Drew Ruana does his tenth 8C+, Howl at the Moon sit

Drew Ruana reports on Insta that he has done the FA of Howl at the Moon sit (8C+). In 2019, he was #13 in the Combined World Championship and close to making it to the Olympics. After quitting the competition circuit he has since 2020, focused on bouldering and with close to 30 8C's and ten 8C+, he has one of the most impressive tick lists over the past three years. He's also undertaking a full-time University program. (c) Jono Ruana

Can you tell us more about doing your tenth 8C+?
I spent a long time last season working on this climb [the 8C stand]. It’s a much harder variation than The Ice Knife (8B+). This season I did the stand in 2 days and the sit the next day. I have like 5 more 8C+ projects I’d like to do this year if things go well. I’ve been building my pyramid for years and it seems to be paying off, did my 75th 8B+ last week too.

How does a normal climbing week look like? How many sessions and hours do you climb?
Not too much, I don’t train at all inside or off the wall. I climb outside 5 days a week or so for a couple of hours per day. I’ve been working on writing 2 books about climbing harder so it’s been a lot of work. I basically would go to school, write on book, do homework, go outside, come home do homework then go to bed Then on rest days focus on getting ahead in school and on my writing. Really exhausting to balance full time school with climbing hard and also writing but that was normal for me and it’ll be normal for a bit more.

Can you say something about the two books?
One is about building climbing intuition. What’s the difference between a beginner climber and a climber that “gets it” and how do you get there? The other is about outdoor bouldering at or past your limit.