Insomniac 8C+ by Jimmy Webb + interview

James Webb has repeated Drew Ruana's Insomniac 8C+ at Lincoln Lake. It starts by doing eight moves of The Wheel of Wolvo followed by a good rest and then continuous through We Can Build You (8B). (c) Wes Walker

"Insomniac took me around nine sessions, out of which five were in July when it was quite warm and rainy and then another four in good conditions in early September. Felt super good to be back after the longish recovery with my ankle. The summer was great, I spent another week in the backcountry of Wyoming trying to finish up some projects I tried last season. Now I’m back home in Tahoe and super stoked for the upcoming season here. There are loads of projects to do and we just keep finding more."

What does your typical climbing week look like?
A typical week here at home is mostly just climbing outside, hiking and searching for new boulders. There’s just so much potential here it’s hard to even stick to one project or area. Sometimes it’s hard to stay in the fittest shape because for me I’m more motivated by being outside and discovering new stones. I do spend some time training but that’s usually only when I’m getting ready for a trip somewhere.

What have you learned in 2022 that's made you a better climber and enjoy climbing more?
This past year I feel like I’ve found more balance in my life. Climbing is and always will be a very important part of me but recently I’ve found motivation and happiness in other things too. In my opinion, it’s helped me stay motivated on pushing myself and when I have down periods in my climbing I tend to come back even more psyched and clear-headed. Climbing hard is important for me but these days I’d say it’s taken a big back seat to develop new and amazing lines of all difficulties.

Do you live solely off of sponsorship or do you have a part-time job?
No, I’m lucky enough to be fully supported by my sponsors.

How many projects are you working on currently?
I have too many projects to count haha. Some hard few movers, some long power endurance blocs. Kinda have a good mix going at the moment so I’m not getting too caught up in one single bloc. Certainly helps with the sanity of projecting.