8C by Jorge Diaz-Rullo and interview

Jorge Diaz-Rullo has done the first repeat of Beto Rocasolano's Trinity 8C in Cueva de pelayos, Spain. Beto has earlier referred to this 45 moves boulder route as "The Wheel of Life from Madrid." Jorge is #8 and #1 in the bouldering and routes ranking game, respectively. Here are some follow-up questions with Jorge, who is also the #8 8a Climber of 2020. (c) Javi Pec

Which was your most memorable send in 2020?
El bon combat 9b cost me the most and was a big mental struggle I faced for two months because this route is my anti-style in which everything happened. I had some setbacks that were not favourable, a fight that I will never forget!

What are your strongest point in climbing?
My strong point has always been my head. I have trained it a lot and I recognize that part of my success relates to this. The rest of the points, I think I have a lot of strength in my fingers, and technically I am good at finding my methods and doing strange things with insteps, knees and heels. On the other hand, I consider myself quite bad in traction force and speed.

How did a normal week look for you in 2020?
It depends on where I am, if I am in Madrid I usually do a double session training and then rock climbing, sometimes I also work as a route setter. If I am travelling I always climb on rock, whatever the conditions and I usually climb as much as I can, sometimes less due to my skin. If I can climb ten days in a row better, haha!

What is your ambition and plan for 2021?
I like to improvise, and even more, after the pandemic that has screwed up all our plans. For the moment to train and return stronger to Catalonia.

It can also be mentioned that Jorge has made an Insta post where he like Adam Ondra says that knee pads are part of the game and that it is actually great that some lines have become easier making them possible also for less strong climbers. "The beauty of this is that it seems that now climbers are more interested in doing a line for its beauty, leaving aside its difficulty."