Jorge Diaz-Rullo makes third ascent of Sleeping Lion (F9b+)
- Tuesday 27th February 2024
Spanish climber, Jorge Diaz-Rullo, has made the third ascent of Chris Sharma's Sleeping Lion, at Suirana in Spain, graded F9b+ by Sharma.
Following Alex Megos’ eight-day second ascent earlier this year (click here for that report) of Sleeping Lion, Chris Sharma’s 2023 Suirana F9b+ testpiece, Jorge Diaz-Rullo, has now successfully notched up the third ascent after trying the route for some time. Diaz-Rullo’s ascent comes after his 2023 successes which included the 5th ascent of Alex Mego’s Bibliographie (F9b+) at Cuese and his own first ascent of Mejorando la Samfaina (F9b+).
Diaz-Rullo first tried Sleeping Lion earlier in the year. On January 8th Diaz-Rullo wrote up his initial progress on Sleeping Lion online saying;
“My last couple of days on the route have been amazing. It had been a long time since I had been back to Siurana, my skin and the conditions were perfect and I was really surprised with my attempts. The first day, I felt very close, although I didn't climb very well I managed to do my highpoint falling on the last endurance sequence. My second day, I wasn't able to pass the first boulder problem (where is my personal crux), but then I could do again a good link from there to the top. Now, with this progression, I can't wait for my next session! It was sad not to see @alexandermegos send the route, but it was really nice to hear that he had done it. Thanks to him I am now even more inspired and more motivated to keep trying hard.”
However, after his initial encouraging progress Diaz-Rullo somewhat hit the buffers as his comments online on January 24th confirmed;
“Sleeping Lion - Day 10. My last session on the route was not the best of all. I trained a lot these last few days and I have felt very tired, although it’s part of the game to feel this way, my goal is to keep improving.
As a positive, in all my recent attempts, I have been able to pass the lower section, which is the one that is the most challenging for me. As a negative, I feel like I need to gain more endurance (or maybe come more rested) because during the rests, I don’t feel like I recover as much as I should. On the other hand, @alexandermegos broke a hold before sending it, but thanks to @chris_sharma it was reinforced again Unfortunately, this has made it definitively harder, where before you could clip and chalk up, now there is a tough move. And this has made the route a little more complicated for me. This continues! ”
Renowned for his commitment and strength, in addition to his desire to continue with his punishing training regime, Diaz-Rullo continued his efforts which were eventually successful. Announcing his ascent on his Instagram page Diaz-Rullo said;
“I was finally able to make the third ascent of this amazing route after @chris_sharma and @alexandermegos. One of the routes of my infinite list of projects! Between some things and others, this route has taken me more attempts than I originally thought. It has been very difficult to find the day without being too tired, with good skin and with good conditions here in Siurana. Sleeping Lion has helped me to get in shape and continue very motivated with my next projects, but also, it has served me as a learning experience because at the same time I was working on it I have not been going through my best stage on a personal level. In the end, I did it!”
Unlike Megos, Diaz-Rullo hasn’t yet commented on the grade of Sleeping Lion. Whether or not he agrees with Megos and thinks Sleeping Lion is F9b rather than F9b+ - the original Chris Sharma grade – we’ll have to wait and see. However, like many continental climbers, Diaz-Rullo drives himself forward relentlessly training whilst attempting hard redpoints. His hard work ethic led to a very successful 2023 season in which he climbed the following routes:
✅ Bibliographie F9b+
✅ Mejorando la Samfaina F9b+ FA
✅ The full journey F9b
✅ Samfaina para el mundo F9a+/b FA
✅ Fabelita F8c onsight
✅ Hipoxia Font 8C Boulder
✅ Tarragó F8b+ 240m
✅ + 10 routes of 9th grade
It seems quite likely that Diaz-Rullo will now return to his long-standing project, Café Colombia on which he has clocked up no less than 125 days already!