Drew Ruana Gets Second Ascent of Colorado V16

Drew Ruana recently made the second ascent of Box Therapy V16, first climbed by Daniel Woods, at Box Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. It took him four sessions, each includes a two-hour uphill approach. His first 5.14d was at the age of 16.

The now-famous boulder was first cleaned by Tommy Caldwell in 2007 on a day out with his father, Mike Caldwell. They scrubbed a tall seam that Tommy made the first ascent of and called Spread Eagle V12.

Woods pieced the sit start together in 2018, it’s the problem that became Box Theraphy. It follows 18 moves up an overhanging wall and is considered one of the hardest problems in America.

Ruana made a rare repeat of Sleepwalker V16 in Red Rocks in January 2020 during an impressive comp year where he nearly qualified for the Olympics. Ruana has said that he’s done with comps for now and will just focus on rock.

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Ever since I saw the vid of @dawoods89 FAing this line I’ve wanted to do it. Something about hiking 13 miles every day to try this boulder made the experience that much more special. So much thanks to @agrphoto @quanstrom_physics @torrey.lind @cameron_horst11 @lukels12 for hiking back here with me, couldn’t have done it without y’all. Box Therapy, v16/8C+ 2nd ascent ?✅ @arcteryx @trangoclimbing @tenayaclimbing @physivantage @tensionclimbing ? @torrey.lind

A post shared by Drew Ruana (@drewruana) on Jul 18, 2020 at 8:32am PDT