in Hasselt.

Micha just before a dyno moove in Dupree's Paradise (5.11a). Height: 17m above ground level. Protection: one sketchy cam#1 halfway down, 2 micronuts (#00 and #.5) in between, last piece of gear 3m below his feet. If he was ever afraid to die, this was the moment.

That's the route name, at least. Micha in the warming up route of this magnificent slab. Photo by Popol.

This is the view we got on the top of the Petite Fourche. It's showing the west face of the Aiguilles Dorées, and they are really worth their name: Aiguilles Dorées means "golden needles"...

We were glad to reach this place, after having walked in bad weather for 4 hrs. The owner's wife got compassion with us, and we got hot chocolate and chocolate pie, for free! Picture taken in 1994, with the cheapest of the cheap camera's of that time..

Bigwallollie concentrating for his next move. Picture taken in February 2004. Camera Minolta dynax 3xi with Tamron 28-300 lense.

This is "falaise d'anse", one of the two sections of the area of Omblèze. 1500m of superb high-friction limestone...

Maybe this is the most beautiful climbing area in the world: good limestone rock, sun, splendid views on the shores and beaches. Rine is climbing a 6a route in sector "l'abri cotier", Morgiou, Calanques.

This is a picture of "Bloc B". It clearly shows the growing popularity of bouldering in Les Awirs. The Face Nord boulders are in fact the remains of a massive overhang that fell down some years ago, taking away possibilities for some really hard routes (5.14?), but creating these boulders...

Hendrik in "La ballade de la femme araignée", a route that follows a fine crack on a steep slab. The route name means "dance of the spider", according to the moves you have to make to send it...

... the route suddenly seems a little easier. Hendrik in "la ballade de la femme araignée", a 5.11a on a fine slab.

Ollie wasn't able to read what was written on the wall, so he decided to take a closer look.. Final picture in the "buildering in Hasselt" series.

A while ago, I submitted a very similar picture. One of the advices was to crop out some disturbing trees. I cropped the photo exactly like proposed, and submitted it for a photo contest. Result: I got a very nice sleeping bag as a price, and now it's the front page picture of a local climbing magazine :-) So again, thank you rockclimbing.com!

Not hard to imagine that this could be a pole vault picture... Bigwallollie climbing, photo by Popol.

Bouldering in Fontainebleau on November 18 2006. There's something crazy about the weather this year...

From the base of the Aiguille Purtscheller you have a splendid view to the Swiss Alps. You can see the Grand Combin and even the Matterhorn on the right.

French couple congratulating each other on the summit of Aiguille de l'Index. Through the clouds on the background, you can see the Mont Blanc. The magnificent view on the highest mountains of western Europe is what really makes climbing in the Aiguilles Rouges so beautiful..

Who wants to know the "secret" behind the no holds shadow movement ? Well, here it is. Not the same side of the statue, but still the same technique.

Bigwallollie having fun traversing on the wall. On this shot, he was passing right above my head, 3m high. Me hoping that he would not slip off.. ;-)

Bigwallollie buildering on the wall of the academy of arts.

Probably the most beautiful "dièdre" in Les Awirs. Recently, this area is cleaned up and re-bolted by the Belgian Rebolting Team, making this kind of splendid routes accessible to the climbing community.

In Hasselt, there are no natural rocks. Fortunately, some artist provided excellent practicing material by means of his statue in the park. Combine this with a sunny autumn day, a great climber (Bigwallollie climbing), and you get some nice shots...

At the bottom of the cliff, you can find some good bouldering. Bring a crash or two and some good spotters, because the landing is generally not so good as on this boulder.