Noah Wheeler gets second ascent of Shaolin (Font 9A)
- Sunday 9th March 2025
Noah Wheeler continues his stellar 2025 form with the second ascent of Shaolin (Font 9A) at Red Rocks, Las Vegas.
When Sean Bailey added Shaolin in First Creek Canyon in November 2024 it was the second Font 9A at Red Rocks after Return of The Sleepwalker and the ninth Font 9A (V17) claimed around the globe. For good measure Bailey followed his ascent of Shaolin up with the sixth ascent of Alphane.
Like Bailey, Wheeler is on a roll at the moment having started the year with an ascent of Return of The Sleepwalker almost 12 months after having repeated Sleepwalker itself back in January 2024. Since then he’s committed time into Shaolin. In a similar style to that typically adopted by our own Aidan Roberts, Noah Wheeler’s Instagram post announcing his success on Shaolin is both insightful, reflective and well worth a read…
‘Rock climbing is a process of self-discovery for me. When trying at my limit, I’m forced to delve into unknown dimensions. To intuit the exact capacity of my body on the wall. To develop a strange and unique ritual that best facilitates blood flow. To master and often manipulate my determination, anticipation, and anxiety.
Shaolin forced self-mastery more than any boulder prior. Although I could stick the crux move (an accurate v13-level left-hand throw) 75% of the time in iso, climbing a stout v13 sequence into this was a whole other beast entirely. I was forced to learn and utilize my strongest grip position on the crux hold, to understand exactly how much force and pressure I could or should generate through my feet. To calibrate a given go in relation to all other experiences on the boulder. Once this move was eventually done from the start, only after I understood my body enough to enforce pre-session and mid-try confidence did I complete the last thruchy V11-level throw and take it to the top.’
Talking to Vertical Life, Wheeler said that he’d spent seven days in January and another seven days in February/early March working Shaolin before getting the second ascent. Following Bailey’s first ascent it was said that the six-move start to the problem was worth a “stern” Font 8B but that the finish was worth Font 8C+ and hence Bailey’s grade of Font 9A. Wheeler broke Shaolin down a slightly differently offering; ‘[A] Difficult 8B (some argue 8B+) into 1 move 8A+/8B into 1 move 8A/8A+ implies soft 9A to me.'
Wheeler also told Vertical Life that despite his consistency on the respective sections – ‘In iso, for the last few sessions, I was able to climb the intro boulder 95% of the time, the crux throw 75% of the time, and the last move 100% of the time’ - he had to dig deep for the full link saying ‘Yet linking these sections together felt super improbable. I really had to push for my determination to trump my expectations.’ Read the short interview that Wheeler gave to Vertical Life here.
Wheeler also wrote on his Instagram about his motivation for trying Shaolin…
‘Coming into Shaolin, I sought to prioritize my enjoyment of the process in seeking the final goal of sending. I leave Shaolin with a different goal - although I climb to master the boulder, I do so in order to better understand myself.’
Demonstrating his form, Wheeler followed his ascent of Shaolin with a tick on Trieste Sit (Font 8B+) as well.