EP 17: Drew Ruana — ‘Sleepwalker’ V16, The Skin and Conditions Game, and Training Philosophy

Drew Ruana is a 20-year-old boulderer, sport climber, and competition climber who is quickly becoming one of the best rock climbers in the world. We talked about climbing ‘Sleepwalker’ (his first V16), the significance of skin and conditions and tactics for optimizing them, his current training philosophy, transitioning from competitions to outdoor climbing, and his career and climbing goals.  

Support on Patreon:

patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  

Show Notes:  

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/drew-ruana  

Nuggets:  

3:14 – Rest day during quarantine, Game of Thrones   

4:57 – Bishop in February, ‘Goldfish Trombone’, and the worst skin injury Drew has ever had  

6:55 – The Milwaukee fan, a game of 0.1 percents, and the importance of skin and conditions  

10:13 – Night sessions and Drew’s light setup  

11:02 – Drew’s chalk bucket of skin products  

12:32 – Dry Spray, Climb Skin, and accepting bad skin  

13:28 – Drew’s V15 rampage, a day in the life while projecting ‘Sleepwalker’, Drew’s best two days of climbing, and the sending drug  

18:01 – Why Drew doesn’t warm up on other boulders  

19:05 – Drew’s warmup routine  

20:38 – How Drew thinks about working on multiple projects at a time vs focusing on one  

21:58 – ‘Three Days In Joe’s’, mixing in volume, and doing V14 in a few minutes  

23:39 – Griffin Whiteside, and Mike & Ikes as rocket fuel  

25:36 – Drew’s training philosophy and workout  

29:32 – Drew’s favorite rings exercises  

31:17 – A day and B day, and “all the strength comes from recovery”  

33:00 – The importance of nutrition and sleep, Drew’s protein intake (1-1.2 grams per lb bodyweight), and PhysiVantage protein powder  

35:21 – Why Drew spent two years focusing more on weight lifting than climbing  

38:18 – Climbing at Smith Rock at age 3, climbing ‘Dancer’, and Drew’s first set of quick draws  

40:26 – Why Drew never felt external sources of pressure, competing as a kid, and the frustration of being too short for competition boulders  

45:16 – Sticking it to the man, coach Tyson, and learning to climb tall  

48:33 – Shifting motivation from comps to outdoor climbing  

50:37 – Olympic qualifiers, world championships, frustrating comp results, and the validation of a successful outdoor season  

1:02:39 – FA of ‘Pegasus’  

1:06:10 – FA of ‘Assassin’  

1:12:04 – Climbing at Smith and how that made Drew the climber he is today  

1:13:26 – 5.15 projects at Smith  

1:15:02 – “We’ll see where climbing takes me.”  

1:16:15 – Psyche for bouldering, School of Mines, and dreams of alpine blocks  

1:18:12 – Drew’s career plans, and wanting to give more back to the world than just climbing  

1:20:32 – Why Drew thinks Salt Lake City is the best scene for hard training in the country  

1:22:55 – A lot to be grateful for  

1:25:26 – Instagram and Facebook, getting logged out of Messenger, and “You can always try harder.”  

1:28:29 – BONUS: Drew’s campusing routine