Drew Ruana Makes V16 First Ascent in Colorado
Ruana's unbelievable string of hard sends from 2022 is continuing into 2023
Drew Ruana is one of the best boulderers in the world. The 23-year-old American has climbed over 100 problems V14 and harder, and he recently added another hard boulder to his tick list—a first ascent of Maxwell’s Demon Sit V16 in Colorado.
He made the first ascent of the stand start version of the problem, Maxwell’s Demon V14, back in October. The five-star climb follows a thin seam from bottom to top. According to Ruana, the V16 sit variation “adds a 7 move fingery, wrist intensive V13ish sequence directly into the start” of the original line. Last week he also completed a left exit of Maxwell’s Demon, naming the variation Schrödinger’s Cat and assigning it a grade of V14.
Ruana had a mind-blowing 2022, sending many V14+ boulders and putting up numerous first ascents. In October, he had a particularly strong month, making the first ascent of two V14’s and one V15, and getting the second ascent of a V16. In early November, he repeated two V14’s, Dino Dyno Sit and Kook Slams Extension.
Since then, highlights have included FAs of Petit Hughie V13, Fox and the Hound Sit V15, and Bookkeeping V16, the third ascent of Everything Gneiss V15, a flash of The Reckoner V11, a repeat of The Purge V14, and a repeat of The Pheonix V14—his 100th problem V14 or harder.
Ruana’s FA of Maxwell’s Demon V14
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