Noah Wheeler does Sleepwalker (8C+)

Noah Wheeler has repeated James Webb’s Sleepwalker (8C+) in Black Velvet Canyon. ”16- or 15/16 [8C+(-) or 8C/8C+]. Came back this year hopeful but doubtful and felt far stronger on the crux move than I imagined I would. The crux ended up being the last pinch throw but with some tweaks and deliberation I got it done first go of the 5th total session. Psyched on deeper down the wall.”

New video by Noah - Is Sleepwalker 8C or 8C+? Some other repeaters have also indicated it being a bit ”soft” for the grade. The sit start is Daniel Woods’ Return of the Sleepwalker (9A) and before completion, Daniel was able to do the stand up to four times in a single session.

Can you tell us more about this boulder problem and the process you went through?
I originally saw the boulder 2 years ago on my first trip to Red Rocks. I briefly felt the holds and wrote it off as a project for the future. Last year I came back with the intent of sending having a few harder climbs under my belt. However the weather was awful for the 2 weeks I was there and I only got 2 sessions in on the climb, where I completed all the moves quickly but was unable to make significant links (notably, the crux sloper bump link was undone). Coming back this year I was both cautious and invigorated by the misfortune of my last trip - knowing that the forecast looked better but that I only had 2 weeks in Red Rocks. In the first session back I felt surprisingly good on the crux sequence and ended up dialing it fairly well. The following session I gave 5 or 6 ground rips, all of which ended with a fall going to the last left hand pinch on the top of the boulder. The next session I managed to top it out first try of the day!