Daniel Woods - Switzerland

Returning to a project he first tried at age 17, Daniel Woods traveled to Chironico, Switzerland with a fresh visa, a crew of friends and a fistful of motivation.

One of the biggest motivators on a trip like this for Woods is having friends around. “I feel like I always try harder and I have more motivation when I'm sessioning with friends. You're watching them climb and you're getting motivation from their success—or if you're both failing, you know, you can work it out with each other.” For Woods, a good crew is indispensable—especially on rest days when the weather isn’t cooperating, which Woods experienced frequently in Chironico. “If you're traveling with friends and stuff, and the days aren't that good, at least you have friends to hang out with and can go skate, walk around town, or you can just like sit inside watch movies—there are other things in life you can do to keep you occupied,” Woods says.

Part of the vibe that Woods likes to cultivate at the crag involves music—it helps “put your head into the right mood,” as he puts it. “It helps to not think about the movement as much, but more to just, like, turn your head off about the moves and just perform and vibe to the music.” Beyond setting the tone for a session at the crag, music is a source of inspiration for Woods. “Whenever new music comes out, that really just speaks to me, that gives me motivation to go out and try hard,” he says. “I feel like that's the reason all this stuff is created—for us to take in a message, and to like, hit us in the head a little differently and try to like think about things in our life, you know?”

Despite feeling far better than it did when he tried it at 17, From Dirt remained elusive for Woods on this trip. “It kind of sucks, to be honest. But at the same time, it's motivating,” he says. “I've dealt with it multiple times, so it's not like a new thing for myself. It's just part of the game.” While coming to terms with the failure can be difficult, Woods was able to find growth in the process of failure. “I kind of accepted like halfway through my trip that I probably wasn't going to do Dirt,” he says. “But I flipped it as being like, ‘I'm just going to learn little details about the climb.’ I ended up learning how to do it, and doing the mantle over and over again. In my eyes, that's a success, even if I don't send, because at least I improved on something.”