When I started bouldering back in the early nineties crash pad designs were in their infancy. I still remember the Spot, a pad that doubled as a backpack — it was barely thicker than a sleeping pad and could barely carry more than shoes, chalk and a water bottle. Though better than carpet, which for some reason climbers carried (and often left at the boulders) — perhaps to clean their shoes? — it was neither a solid pad or pack.
When I moved to Yosemite fresh out of high school in 1995, the first thing I did was get on Midnight Lightning. By this time Cordless pads were on the market, but I could not afford one. For “protection,” I inflated my Therma-Rest, laid it on a giant boulder at the base of the problem and got to work. After a few careful attempts I’d made it half way up the problem, then jump for famed Lighting Bolt hold, miss and fall. Slamming hard on the sleeping pad not only ruined it, which meant I got to sleep on the cold, firm ground in Camp 4 every night from then on, my ankles and the bottoms of my feet ached. (Good thing I landed on my feet.)
A few years later I bought my first real crash pad, the Fish Maxi Pad, which wasn’t much thicker than the Spot but much broader. Next came the Misty Mountain Highlander, a 3′ X 4′ landing zone with a 3.4″ dual density foam. This was a great improvement over the Fish pad, but, due to its relatively small size — especially compared to today’s ginormous highball pads — I occasionally ended up hitting the ground with a spine buzzing thud.
Around 2002, I met up with the folks over at VooDoo, a Flagstaff, AZ, climbing hold company that was just starting production on their first crash pads. Aside from providing a large and thick landing surfaces on their taco-style Highball 5000 pads, 60″ X 48″ X 5″, they are also very chic and durable. The padding consists of layered 1/2″ closed cell foam for force dissipation, and 4″ open cell foam for energy absorption. Made with 1680d ballistic nylon, the outer fabric has such a high thread count that water can barely permeate the material; this keeps the foam lofty. The bed of these pads, constructed with industrial grade upholstery come in fun, bright colors, often with paisley patterns. The pads close via metal buckles which stand up to abuse better than traditional plastic buckles. They gave me a pad to take on a bouldering trip to Patagonia and we’ve stayed in contact ever since.
Since that day at VooDoo headquarters nearly 10 years ago, I’ve sampled most pads simply because most everyone brings their own pad to the boulders. I’m not going to say Voodoo pads are better than others (I do think they have more style), but I am sold on highball pads in general. By using pads that have a large, thick landing surface, I don’t have to worry about how I fall (that’s the spotter’s job), so long as I hit the pad (theoretically also the spotter’s job). This way I completely let go of self doubt and just “huck my meat” for holds. When injuries have occurred — I broke a few ribs once and sprained my ankles a few other times — were when I fell from too high and the pads were not positioned right, or I outright missed the pads and slammed my knee into my sternum. Oops.
Today, when not in use in the field, two VooDoo Highball 5000 pads double as a couches in my living room. Their bright colors really help bring the room together. Dirtbags (and my dog) like sleeping on them as well.
With holidays rapidly approaching, if someone close to you is a die-hard boulderer and doesn’t yet have a highball pad, now might be a good time to get them one. It will set you back around $375, but this is much cheaper than a trip to the doctor.
