Box Therapy 8C+ by Drew Ruana

Drew Ruana,#13 in the Combined World Championship in Hachioji, reports on Insta that he has done the second ascent of Daniel Woods' Box Therapy 8C+ in RMNP. It is a sit start to a Tommy Caldwell 8A creating 18 moves on a 50 degree overhanging granite face. Drew only needed four sessions which includes a 2 hours uphill approach. (c) Alton Richardsson

If Drew would have been #12 in Hachioji, he would have qualified to Tokyo. As a matter of a fact, the 20-year-old was #10 after the qualification. In 2018 and 2019, he did 35 IFSC comps in total but in 2020 he stopped focusing on comps and did not do the Continental Olympic qualification. In January he did his first 8C+, Sleepwalker and now he says, "No more comps, just outdoors."

When it comes to training, it is mainly just bouldering and once in a while some weeks of structured training. "Lots of strength training in the weight room after sessions. Lots of limit bouldering and power endurance exercises. I campus boulders. I don’t campus board of hangboard. I know what works for my body and mind at this point."

Including also a handful 8C's and more than a dozen 8B+’s since October the last year as well as being #8 in the Boulder World Champion, he is a contender for currently being the best boulderer in the world. When it comes to routes, he started to make 8a headlines at age 16 doing his first 9a.