Drew Ruana: Climbing Hard Everyday, Never Hang Boarding, Progression, and When to Walk Away

Jan 4, 2024

Elite climber Drew Ruana shares his struggles and breakthroughs in training, nutrition, tactics, and mental game. Drew's impressive climbing achievements are discussed, including his success in youth competitions and numerous first ascents. The podcast covers topics like balancing climbing and school, learning from failure, nutrition and guilty pleasures, mentorship and tactical lessons in climbing, and the process of projecting difficult climbs. The conversation also touches on the challenges of balancing climbing with work and the benefits of having a CS degree. Overall, it's a thoughtful and insightful conversation for climbers of all levels.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Drew Ruana's Impressive Climbing Achievements and Future Potential

01:50 • 2min

Climbing Progress, Training Tips, and Healthy Routines

03:23 • 4min

Balancing Climbing and School

07:39 • 10min

Embracing Struggles and Learning from Failure

17:35 • 19min

Nutrition, Candy, and Guilty Pleasures

36:30 • 7min

Mentorship and Tactical Lessons in Climbing

43:57 • 5min

The Process of Projecting Difficult Climbs

49:09 • 18min

Balancing Climbing and Work

01:07:01 • 14min

An Inspirational Conversation and Climbing Tactics with Drew Ruana

01:20:45 • 4min

Elite climber Drew Ruana shares his struggles and breakthroughs in Training, Nutrition, Tactics, and Mental Game

Drew started climbing at Smith Rock at the age of 3, and it didn’t take long for him to climb the place out. His focus in those earlier years was on sport climbing, and the kid was a crusher, sending Just Do It, the first 5.14C / 8C+ in the US, at 15 years old. Drew also dominated on the youth comp circuit, taking first place twice at US Youth Nationals in sport and once in bouldering.

More recently, Drew has developed a passion for sending and developing the hardest outdoor rigs he can find. Are you ready to have your mind blown? At the time of our interview, Drew had sent 90 V14s (8B+), 37 V15s (8C), and 10 V16s (8C+). Put in a bit of perspective, I believe Daniel Woods has sent 8 V16s and Will Bosi has sent two. Drew has 10. It's outrageous to think about what the future holds for this guy. This conversation is thoughtful and full of incredibly useful insights for climbers of all levels.

CHAPTERS:

Struggle: 0:16:10
Training: 0:24:57
Nutrition: 0:36:26
Tactics: 0:46:11
Mental Game: 0:54:08
Purpose: 1:07:00

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Check out some rad YouTube content @drew_ruana and @thestruggleclimbingshow

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This show is produced and hosted by Ryan Devlin. The Struggle is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a diverse group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.

The struggle makes us stronger! I hope your training and climbing are going great.