Is Drew Ruana the strongest climber in the world?

This dude has been rattling off V16s like it’s me doing a V3 circuit at the gym. I would make the case he is the strongest dude out there right now. Who is stronger?  Daniel Woods?  One of the great strong japanese boulderers?  I can’t think of anyone stronger at this point in time. 

Shawn Raboutou

the strongest climbers in the world are training and competing. once some of them hang that up and get outside more, like drew is doing now, we are going to see some crazy shit go down. Drew dropped out of comp climbing after a poor showing in 2019. Obviously he is all time and a beast, but the strongest climbers in the world are all competing 

Will bosi, Aidan Roberts, Guiliano Cameroni, Yanik Flohe, Dai Koyamada, Shawn R (as stated), Ondra, etc. lots of people putting down 16s like bite size brownies these days

Depends on what we would collectively consider the strongest. There are certainly climbers that have done more V17 boulders if that is the benchmark of "strongest".  But Drew is certainly building one of the most impressive bases of 14s, 15s, and 16s while also studying for an engineering degree. I'm sure that once that base-building work pays off we will see some even more impressive sends from him, he is certainly already more than capable of the grade, just a matter of time. 

Definitely up there on strongest wobblers

No. Has he even done any of the hardest graded boulder problem or sport routes?

Go Back to Super Topo wrote:

No. Has he even done any of the hardest graded boulder problem or sport routes?

Drew reminds me of Siegrist. Hasn't touched the cutting edge yet, but has a ridiculous pyramid of climbs just under the cutting edge. I think that Jstar has climbed more 8a and up climbs than anyone other than Ondra. Similarly, Drew has climbed as many V14-V16 problems as anyone. 

Adam bloc wrote:

Definitely up there on strongest wobblers

Got any vids???

Camdon Kay wrote:

Drew reminds me of Siegrist. Hasn't touched the cutting edge yet, but has a ridiculous pyramid of climbs just under the cutting edge. I think that Jstar has climbed more 8a and up climbs than anyone other than Ondra. Similarly, Drew has climbed as many V14-V16 problems as anyone. 

As strong as Siegrist is, I’m not sure anyone considers him as the strongest climber. I see your point, but it’s irrelevant in the context of strongest imo. For me, you can’t be considered the best/strongest if you haven’t climbed a single one of the hardest graded climbs in your discipline.

In sport climbing the conversation would be Ondra, Megos, Sharma (debatable in ‘23, I know) and Stefano in the top tier followed by Siegrist, Sean Bailey, Schubert, Marty Hong. Whereas in bouldering I would put Giuliano, Shawn, DWoods, and even Ondra in the top tier followed by Drew, Ryui, Matt Fultz, JWebb, Will Bosi

Flame away 

GBTST you forgot Seb 

Go Back to Super Topo wrote:

As strong as Siegrist is, I’m not sure anyone considers him as the strongest climber. I see your point, but it’s irrelevant in the context of strongest imo. For me, you can’t be considered the best/strongest if you haven’t climbed a single one of the hardest graded climbs in your discipline.

In sport climbing the conversation would be Ondra, Megos, Sharma (debatable in ‘23, I know) and Stefano in the top tier followed by Siegrist, Sean Bailey, Schubert, Marty Hong. Whereas in bouldering I would put Giuliano, Shawn, DWoods, and even Ondra in the top tier followed by Drew, Ryui, Matt Fultz, JWebb, Will Bosi

Sure, sure. I was not trying to suggest that either of them were the strongest.

Bosi is one of 2 (?) people who have sent multiple V17s (Alphane and Burden of Dreams), so it feels like he should be in the top tier of your list. Similarly, Aidan Roberts has sent V17, and Fultz hasn't (big fanboy since we live 30 minutes apart), so Aiden should be there. I also think that Bosi considers himself a sport climber, which is interesting. 

My instinct says no way he is above DWoods, JWebb or Shawn Rabatou but then I got bored and work a found out he’s done more V16’s than any of them. The interesting thing is, as others have mentioned, is that he has more volume than some other climbers but no V17’s.

It‘s really hard for me to determine an absolute best. Think about this, for example, if Shawn Raboutou‘s goal was to pursue climbing as many V15’s and V16’s as he could, instead of projecting Alphane or Megatron, then it seems pretty likely he would have a similar “résumé” as Drew.

Drew is fucking STRONG.

Camdon Kay wrote:

Sure, sure. I was not trying to suggest that either of them were the strongest.

Fair enough

Bosi is one of 2 (?) people who have sent multiple V17s (Alphane and Burden of Dreams), so he feels like he should be in the top tier of your list.

I honestly don’t know what else Bosi has done in the bouldering realm. That was my only reasoning for excluding him. I’m not aware of him doing many other notable V16’s (aside from downgrading Aiden’s “Isles of Wonder” lol) but I also don’t follow climbing as much as I used to. 

Similarly, Aidan Roberts has sent V17

Again, I am unaware of his climbing accomplishments aside from Alphane to be completely honest. Hence why I also left him off my list. I also left off Nalle due to the lack of V16’s compared to the others in my top tier. 

Not necessarily disagreeing with you that he should be on the top tier, but I am not going to put him up there with the other names when I can’t name a single notable climb he’s done aside from Alphane.  

 Fultz hasn't (big fanboy since we live 30 minutes apart)

Pretty sure Fultz has done at least six V16’s, which is more than Jimmy Webb…Dwoods has 8 and Drew 10, for perspective. So by this logic, if Matt Fultz can’t be in my top tier then neither can Drew due to lack of V17 ticks. Which I agree with. With that said, if either tick a V17 they are instantly in the top tier for me. 

Long Ranger wrote:

Drew is fucking STRONG.

Pretty sure nobody is denying that. The question (edit: for the purposes of entertainment only) is if he is The Strongest

John Clark wrote:

Pretty sure nobody is denying that. The question is if he is The Strongest

The question is click bait.

John Clark wrote:

Pretty sure nobody is denying that. The question is if he is The Strongest

Who cares - I don't care.

Camdon Kay wrote:

Drew reminds me of Siegrist. Hasn't touched the cutting edge yet, but has a ridiculous pyramid of climbs just under the cutting edge.

they have considerably more time to climb outside because they aren't competing. it's really that simple

Dane B wrote:

they have considerably more time to climb outside because they aren't competing. it's really that simple

Who is “they”? Drew is getting some sort of engineering degree at school of mines, which is one of the more prestigious engineering colleges out there. This is one reason why he has such volume in the V14-V16 range. He can’t travel and spend time traveling to try V17’s. A little surprised he hasn’t done Megatron though considering the proximity. The next closest V17 is what, ROTSW? I guess he technically does have the liberty to focus more on outdoor rock though without the burden of competition training 

Im the strongest Climber in the world, I just don't like to brag about it