Jorge Díaz-Rullo has made the first ascent of Mejorando la Samfaina, 9b+, at Margalef, Catalonia. In doing so, he becomes just the eighth person to climb the grade.

The route, which Díaz-Rullo started working in early December, is his first of the grade, having previously climbed seven 9b routes, two of which were first ascents. At just twenty-four years old, Díaz-Rullo has climbed more than sixty 9th grade routes.

Mejorando la Samfaina is a combination of two pre-existing routes, Mejorando Imagen (9b) and Samfaina (9a). Whilst much of the climbing is on sharp and shallow pockets, Díaz-Rullo has suggested that the crux of the route is actually how long it is, having fallen off on the very last hard move 'because of pump, a couple [of] times'. 

Sharing the news of the FA on instagram, Díaz-Rullo said:

'Precision in every move, focused on fighting, letting go and enjoying. Then, it all comes when you least expect it. This is how I was able to send my hardest route ever. Thank you all for believing in me and accompanying me in this great experience. Thanks to climbing for giving me so much'.

Whilst Mejorando la Samfaina took Díaz-Rullo more than two months to climb, it appears that it was not his biggest project in Margalef.

In early January, he passed more than 100 days of projecting 'Café Colombia', and - on January 31st - reached what he described as 'probably ... the last high point' in the route, prior to a full ascent.

Having now made the first ascent of Mejorando la Samfaina, Díaz-Rullo is free to focus on Café Colombia, and it may not be long before we see an ascent of this second, potentially even harder, project.