The Buttermilks, or Buttermilk Country, is a well known bouldering destination. It comprises the western edge of the Owens Valley near Bishop, California, in the eastern foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
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Paul David Robinson (born August 28, 1987) is an American professional rock climber who specializes in bouldering. He has established and repeated several bouldering problems at the V15 difficulty rating, in such areas as Hueco Tanks, the Buttermilks, and Magic Wood. In 2007, Robinson became the second climber in history to successfully climb a V13 boulder problem in one attempt.
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Basin Mountain in California's eastern Sierra Nevada range is a large and visually prominent peak near the city of Bishop. Basin Mountain is not as high as its neighboring peaks, Mount Tom and Mount Humphreys, but it dominates the view to the west from Bishop as it rises above the Buttermilks. It is a relatively easy scramble to the top. The summit is not especially notable, except for the wonderful views it offers of Mount Tom, which dominates the skyline just to the north.
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Basin Mountain (13,187 ft.) is viewed to the west from Bishop as it rises above the Buttermilks. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , over 97% of it land. Bishop is known as the "Mule Capital of the World" and a week-long festival called Bishop Mule Days has been held since 1969 on the week of Memorial Day, celebrating the contributions of pack mules to the area. The festival attracts many tourists, primarily from the Southern California area.
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The problem was established by Swiss climber Fred Nicole two years earlier. At the time, it was regarded as the most challenging problem at Hueco Tanks, and Robinson described it as "the hardest boulder I have ever done so far." On 30 March 2010, Robinson claimed the first ascent of Lucid Dreaming, a highball bouldering problem in the Buttermilks near Bishop, California. He originally proposed a grade of V16, the highest bouldering grade that had yet been assigned to a problem, but he later suggested Lucid Dreaming might be a V15.
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Smoke made his first trip to the Yosemite Valley in 1937 and later that summer stumbled into the Eastern Sierra town of Bishop. He relocated there from Portland before 1942 and by 1943 had "discovered" the Buttermilks: an area of rocks that became his playground, and the training ground for young climbers like Doug Robinson, Galen Rowell, and Don Jenson. In 1967, he married Su Ahlstrom after proposing to her on the top of Mount Hood. She had two children from a previous marriage, Glen and Lorelle, and Smoke had one son, Robert, from a previous marriage.
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Later, with the introduction and evolution of crash pads, climbers were able to push the limits of highball bouldering ever higher. In 2002 Jason Kehl completed the first highball at double-digit V-difficulty, called Evilution, a 55-foot (16.8 meter) boulder in the Buttermilks of California, earning the grade of V12. This climb marked the beginning of a new generation of highball climbing that pushed not only height, but great difficulty.It is not unusual for climbers to rehearse such risky problems on top-rope, although this practice is not a settled issue. Groundbreaking ascents in this style include; Ambrosia, a 55-foot (16.8 meter) boulder in Bishop, California, climbed by Kevin Jorgeson in 2015 sporting the grade of V11.
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