Gripped Magazine
Noah Wheeler Takes Down Two Colorado V16s in Four Days
On June 13, Noah Wheeler made the second ascent of Brace for the Cure V16 (8C+). Three days later, on June 16, he topped another V16, Creature from the Black Lagoon. Both problems are in Boulder County, Colorado.
Brace for the Cure V16 was established by Matt Fultz in 2022. The problem ascends Jade V14 into a cruxy transition to a single-move V10, according to Fultz. Wheeler described it on Instagram as, “Perhaps the most purely finger-intensive climb I have done. I have been feeling pretty strong as of late – the climb took two days this year despite having felt out of reach last summer. Psyched to push this form further on some more theoretical projects out here in Colorado. Grateful to be doing so surrounded by such an amazing community of climbers!”
And as we know, push his form he did, climbing Daniel Woods’ Creature from the Black Lagoon V16 only a few days later. Woods made the first ascent 10 years ago. Dave Graham made the second. Many of the world’s top boulderers have since repeated the problem, too, including Jimmy Webb, Carlo Traversi, Fultz, Shawn Raboutou, Drew Ruana, and Beckett Hsin.
“This one turned out to be weirdly in-style,” said Wheeler on Instagram about Creature from the Black Lagoon. “The first day I tried Brace for the Cure, I pulled on the crux sequence of Creature once and linked through it fully. The day I sent Brace, I gave 1 start rip on Creature, resulting in a heartbreaking fall on the moderate-difficulty lip encounter. I returned 3 days later and took it down after an even higher lip fall the try prior.
“As pleasant as a double V16 day would have been, I’m pretty satisfied with my general disposition towards the boulder and my detachment from an arbitrary idea with little lasting gratification. Arguably the coolest movement I’ve ever done in alpine. I will also admit kneebars can be fun.”
Just last month, on May 16, Wheeler made the seventh ascent of Burden of Dreams V17 (9A). It took him seven sessions across two trips to unlock the problem. The V17 was his third of the grade. On May 31, he sent Drew Ruana’s Big Arms V14/15 in Lincoln Lake, Colorado. Last year, he sent both his first and second V17s, Daniel Woods’ Return of the Sleepwalker and Sean Bailey’s Shaolin, both in Red Rock, Nevada. In 2024, he topped Insomniac V16 at Lincoln Lake, Colorado and Sleepwalker V15/16. He has sent nearly a dozen V15s, including a first ascent of Jorōgumo in Haycock, Pennsylvania.
Matt Fultz’s first ascent of Brace for the Cure V16
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