Miles Adamson tops Too Tall to Fall, huge highball at Bishop

26-year-old Miles Adamson from Canada has made the first ascent of Too Tall to Fall, a huge highball boulder problem at the Buttermilks in Bishop, California, USA.
1 / 1
Miles Adamson making the first ascent of Too Tall to Fall, a huge highball boulder problem at Bishop
Miles Adamson archive

A few days ago 26-year-old Miles Adamson from Canada established an important new highball on the Grandma Peabody at the Buttermilks in Bishop (USA). This huge boulder is not to be confused with the nearby, nigh namesake Grandpa Peabody that hosts the world-famous Ambrosia highball, first climbed by Kevin Jorgeson precisely a decade ago.

Adamson’s new line climbs Grandma’s central sail and takes the same start as Tiers of Uncertainty, a V12 line to date climbed only toprope by Dan Beall, but then trends left to avoid what "looks like overhanging cement" to join the arête at the top. Despite being two grades easier than its neighbour, Too Tall to Fall is, as the name suggests, a highball where tumbling off the V10 dicey crux almost 40 feet above the deck is out of the question.

26-year-old Adamson had envisaged the line on a trip to Bishop last year, while this season he managed the first ascent after about 5 toprope sessions. His previous highball ascents include Ambrosia and Footprints, both at Bishop, as well as the majority of the highballs in Squamish. In order to reduce the danger potential Adamson - much like Alex Honnold and all others who have followed suit on nearby Too Big to Flail - used around 30 crash pads.

Check out this great video for all the intricate details about the recent first ascent and also why the Canadian considers Tiers of Uncertainty the next level in bold highballing.

View this post on Instagram

Too Tall to Fall - V10!! So excited to share that I have made the first boulder ascent of the Grandma Peabody slab. My line starts on Tiers of Uncertainty, then goes up and left to hit the 5.9 arete lip jugs. VERY proud to contribute a line to Bishop highballing, as the first boulder up a famously blank face. Thanks so much to @daniel_beall for coming out with an army of pads and the vision for the line that drew me to the wall. I hope one day Tiers proper is bouldered, it would be the boldest highball in the world. For now, taking a hard left where the wall gets steep makes this line similar to Too Big to Flail. We have a ton of video from the trip and will edit it once home. Photo by Dave Johnson

A post shared by Miles Adamson (@miles_adamson) on




Related news
Latest news


Expo / News


Expo / Products
An agile and lightweight mid-cut boot for mixed-terrain hiking.
Travel and leisure shoes
Adjustable three-buckle harness designed for technical mountain climbing, big walls and ice and mixed routes.
Versatile lightweight climbing quickdraws
Belay device with cam-assisted blocking, optimized for lead climbing
AMELIA GTX are women's mountain boots designed for trekking, hiking and backpacking.
Show products