The Sleeping Lion has been disturbed, and by who other than Stefani Ghisolfi? While in Spain for the Siurana Climbing Festival, along with Jorge Díaz-Rullo, they took a chance on Chris Sharma’s latest test piece, Sleeping Lion (9b+).
Located at the El Pati crag, Sleeping Lion was bolted in 2021 by Chris Sharma and he established the first ascent in March of this year. Inspired by the lyrics of “Sleepin’ Lion” by Clinton Fearon, this route features several sequences of boulder moves ranging from 7B+ to 8A+ with three bad resting spots.
Sharma described the route as challenging to the mind due to the enduro style of the climb rather than a hard climb, although 9b+ is right up there at god level of rock climbing.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Stefano released a YouTube video of his attempt at Sleeping Lion, working the moves and recording the progress for the books. Now, it’s only a matter of time until Ghisolfi or Díaz-Rullo (or perhaps someone else!) take another shot and maybe even get the second ascent on the route.
Stefano has had one of the most impressive runs in the history of modern climbing over last couple of years. Earlier this year, he established the FA of Excalibur (9b+) in Arco, Italy, and last year, in 2022, he repeated Adam Ondra’s Move (9b) and put up two 9b routes in his home country. In 2021, he seconded Alex Megos’s 9b+ dreamline, Bibliographie, suggesting a downgrade from the initially proposed 9c.
Jorge Díaz-Rullo, an up-and-comer in the world of hard climbs, is quickly going up the ranks with the FA of Mejorando la Samfaina (9b+) in February, the fifth ascent of Bibliographie (9b+) in October and some classics under his belt like Ali Hulk (Extension total sit start) (9b) and La Planta de Shiva(9b) in 2019.
Featured image: @steghiso/📸 @sara_grip
