Yuji Hirayama

Yuji Hirayama (平山ユージ; born February 23, 1969) is a Japanese rock climber, specializing in lead climbing competitions. He won two Lead World Cup, in 1998 (first Asian climber to win the title),[1] and 2000.[2] He is also famous for being the first climber in history to onsight an 8c (5.14b) route, and for various speed records on El Capitan.

Yuji Hirayama
Yuji Hirayama at TEDxTokyo 2009
Personal information
NationalityJapanese
Born (1969-02-23) February 23, 1969
Tokyo
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb)
Websiteameblo.jp/stonerider/
Climbing career
Type of climberSport climbing
Highest grade
Known forFirst man to onsight 8c (5.14b)
Sport
Retired2007
Medal record
IFSC World Championships
1991 FrankfurtLead
1999 BirminghamLead
1993 InnsbruckLead
IFSC Climbing World Cup
Winner1998Lead
Winner2000Lead
Updated on 13 May 2013.

Biography

On November 25, 1999, Hirayama onsighted Mortal Kombat (Castillon, FRA). This achievement gained some historical relevance because it was initially announced as the world's first 8c (5.14b) onsight, although a few days later, Hirayama himself downgraded the route to 8b+.[3] In the following years, consensus has been reached about Hirayama's rating.[4]

On September 29, 2002 Hirayama and Hans Florine climbed The Nose in 2:48:55, setting a new speed record.[5]

In 2003 he made the first ascent of a proposed 9a+ (5.15a) called Flat Mountain.[6]

On October 6, 2004 he hit the headlines again by onsighting the 8c (5.14b) White Zombie (Baltzola Cave, ESP). This ascent represented the first 8c onsight in history.[4][7]). On 2005 Aug 10, Tomas Mrazek had the 2nd 8c onsight, Pata Negra at Rodellar in eastern Spain.[8]

In 2007 his Nose record was broken by the German "Huberbuam", Alexander Huber and Thomas Huber. The two brothers climbed The Nose on October 8, 2007 in 2 hours, 45 minutes and 45 seconds.[9] On July 2, 2008, Hirayama and Florine retook the record in a time of 2:43:33.[10] Then on October 12, 2008, they lowered the record to 2:37:05.[11]

In 2008 he has put up and repeated hard boulder problems, such as the third ascent of Uma V14 at Shiobara, and the first ascent of Ginga V14 at Kanoto.[12]

In 2010 Hirayama opened "Climb Park Base Camp", a climbing gym in Saitama prefecture, Japan.[13]

In 2012, he freed a multi-pitch route called Pogulian Do Koduduo in the Mount Kinabalu National Park in Borneo with one pitch in 9a.[14]

See also

Notable first ascents

References
  1. "Rankings - UIAA Climbing Worldcup 1998 - MEN lead". ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  2. "Rankings - UIAA Climbing Worldcup 2000 - MEN lead". ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  3. "Yuji Hirayama first to onsight 8c!". planetmountain.com. Note: The title of this artilcle is misleading, as the article contains an interview in which Hirayama downgraded the route to 8b+
  4. "Yuji Hirayama world's first 8c on-sight!". planetmountain.com.
  5. "Hirayama and Florine set new Nose record". planetmountain.com. 2 October 2002. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  6. Jeff Achey. "Flat Mountain". climbing.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  7. "Yuji Hirayama White Zombie Onsight". Youtube.
  8. "Mrazek onsights Pata negra 8c!". planetmountain.com. 13 September 2005. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  9. Luke Bauer (9 October 2007). "Huber brothers break speed record on the Nose, twice". alpinist.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  10. Eric Perlman. "The Nose goes quicker". climbing.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  11. Larry Arthur. "Yuji and Hans Speed Up The Nose – An El Capitan Dispatch from Yosemite, CA". climbing.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  12. "Yuji Hirayama Still Has the Power". climbing.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  13. http://www.b-camp.jp/
  14. http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=39707
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