BD HEX PRESENTS:
THIS YEAR I LOST MY MIND
Featuring Zach Galla & Eli Perry, this film by Bobby Vannoy captures the latest bouldering exploits of some of the country’s strongest climbers.
Words by BD HEX Athlete Zach Galla
At the start of December 2025, I had the best week of climbing in my life. It was the perfect confluence of events that allowed me to climb my two hardest boulders, “Shaolin” and “Return of the Sleepwalker,”
exactly one week apart. Even though both sends came together in such close
proximity, each of these boulders took me multiple seasons of finding my own
method, dialing in the subtleties, and simply waiting for the right moment for
everything to come together.
“Shaolin” (V17/9A)
My first real introduction to Shaolin was in 2023, just before my friend Sean Bailey made the first ascent. I had been to the boulder to try its neighbor “Trieste” but didn't fully realize just how amazing and inspiring the project to the right was until the holds were highlighted with chalk and Sean proved that it was possible. The boulder starts from a sit on a perfect two-handed jug, two flowy moves lead you to a hard, shouldery and friction-dependent bump sequence before you can surf out to the right to gain a small crimp. This intro sequence is around V13. Now you find yourself set up for the crux, hands wide and feet high, you have to jump and snipe a slotted crimp that is only wide enough for four fingers, an extremely accurate move that gets much harder after adding in the intro before it. If everything lines up and you stick this move, one final jump separates you from latching the final hold at the lip. Even though this jump is easier than the first in isolation, it is extremely subtle and became a nightmare for me when giving send tries.
I started putting serious time into Shaolin in the winter of 2024. Once I sorted out my method, progress came fairly quickly and I was extremely optimistic about getting it done before the end of the season. With two months of good conditions still ahead of me, I managed to climb through to the last move twice in a single sesh, and both times I fumbled the move I thought I'd never drop. At first, I was upset that it didn't come together as fast as I hoped, but now I knew it was all there and it was just a matter of time. I kept my head in it and continued showing up optimistic and eager to see it through. Sesh after sesh I’d show up, do the exact same warm up, and fall on the last move. The longer it went on it felt like dropping the last move became engrained as a part of my routine. I tried to not count to avoid stressing myself out, but by the end of the season I had dropped the final jump around 25 times. I was extremely confused and felt like I was getting the worst odds possible. Walking out empty handed on the last day of my season, I was definitely losing my mind.
Shaolin was constantly on my mind throughout the entire off-season. I continued to climb around and even had success on some hard climbs such as “Hypnotized Minds,” but I couldn't be fully satisfied with my climbing until I got back to Vegas to get revenge.
When I returned to Shaolin, I had a fresh mind, and my body remembered all the subtleties perfectly. It felt like I hadn't spent any time away and things quickly felt like they were falling into place.
On the fourth of December 2025, a rising supermoon illuminated the Red Rock range. I did my best to calm my mind while I prepared for my final attempt of the day. When I pulled on my mind went completely blank, climbing purely on intuition and the muscle memory I had built from my countless previous attempts. Without even realizing what had happened, I found myself above the last hard move, and at the base of the exit slab, with just easy victory climbing separating me from the top. With every last move I could feel the weight leaving my shoulders and the biggest emotion I was met with at the top of the boulder was relief. I had finally broken the curse, and my season was off to the best start possible.
“Return of the Sleepwalker” (V17/9A)
My process on “Return” was a completely different experience than my battle with “Shaolin.” I was no stranger to the climb having sent the stand-start in 2023, but “Sleepwalker” alone felt pretty close to my limit, so I always wrote off the possibility of doing the full line until this trip. I decided to check back in with the boulder at the very start of the season while waiting for more optimal conditions. During these early sessions, I found some new beta that opened my eyes to the possibility of doing the full line.
My progress on “Return” was extremely linear, getting stronger on the holds and body positions sesh after sesh. It was refreshing to try after struggling with the brutal low-percentage nature of “Shaolin.” It still felt very hard, but it also felt like I had much better control of my outcome.
On December 11, 2025, exactly one week after completing “Shaolin,” everything fell into place for me on “Return.” I usually know I'm ready to send a boulder long before I actually make it happen, but this time I surprised myself when those two realizations happened at once.
The feeling running up the slab after climbing “Return of the Sleepwalker” was pure elation and psych. I felt as though I had unlocked something within my mind that allowed me to consistently climb much closer to my true potential. Something I would tap back into for the remainder of my season.
In the best way possible, this year I lost my mind.
—Zach Galla
