Watch Miles Adamson Free Solo Chockstone Boulder
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Is it a highball if the boulder isn’t on the ground to begin with? Is it a free solo? Whatever you want to call it, this is an aesthetic first ascent by the Canadian crusher Miles Adamson. Adamson named the line, located in McGillivray Canyon, Alberta, Artistic Works of Fiction and Falsehood. His resume includes a number of tall, difficult boulders, like Ambrosia (V11), Too Tall to Fall (V10, FA), and every problem on the Squamish Top 25 Highballs list in Marc Bourdon’s Squamish Bouldering guidebook. He also recently completed the first ascent of the 5.14d Imposter Syndrome. That said, this line wasn’t about the difficulty.
Adamson described the ascent on Instagram: “I’ve named it Artistic Works of Fiction and Falsehood. With the side walls in, it’s not even that hard. Maybe V4. I didn’t see the point in trying to eliminate them, seeing as you have to use one or the other to reach it. The start holds are around 12ft off the ground, and the whole climb is maybe 25ft tall over a rocky creek landing. I’m assuming no one will want to ever repeat it again, but it’s not that kind of route to be put up for others like the sport climbs in the area. It’s there because I thought the chockstone needed to be climbed, and I loved every second of it!”