Yuji Hirayama may be in his 50s but the veteran climber is still conquering some of the world’s hardest routes. And he’s got tips to help older climbers enjoy the sport they do longer.
If you’re into climbing and bouldering, and religiously follow the international competition scene, impressive Japanese contenders such as Ai Mori and Tomoa Narasaki are practically like household names to you.
But for the millennial and Gen Z climbers who may not have the chance to go as far back as the 1990s into Japan’s climbing annals, they might have missed out on one key figure: Yuji Hirayama.
Back when International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) climbing world cups were dominated by towering European climbers, Hirayama emerged as the first Asian climber to clinch the title in 1998.
He was 20 then and spoke zero French. But that didn’t deter him from making the decision to move to France (he lived there for seven years) with the sole purpose of competing. He proved his decision right when he claimed the overall championship title in 2000.
Outside of competition, the Asian Adam Ondra of his time has also set new heights on real rocks. In 1999, Hirayama was the first in the world to onsight (finish a climb on the first try and without prior knowledge of it) an 8c climb. For context, the most difficult climbing grade to date is 9c.
That achievement was played out on the route Mortal Kombat in France, which Hirayama later felt was better graded as the current 8b+. Another historical onsight was unlocked in 2004 when he took on Spain’s White Zombie that still stands at 8c today.
The Japanese climber narrowly missed out on onsighting the 900m-tall Salathe Wall in 1997 (Singapore’s tallest building Guocco Tower only stands at 283m). Unfazed, he returned in 2002 and broke the 19.5-hour record set by The Dawn Wall’s Tommy Caldwell with a timing that was six hours faster.
I – Word Understanding
Narrowly – to become less wide or to make something less wide.
979 Why this 54-year-old Japanese is considered one of Asia’s climbing legends
