The Most Epic Highball Boulder Day Ever
In December, Timothy Kang climbed five of the most dangerous bouldering problems in America in a push
When Timmy Kang first saw a highball boulder in Bishop, California, he immediately wanted to boot up and try the line—a rare reaction to say the least. His coach kept him from the dangerous heights that day, but it wasn’t long before he began testing himself on the area’s giant problems.
Over the years, Kang managed to climb five of Bishop’s most iconic highballs: Footprints V9, Ambrosia V11, Too Big to Flail V10, This Side of Paradise V10, and Evilution Direct V11. But there was one objective that kept haunting him, could he climb them all in a single day? On Dec. 5, Kang realized a dream and closed the chapter on his Bishop obsession with one epic day of sending.
These problems are not your typical highballs. Many of them reach 50 feet in height or more. Before going for a ground-up attempt, most climbers dial their beta on top-rope, as some of these problems include cruxes 25 feet or so off the deck.
Climbing all five of these problems in a day truly shows Kang’s mastery of Buttermilks stone. From Mountain View, California, he’s well rounded in both outdoor and comp climbing. He participated in IFSC World Cup lead events in 2018 and 2021.
Timothy Kang