ZEN AND THE ART OF BOULDERING

ON BLOCKS OF MANHATTAN SCHIST, CLIMBERS HONE THEIR SKILL By Adam Bloch

There may be only one boulder, only one hunk of schist plopped down on the south end of Central Park next to some softball fields and a large playground. But there are actually two rocks. One is officially named Umpire Rock, a pleasantly large outcropping that is enjoyed by picnickers, sunbathers and those with a geological bent. The other is known colloquially as Rat Rock, and it is the center of bouldering in New York City. Even as park-goers meander contentedly atop the crag of Umpire Rock, amateur climbers cling to one of Rat Rock's two vertical faces, assuredly moving along different hand and foot holds.

"For me, it's the first place I come in the city to climb," said Matt Nicholson while contemplating the north face last week. A 24-year-old from Brooklyn who teaches Latin at Marymount School on the Upper East Side, he has spent much of his summer vacation working on his climbing form at Rat Rock. "It's got some good problems for beginners and intermediate guys." Climber Kris Grajny visits Rat Rock about twice a week.

Unlike more traditional rock climbers, boulderers speak of "problems," tricky moves from one spot to another, rather than ascents. Bouldering, which generally takes place on rocks no higher than 20 feet, emphasizes technical skill and difficulty. Its popularity, which has grown greatly over the past several decades, derives partly from its simplicity-no need for expensive equipment or trips to remote mountain areas-and partly from its independent nature and challenges. "You can make it as hard as you want," Nicholson said. "People tend to challenge themselves a lot more because they're on such a short piece of rock. Once climbing gets its hooks in you, you become compulsive about it." Asked to identify the hardest problem, he walked over to one craggy section and pointed at two spots about a couple of yards apart. The disarmingly small patch of rock is known as the Polish Traverse and exemplifies the inner drive that motivates bouldering. The goal is not merely to reach a spot, but to do so with a series of moves and holds that will throw the sport's rigor into sharp relief. "You look at the whole thing and subtract the foot and hand holds you're going to use," Nicholson explained. There is an almost spiritual quality to the way boulderers talk about their pursuit. Rat Rock to them is not an obstacle to be conquered but a playground of possibilities with hundreds of nooks and crannies-usually marked by accumulations of climbing chalk-to negotiate and explore. The local cast of characters emphasizes this point. The bouldering crowd can grow to more than a dozen during sunny evenings and weekends, and the local doyen is undoubtedly Yuki, a near-legendary figure who has watched over the Rat Rock scene for more than 20 years and was described by one climber as her "Svengali." On another afternoon, about a 10-minute walk away, several members of the City Climbers Club were moving around the walls of the West 59th Street Recreation Center, an old redoubt of sporting leisure tucked amid new residential developments between 10th and 11th avenues. The "rock gym" consisted of a small room covered with hundreds of holds screwed into the walls, providing dozens of different routes. Overhead, a line of Tibetan prayer flags was strung across the room, and a glass ceiling offered natural light. Stefan Piana on "Rat Rock" in Central Park

As climbers quietly planned out their ascents, the two managers, Chris and Edgar, talked about their sport. "I think the climbing community is still small in New York compared to others," Edgar said. "It's one of the more misunderstood sports. Sometimes you wonder why you do it. It's a scary activity and there's risk involved, though you try to minimize it. But at the end of the day, there's a sense of accomplishment." Chris added, "It's more specialized, gear-oriented and demanding. It's about pushing and challenging yourself. My family thinks I'm crazy, but other climbers understand." One thing rock climbing is not, Chris and Edgar emphatically agreed, is an extreme sport. They scoffed at the way it is portrayed in movies like Cliffhanger and stressed the importance of safety. The City Climbers Club offers some of the most affordable indoor climbing in the city. Other options are usually pricier but have more space and features. They include Manhattan Plaza Health Club in Midtown, Reebok Sports Club on the Upper West Side, Chelsea Piers, The Sports Club/LA on the Upper East Side and North Meadow Recreation Center in Central Park. Back at Rat Rock the next day, Kris Grajny was trying some difficult problems while simultaneously giving advice to a kid who had wandered by and was now trying to cling to the rock face without any chalk or climbing shoes. Grajny, a recent transplant to the Upper West Side from San Francisco, goes to Rat Rock about twice a week but also enjoys indoor climbing. He mentioned several other favorite spots, such as Cat Rock, another bouldering site about 200 yards to the northeast; Worthless Boulder at the north end of the park; and the ultimate climbing destination in the area, the Shawangunks, a world-class series of ridges near New Paltz, N.Y. "For a city, it's pretty good actually," Grajny said of climbing opportunities in New York. "There's enough to do to keep you entertained. There are some good gyms and some good rocks here in Central Park." Moments later, he leaped onto Rat Rock and froze for a second as if glued weightlessly to it like a modern-day Spider-Man.