Daniel Woods (born August 1, 1989) is an American professional

rock climber Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in guidebooks, and ...

who specializes in

bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

, and who is considered one of the most important climbers in the history of bouldering. Woods has climbed over thirty boulder problems graded at or above . He has also won several

competition bouldering Competition climbing is a form of regulated rock-climbing competition held indoors on purpose-built artificial climbing walls (earlier versions were held on external natural rock surfaces). The three competition climbing disciplines are lead ...

events, such as the U.S. National Bouldering Championship and some international events. In March 2021, Woods achieved the

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

of a low start to ''Sleepwalker'' which he named ''Return of the Sleepwalker'' and proposed the

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...

, only the second-ever route in history at that grade.

Early life

Woods was born in

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the Universit ...

, and was introduced to climbing through the cub scouts. In 1997, when he was 8 years old, his family moved to

Longmont Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Its population was 98,885 . Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder. It is named after Longs Peak, a prominent mountain th ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Woods then began competing and was part of a junior climbing team coached by Justin Sjong and Jimmie Redo.

Climbing career

Rock climbing

In 2003, Woods climbed his first bouldering problem rated , ''Fuck You Finger''. The following year, at the age of 15, he made the first ascent of ''Echale'', grading it . On June 19, 2007, while traveling in the Chaos Canyon area of Rocky Mountain National Park, Woods made the first ascent of ''Jade'', formerly named ''The Green 45 Project'', a project he had worked for several years with Dave Graham. He graded it , making it his hardest ascent at that point. The consensus for the rating of Jade is now . In early 2008, at the age of 18, Woods moved to

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, Austria, and spent part of his time training with Kilian Fischhuber and

David Lama David Lama (; 4 August 1990 – 16 April 2019) was an Austrian rock climber and alpinist. He won the European Championship in competition bouldering in 2007 and the European Championship in competition lead climbing in 2006. He is known for h ...

. In May 2008, he made the first ascent of ''In Search of Time Lost'' at Magic Wood in Switzerland and graded it . In November 2011, Woods began filming a climbing movie called ''Welcome to the Hood'' with Paul Robinson, Guntram Jörg, and Anthony Gullsten. The filming lasted five months, during which the group climbed at some of the most famous and difficult bouldering sites in the world. The first part of the film was set in Magic Wood, Switzerland, where Woods climbed ''Somewhere in Between'' .

Competition climbing

Despite primarily focusing on hard outdoor bouldering, Daniel Woods is one of the most accomplished American male competition climbers. He won the ABS National Championship 9 times, the SCS National Championship, and competed in many IFSC World Cup events, earning a gold medal in the Vail World Cup in 2010. Woods also has the most open wins at the Hueco Tanks Rock Rodeo, his most recent having been in 2017. Woods won the American Bouldering Series national championship in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013 and the

Teva Mountain Games Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (also known as Teva Pharmaceuticals) is an Israeli multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical company. Teva specializes primarily in generic drugs, but other business interests include branded-drug ...

in the bouldering category in 2006, 2007 and, 2010.

Notable ascents

Boulder problems

: :* ''Return of the Sleepwalker'' - Black Velvet Canyon (

Red Rocks Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also known colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheater in the western United States near Morrison, Colorado, approximately southwest of Denver. It is owned and operated by the city of Denver. In addi ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

) - 30 March 2021 - First Ascent : :* ''Grand Illusion'' - Little Cottonwood Canyon (Utah) - June 2021 - Third ascent. :* ''Off the Wagon Low'' - Val Bavona (Switzerland) - March 2020 - Third ascent. :* ''Sleepwalker'' - Black Velvet Canyon (

) - 16 January 2019 - Second ascent :*''Box Therapy'' -

Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is s ...

(USA) - 31 October 2018 - First ascent :* ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' -

(USA) - 27 September 2016 - First ascent :* ''The Process'' -

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

(USA) - 17 January 2015 - First ascent :* ''Hypnotized Minds'' -

(USA) - 21 October 2010 - First ascent :* ''Insomniac'' - Lincoln Lake (USA) - 15 September 2022 - Second ascent :* ''Adrenaline'' -

(USA) - February 2024 - First Ascent : :* ''Direct Hit'' -

Ubatuba Ubatuba is a Brazilian municipality, located on the northeast coast, in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 92,819 (2021 est.) in an area of 723.88 km2, of wh ...

(BRA) - 13 December 2019 - First Ascent :* ''Finnish Line'' - Rocklands (South Africa) - 30 June 2018 - Fifth Ascent :* ''Topaz'' - Wild Basin (USA) - 12 October 2016 - Second ascent :* ''Spray of Light'' - Rocklands (South Africa) - July 2015 - First ascent :* ''Noise Vs Beauty'' - Rocklands (South Africa) - 14 June 2015 - First ascent, V14/V15 :* ''Lucid Dreaming'' -

(USA) - 28 January 2014 - Second ascent of Paul Robinson's boulder (2010), downgraded from 8C+(V16) :* ''El Diablo'' -

Peñoles Peñoles is a subsidiary company owned by Grupo BAL. Peñoles is the second largest Mexican mining company, the first Mexican producer of gold, zinc and lead and the world leader in silver production. Peñoles is a company with active mines wi ...

(MEX) - 19 January 2014 - First ascent :* ''The Nest'' - Red Rock (USA) - 18 December 2013 - First ascent :* ''Defying Gravity'' -

South Platte The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/ Mountain West. I ...

(USA) - 16 November 2013 - First ascent :* ''The Ice Knife SDS'' -

Guanella Pass Guanella Pass (elevation ) is a high mountain pass in central Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States. The pass is located in southwestern Clear Creek County, in the Front Range west of Denver and south of Georgetown. ...

(USA) - 2 November 2013 - First ascent :* ''Delirium'' - Mt. Blue Sky (USA) - 18 September 2013 - Second ascent :* ''The Wheel of Wolvo'' - Mt. Blue Sky (USA) - 9 September 2013 - Second ascent :* '' The Wheel of Life'' -

Grampians The Grampian Mountains () is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian range extends northeast to so ...

(AUS) - 23 July 2013 - 9th ascent of

Dai Koyamada Dai Koyamada (, born 23 August 1976) is a Japanese rock climber and known as one of the leading boulderers of his generation who established some of the first-ever boulder problems at . He has also established and repeated, some of the hardest ...

's boulder (2004), downgraded from 8C+(V16) :* ''Hydrangea'' - Shiobara (JPN) - 14 February 2013 - Second ascent of

's boulder (2005), downgraded from 8C+(V16) :* ''Witness The Fitness'' -

Ozark Mountains The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

(USA) - 5 January 2013 - Third ascent :* ''White Noise'' - Wild Basin (USA) - 18 September 2012 - First ascent :* ''Monkey Wedding'' - Rocklands (South Africa) - 13 August 2012 - Fourth ascent :* ''Paint it Black'' -

(USA) - 29 February 2012 - First ascent :* ''Big Paw'' -

Chironico Chironico is a former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality located in the district of Leventina (district), Leventina in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 1 April 2012, it was incorporated into the municipali ...

(SUI) - 24 November 2011 - Second ascent :* ''La Force Tranquille'' - Magic Wood (SUI) - 15 October 2011 - First ascent :* ''Ill Trill'' - Magic Wood (SUI) - 19 April 2011 - Third ascent :* ''Practice of the Wild'' - Magic Wood (SUI) - 16 April 2011 - Third ascent :* ''Warrior Up'' - Mt. Blue Sky (USA) - 4 September 2010 - Second ascent :* ''Desperanza'' -

Hueco Tanks Hueco Tanks is an area of low mountains and historic site in El Paso County, Texas, in the United States. It is located in a high-altitude desert basin between the Franklin Mountains (Texas), Franklin Mountains to the west and the Hueco Mountains ...

(USA) - 27 February 2010 - First ascent :* ''The Game'' - Boulder Canyon (USA) - 10 February 2010 - First ascent :* ''Terremer'' -

(USA) - 30 January 2010 - Third ascent :* ''In Search of Time Lost'' - Magic Wood (SUI) - 9 September 2008 - First ascent

Redpointed sport routes

: :*''Thor's Hammer'' in the

Hanshelleren Cave Flatanger is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is Lauvsnes. Other villages incl ...

Flatanger Municipality Flatanger is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is Lauvsnes. Other villages incl ...

, Norway in 2019. Repeat

References

External links

*
27 Crags profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Daniel 1989 births Living people American rock climbers People from Richardson, Texas Boulder climbers American competition climbers