Drew Ruana - Progress takes patience

Drew Ruana started making 8a headlines in 2012 when he did his first 8b+ at age 12. Two years later he sent Just Do It (8c+) and won the silver in the Youth World Championship. He continued progressing both on rock and in comps, where he was close to making it to the Olympics and was #13 in the Combined World Champion in 2019. After quitting the competition circuit he has since 2020, focused on bouldering and with 27 8C's and nine 8C+, he has one of the most impressive tick lists over the past two years. He's also undertaking a full-time University program . During the first two weeks in February, Drew did two 8Cs and one 8C+.

How can you explain being in such good shape right now?
I don't know, I’m really busy with school and climbing just for fun right now. Takes the pressure off.

How much do you train and climb outside a week?
I don't know, I’m really busy with school and climbing just for fun right now. (That) Takes the pressure off.

How much do you train and climb outside a week?
I don’t train or climb inside too much. I normally have 4-5 outdoor sessions a week.

What drives your desire to climb?
I just like climbing hard boulders outside. V15/16 (8C/8C+) is a lot more fun than it used to be because I can do them in around a couple of days or a week now, especially if I know the beta or have tried them before. I like trying v14 (8B+) and harder stuff because that’s where I usually start feeling challenged. I like pushing myself so I stick to harder grades, but I try to do the climb before the grade.

How many different projects are you working on now?
I have like 20 boulders I’m trying off and on.



How do you deal with failures and working with one or several projects?
You get used to it. It sucks but it’s part of what it takes to get stronger. Learn from failures and figure out how to make them less likely to happen in the future. Trust the process, projecting and progression involves lots of failure and learning.

Any short and or more long-term advice that you would give the youth that are out there pushing hard to make gains?
Not really any great short term but for the long term is to really think long term. Plan your projects and training cycles long-term and keep punching the clock. Just putting in the time. 6 months of consistent training is better than going super hard for a week.