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For thousands of years a boulder has stood, like a lord from the older days, in the forests of Bangor. Before there was a Bangor, before the United States, before even the Penobscots, this boulder was here—standing proud, majestic, unconquered, and unclimbed until this day. Kim Lommler is about to climb it. When she makes it to the top—a grueling task involving both strength and strategy—her task will not be over. Once atop the boulder, she will have an honor and an obligation: She must name it.
Kim Lommler is a boulderer. Bouldering is a type of rock climbing that is one of the fastest-growing outdoor-adventure sports in the country. If traditional rock climbing (with ropes, harnesses, and large cliff faces) were compared to running a marathon, then bouldering would be like running 100-yard hurdles. There are no ropes, no harnesses, and no gear, beyond good shoes. It is just the climber and the boulder—protected by friends who serve as spotters and “crash pads” laid on the ground. Boulderers typically do not climb over 25 feet, but the climbs are notorious for being more physically and technically challenging than big wall climbs. This is one major reason for its exploding popularity.
Kim Lommler has been bouldering for nine years now. She has traveled the world climbing, visiting all of the major bouldering destinations and winning numerous awards and competitions along the way. In 2001 and 2002, the American Bouldering Association (ABS) ranked Lommler as one of the top two female boulderers in the nation. In 2002, just weeks after a major knee injury, she placed in the top seven at the famous international bouldering championship called Superblock, in Florence, Italy. She gained notoriety here in Maine when in 2005, after a two-year hiatus from climbing, and while four months pregnant with twins, she won the University of Maine’s annual Boulder Bash. Lommler, who lives in Orrington, is easy to spot at local climbing areas or gyms because she often has her two toddler sons in tow.
Lommler is in her late 20s, well traveled, and was educated at a prestigious, private college. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she made a conscious decision to come back to Maine—both to be near her family and because of all the “problems” (the word boulderers use for boulder climbs) this area has for her to conquer. “I remember a few years ago, when my husband and I were first married,” Lommler says. “We were deciding where we wanted to live and talked a lot about moving out west . . . and then we started finding boulders. We would go out hiking or driving and find some pretty impressive fields. That helped to settle the debate.”
As Lommler and her fellow climbers have discovered, many of the towns in the greater Bangor area are riddled with boulders. These are not your average slabs of granite; they are massive stones as big as houses. They are like giant golden nuggets to climbers, the number and quality of which, in the Bangor area, are as good as Lommler has seen anywhere. “I have friends who spent hundred of dollars this year traveling across the country to climb. For me, there is no need to leave anymore. So much is right here.”
The only downside to all these boulders, she says, is that nobody knows about them. In 1996, Climbing magazine did a feature on climbing in the Bangor area. They reported: “Maine has enough rock to last a full-time climber several lifetimes. . . acres of hillside strewn with featured boulders . . . It’s amazing these have remained a secret for so long.” Today, nearly 12 years after the publishing of the article, little has changed. Most of Maine’s bouldering is secret and undocumented.
Chuck Drew, along with Lommler and others, has formed www.maineclimbs.com, a website promoting rock climbing
Kim Lommler is a boulderer. Bouldering is a type of rock climbing that is one of the fastest-growing outdoor-adventure sports in the country. If traditional rock climbing (with ropes, harnesses, and large cliff faces) were compared to running a marathon, then bouldering would be like running 100-yard hurdles. There are no ropes, no harnesses, and no gear, beyond good shoes. It is just the climber and the boulder—protected by friends who serve as spotters and “crash pads” laid on the ground. Boulderers typically do not climb over 25 feet, but the climbs are notorious for being more physically and technically challenging than big wall climbs. This is one major reason for its exploding popularity.
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Kim Lommler has been bouldering for nine years now. She has traveled the world climbing, visiting all of the major bouldering destinations and winning numerous awards and competitions along the way. In 2001 and 2002, the American Bouldering Association (ABS) ranked Lommler as one of the top two female boulderers in the nation. In 2002, just weeks after a major knee injury, she placed in the top seven at the famous international bouldering championship called Superblock, in Florence, Italy. She gained notoriety here in Maine when in 2005, after a two-year hiatus from climbing, and while four months pregnant with twins, she won the University of Maine’s annual Boulder Bash. Lommler, who lives in Orrington, is easy to spot at local climbing areas or gyms because she often has her two toddler sons in tow.
Lommler is in her late 20s, well traveled, and was educated at a prestigious, private college. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she made a conscious decision to come back to Maine—both to be near her family and because of all the “problems” (the word boulderers use for boulder climbs) this area has for her to conquer. “I remember a few years ago, when my husband and I were first married,” Lommler says. “We were deciding where we wanted to live and talked a lot about moving out west . . . and then we started finding boulders. We would go out hiking or driving and find some pretty impressive fields. That helped to settle the debate.”
As Lommler and her fellow climbers have discovered, many of the towns in the greater Bangor area are riddled with boulders. These are not your average slabs of granite; they are massive stones as big as houses. They are like giant golden nuggets to climbers, the number and quality of which, in the Bangor area, are as good as Lommler has seen anywhere. “I have friends who spent hundred of dollars this year traveling across the country to climb. For me, there is no need to leave anymore. So much is right here.”
The only downside to all these boulders, she says, is that nobody knows about them. In 1996, Climbing magazine did a feature on climbing in the Bangor area. They reported: “Maine has enough rock to last a full-time climber several lifetimes. . . acres of hillside strewn with featured boulders . . . It’s amazing these have remained a secret for so long.” Today, nearly 12 years after the publishing of the article, little has changed. Most of Maine’s bouldering is secret and undocumented.
Chuck Drew, along with Lommler and others, has formed www.maineclimbs.com, a website promoting rock climbing
