Ryuichi Murai konnte sich jetzt eine Begehung des wohl schwersten Boulder in den USA als Dritter, nach Will Bosi,Noah Wheeler und Noru Nakajima wiederholen. Zwei Jahre nach seiner Begehung von „Sleepwalker“ gelang ihm nun die Sitzstartvariante.

I finally achieved what I came here for.
The desert was surprisingly rainy at first, but I stayed fresh every session, physically and mentally, and in the end everything fell into place.The real crux was the full span sloper after linking into Sleepwalker. The day I finally stuck that move was the day I sent. For a total of five days, I just kept slapping that sloper and falling again and again. Looking back, everything came down to sticking that one move. Behind it were endless micro adjustments and tick tweaks, so subtle they probably looked like nothing from the outside. Still, I threw every bit of technique and creativity I have built up into making that sloper reachable.

On the attempt where I first stuck it, I was too pumped and fell on the last jump. But after a long break and a reset of all the mixed emotions inside me, the next try was the one, and everything clicked.

When I barely topped Sleepwalker two years ago, “Return” felt like a dream. I never imagined I would stand on top of this boulder again. This success reminded me not to put limits on myself.

I would love to say I can head home satisfied now… but Shaolin is still waiting. I do not know how far I can push it, but I am going to enjoy every remaining day.

The clip is from the attempt right before the send, when I stuck the sloper for the first time.

Daniel Woods konnte im Jahr 2021 die Sitzstartvariante zu „Sleepwalker“ erstbegehen. Ein Vierteljahr lang versuchte Daniel dem Boulder „Sleepwalker“ immerhin schon allein eine 8C+ einen Sitzstart mit sechs weiteren 8B-Zügen abzuringen. Dafür kletterte Daniel allein den Orignalboulder fast zwanzig Mal, bis es ihm endlich gelang die 6 Züge zu ergänzen.