Drew Ruana (16) signs up as #6 in Routes/Boulders combined

Drew Ruana has added 41 ascents to his new scorecard including his FA of The Assassin 9a in Smith Rock, Just do it 8c+, which he did when he was 14 years old and Direct North 8B+ in Bishop. In the combined 8a ranking game, the 16 year old is #6. - I have been climbing for about 13 years, but only seriously for the last eight. I joined a competitive team when I was 8. Since then, I've competed in the youth circuit, and I've climbed outside a lot. My best results are 1st place at the 2015 USA SCS youth, and 2nd place at 2014 WYCH. In the future, I want to send 9a+ and 8C, and have a 8c+ Onsight or flash. I hope to achieve these goals in the next five years His trainer is Tyson Schoene, who actually was babysitter by Drew's mother some 30 years ago a few times and since then, Tyson has had a close relationship with the Ruana family. - I had already worked with many top kids, our team was built of them, but early on you knew Drew was the exception. He had a drive that others didn't. But for the most part that drive was very different than many of the top kids out there. It wasn't like more hours in the gym or harder drills or anything like that. It was more like obsession with sending routes. When he was trying a route, it was, and is gnarly how dedicated to that moment he is. It's like nothing else matters. But in training, it was different. It was nothing spectacular. His climbing during training was good, but the training wasn't amazing. I mean I have a dozen kids that used to work harder than him. But he is smarter. He technically is better than most. His success comes because of the dedication from his family, my assistant coaches, friends and his team that all support him. He relies on all of us, more than he knows. His father and mother are some of the best people I know. They have raised him well and try to give him what he needs to be successful, but it's not just handed to him, he has to work for it. He is also a straight A+ student. He works very hard at that too. He does not like failure. No matter what aspect of his life it is coming from. I have said this 100 times, I am thankful for the opportunity to work with these kids, not just him, but all of them. They teach me things every day. They teach me about coaching, and training, and life.