Pierre Allain and his friends enjoyed bouldering in Fontainebleau for its own sake in the 1930s. Generally it was viewed as a training method for the „real“ climbing.

The father of modern bouldering is John Gill; he fell in love with bouldering in the 1950s. As an amateur gymnast and mathematic professor he had the main features for a boulderer: the physical condition and the scientific view to challenge a boulder problem.

It was not only his doing one-arm-pull-ups on the fingertips and dynamic moves on boulders which revolutionized climbing, but also the introduction of chalk from gymnastics to the climbing world. Chalk is used to keep the hands dry, so the fingers won´t slip from the holds.

In the 1990´s Clark Shelk, then Cordless, was one of the first to produce commercial Crash Pads. Now, with nearly 15 years of experience, Clark Shelk still designs and produces Crash Pads for Revolution.

Crash Pads are a kind of mattress with foam pads inside and a heavy-duty fabric shell for the outdoors; simply said. With the introduction of the Crash Pads, it was possible for the climber to cover irregularities like stones in the landing zone and cushion the fall of the climber.

For Clark Shelk it´s a personal challenge to design and produce the best Crash Pads, like the Mission Pad.The combination of a good Crash Pad and a good spotter might be essential for an ascent.