Just a week after Alex Megos made the fourth ascent of the route, Jorge Díaz-Rullo has made the fifth ascent of Change (9b+).

The route was established by Adam Ondra in 2012, and was the first route in the world to receive the grade of 9b+. Stefano Ghisolfi made the second ascent in 2020, and introduced a new approach, using kneepads - which had become a more frequently used piece of climbing kit in the intervening eight years - to simplify the lower crux. 

Seb Bouin then made the third ascent of the route in 2022, before Alex Megos made the fourth ascent just eleven days ago. Both climbers used kneepads, in line with Ghisolfi's ascent, as did Díaz-Rullo.

For a more thorough write-up of the history of the route, and links to a video comparison of the two approaches to the pitch one crux, you can read our report on Megos' ascent below:

Díaz-Rullo had been documenting his time in Hanshelleren Cave on his instagram account, where he has seemingly been splitting his time into three separate goals - Change 9b+, Move (9b+), and hard onsighting/flashing.

Whilst working both Change and Move, Díaz-Rullo found time to onsight Nordic Flower (L1+L2) (8c) - which makes up the lower section of Adam Ondra's No match for climb id:482357,"Silence" - in what was his fifth onsight at 8c, as well as climbing Muy Verdes (8c) second attempt. 

He has also fallen multiple times on the final boulder of Move, which has received just a single repeat, by Seb Bouin in 2019, since Ondra made the first ascent in 2013.

Writing about his ascent of Change, Díaz-Rullo had the following to say:

'I still can't believe it happened. Being able to pass the boulder problem at the beginning from the ground for the first time and then climbing the fifty meter complete line was a physical and mental fight that I will never forget. I gave everything I had, my arms and body couldn't do more, but in the end I managed to clip the chain'.

'Climbing this line, which is a piece of climbing history, means a lot to me. Traveling to Norway to try to repeat this route which became the world's first 9b+ in 2012 by Adam Ondra, who is the climber I admire the most, was always a dream, one of those that you think you will never ever fulfill…'

'It was not an easy challenge. As soon as I arrived in Flatanger I started to try Change together with Move, I thought it could be a good idea to have two projects in order to keep me fit and motivated, so many days I tried both in the same session'.

'After my first week, I was sick and had a bicep injury that left me out of shape for a couple of weeks... When I finally recovered completely, the second part [of Change] was wet and many times I would go up the route to find it unclimbable. Many other sessions I ended up unhinged in the lower boulder'.

'I would try without stopping to consider different betas, and this cost me a lot of time. If it wasn't for my friends I would have taken out the quickdraws several times. I felt that many sessions on the route were useless, call it bad management or little experience, but many days invested were wasted'.

'The last few days before sending, I had it all figured out, I had invested a lot of time already on the second part and I felt I had very good betas. In addition, seeing Alex Megos send just a couple of days before, gave me a lot of motivation and a lot of confidence, then I was sure that if I passed the first boulder, that I was struggling on so much, I could have a good chance to climb it directly to the second chain'.

'On my fifteenth day on the route I was able to pass the bottom boulder for the first time. The whole time I felt the pressure that I could do it if I fought hard. It became a very hard battle because in a one hour attempt with many good rests, you have a lot of time to think, in fact, part of the difficulty on these routes is to stay focused and not give up even if you are extremely tired. Finally, I didn't fall and this time, the end was happy'

'Thanks to all the team with whom I'm sharing this amazing experience here in Flatanger. Thanks to all of you who have supported me both within the crag and those of you who are always with me even though you are far away. You don't get things like this on your own'.

With Díaz-Rullo now able to dedicate all of his focus to Move, it may not be long before we see the route's third ascent. Watch this space...