9b
September 11, 2008
9b
Watch him projecting the route on "King Lines". Watch the ascent on "Progression".
In the case of Jumbo Love he also felt that calling it 9b would be simpler than leaving it ambiguous. “Sometimes if I don’t give a grade, people start speculating, and then it can get all blown out of proportion,” he explained.
On 11 September Chris Sharma made the first ascent of Jumbo Love 9b at Clark Mountain, California, describing it as his hardest climb ever.
May 17, 2015
9b
8 years, 90 attempts
WOW!!! Yesterday I climbed my ultimate lifetime dream route, the most bad-ass sport climb I’ve ever laid eyes on, Chris Sharma 's #JumboLove! WOW. I can’t believe it’s over. I say that half in a literal sense because when I sent it, it was almost like an out of body experience that I can barley remember happening. My story on Jumbo Love spanned over eight years and involved every emotion I can think of: awe, excitement, love, admiration, longing, apathy, fear, frustration, anger, resignation, acceptance, and eventually, MOTHERFUCKEN GLORY!!!
Yesterday, May 17th, Ethan Pringle claimed the 2nd ascent of Jumbo Love (5.15b) at Clark Mountain, California.
Ethan Pringle spent the spring season in Las Vegas, and took the opportunity to head to Clark Mountain on the Nevada-California border and hop on Chris Sharma’s mega-line, Jumbo Love. At 5.15b, Jumbo Love is probably the hardest sport route in North America and in the past Pringle has linked big sections. In 2007, Pringle, Sharma and Chris Lindner avidly worked on the line. The following year, Sharma asked if he could try to send it and Pringle graciously complied. Sharma completed the first ascent in 2008. The route has yet to see a second ascent.
Ethan Pringle's obsession with Jumbo Love, the most difficult climb in North America, isn't just about an athletic challenge. The 200 foot overhanging wall of limestone is a symbol of the self-doubt and depression he hopes to conquer.
May 17, 2018
9b
Jonathan Siegrist has repeated Chris Sharma's Jumbo Love, 9b, at Clark Mountain, Nevada. This was the 3rd ascent after Sharma and Ethan Pringle.
He returned to Jumbo Love in April this year, and spent several weeks projecting the route when temperatures permitted. Then, today, Siegrist posted on Instagram, “Something like a dream… Jumbo Love.”