Watch New Highballs/Free-Solos in Okanagan Valley
Highball veterans Miles Adamson and Matt Hendsbee recently established some bold rock climbs in B.C.
Alberta climbers Miles Adamson and Matt Hendsbee recently visited the Okanagan Valley in B.C. for some bouldering. The valley got hit with some early winter weather in early October as snow blanketed Kelowna and Penticton in sub-zero temps for over a week.
Nevertheless, the strong duo managed to piece together a number of bold highballs that could easily be mistaken as free-solos.
Climbing coach and U.K. boulderer Pete Edwards recently wrote about the highball vs free-soloing conversation here, in which he said: “For me, it’s simply too high to be classed as bouldering. My own personal definition for a boulder problem is the willingness of the climber to fall relatively unscathed from the last hard move.
“In bouldering, you might have an easy run-out that blurs the boundaries and you may have to take the landing into account. As a general guide, if you’re willing to take a fall from the last hard move and not worry, you’re on a boulder problem. Go above that and you’re into soloing territory.”
Penticton Highballs
25 Squamish Highballs
In 2017, Miles Adamson became the first climber to complete the 25 top Squamish highballs in Marc Bourdon’s third-edition of the guidebook Squamish Bouldering. Adamson’s final send on the list was The Snail V7 on July 7.
After his send, Adamson noted, “Five years in the making, and that’s it. I’ve done every single climb on both Squamish Bouldering guidebook’s highball list.”
The list includes in order of grade: Summer Vacation V0, By Fair Means V1 (FA), Tall Dark and Handsome V2, Is It Pure V2, For the Birds V3, Voltage V3 (FA), Zero to Hero V4, Enchanted V4, Dig Up Her Bones V4, Kung Fu Fighter V4, No Excuse for Porn Hair V4, Funeral Arrangements V5, Alpine Ridge V5 (FA), Dynamite V6, Teenage Lobotomy V6, Be on Four V7, Black SLabbath V7, The Snail V7, Raging Rapids V7, Ride the Lightning V8, Resurrection V9, The Broom V10, Snakes of Shoalin V10, Straight Outta’ Squampton V10 and World of Hurt V10.
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