The worldwide premiere of Three Peak Films’ “First in Flight” took place at Center 45 March 20. The documentary follows Taylor McNeill, a longtime Boone resident, as he brings a team of Mad Rock climbers back to Watauga County for a five day tour of bouldering in the High Country.
“We’ve had a ton of people come up and look at the high country as a destination to push themselves.” said Aaron Parlier, co-owner and general manager of Center 45.
“This is probably my favorite place to go climbing in the world,” McNeill said about bouldering around his hometown.
He said he wanted to show what’s often a hidden gem in the climbing world to some great climbers, leading to a five-day trip in fall 2025. The film, “First in Flight,” was the result of that trip.
“I was surprised at how many hard, awesome boulders there are,” said Matt Fultz, one of McNeill’s travel companions.
The film follows the six-person crew of McNeill, Fultz, Austin Hoyt, Sera Gearhart, Jessie Wence and Siri Siharath as they visit several boulders iconic to Boone’s climbing community.
The film includes Wence and Gearhart both taking on “Summer Daze,” a classic in Linville Gorge. Hoyt and Fultz both sent the iconic creekside boulder “Levity.” Gearhart got her own moment, tackling the compression-heavy overhang “Sasquatch” after a bit of a battle with it. Fultz came in after her and made the neighboring, notoriously difficult boulder “Yeti” look easy.
In the end, the whole crew came together to try “Beekeeper,” a challenging overhang first found over thirty years ago but not done until McNeill got the first ascent in 2023. While Hoyt got the boulder after a few attempts, the most exciting moment of the film came with Fultz’s attempt on “Beekeeper.”
Fultz nearly fell from the top of the boulder, but shifted his hand at the last second to keep himself up and eventually secure the send. After his send, the credits rolled to “Raise Up” by Petey Pablo.
“First in Flight” was not the only film to be shown at the premiere. In “Still Dreaming,” Three Peak Films also followed Hoyt and Sahar on a trip to Loviisa, Finland, the small town where “Burden of Dreams” is located, one of the hardest boulders in the world.
The film’s first major scene saw Hoyt and Sahar trying moves on the 13-foot-tall boulder set to “Joy To The World” by Three Dog Night. Hoyt and Sahar also managed to do a few other hard boulders around Loviisa. Hoyt tackled the challenging “27 Club” and Adam Sahar took down “The Globalist,” a brutal boulder that’s only been done by eight people in history.
The duo returned to “Burden of Dreams” before their trip ended, with Adam Sahar managing to do the boulder, starting one move into the route instead of from the start.
The event also included a preview of “Godstone,” an upcoming Three Peak Films project following McNeill as he explores rural Utah, turning boulders he finds from pieces of rock into enjoyable and safe climbs. The documentary will follow his process of turning a boulder into a climbable route and then taking it on.
