Threshold bouldering is about seizing opportunities, which don’t show up every day. Drew Ruana spent three straight days in the sweet spot earlier this month. Now, he’s got his sights on the current upper limit of V17.
Some of the things boulderer Drew Ruana is climbing these days don’t even look like boulder problems.
“The Player” (V15) is just a scar in a 90-degree roof with edges that are there or aren’t depending on whether you’re looking at them from less than 12 inches away. “Ozymandias” (V14) is more like a featureless wall on the concave side of a collapsing two-story building.
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But Ruana is climbing the absurd things nonetheless and giving them boulder grades. From Oct. 5 to 7, the 23-year-old phenom cranked out three of the most productive bouldering days of his life.
First, he chopped out the second ascent of Daniel Woods’ stubborn “Ice Knife Sit” (V16), which fought off attempts for almost 10 years. The next day, he topped “Ozymandias,” a long, powerful rig of his creation.
Then he casually — I mean casually — completed the first ascent of “The Player,” which he first tried last year but couldn’t initially put together.
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Ruana Hunts V17 — Patiently
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