Noah Wheeler’s story sending ROTSW (9A)

Noah Wheeler started 2025 by sending Return of the Sleepwalker (9A). During the last six months, he had previously sent eight boulders 8B+ to 8C+.

Can you give us the full 9A story including the number of sessions needed?
I first tried Sleepwalker stand 2 years ago, but barely had any time on it because of weather. I had 4 goes last year for stand, 14 on the sit last year, and 2 this year. So about 20 sessions for the full thing. I was getting to the last hold in around 8 of these sessions.

After sending Sleepwalker last December, I had about 4 sessions on the sit before heading back for school. In that time, I made far better progress than I expected, sticking the sloper on my last session. A month later, I decided to take a few weeks off of school and travel back to Red Rocks to finish the process. I made quick progress in my first 4 or 5 sessions, eventually progressing such that I stuck the sloper consistently from the bottom, falling on the last left hand throw to a shallow pinch almost every time. For the next 6 sessions left in the trip, I would get to this spot multiple times a day, falling at the throw every time. There was one day where I got to the last move 6 separate times - effectively having climbed a v16 6 times with nothing to show for it. This process was extremely difficult mentally because I had figured the climb would go soon after I began sticking the sloper consistently. It took a while to admit to myself that the last move was the crux.

Therefore I left empty handed, mentally defeated, but very close as the same time. My time away from the boulder was great for my mental, wherein I ignored videos or discussions of the boulder until I began training for it specifically.

In the spring, I specifically trained underclings with weightlifting. In the fall, I set long, undercling-oriented climbs on the Tensionboard with left-hand finishes. Coming back this year, I was far more confident in my ability to send, as I felt far stronger, especially in the fingers and with concern to tactics and flow. In my first session, I fell on the throw move from the start, glimpsing at the mental defeat of the year prior. In the second session, asserted in my ability to send but possessing a tactically empty disposition towards actually sending, I took the climb to the top. ROTSW has undoubtedly felt like my hardest process yet, mentally and physically. But coming back this year, I felt surprisingly strong in both respects relative to the climb.