Yuji Hirayama
Encyclopedia
Yuji Hirayama is a Japan
ese rock climber
, born on February 23, 1969.
Yuji is the first Asian climber to win the climbing world cup in 1998, and in 2000 for a second time.
Among his other notable achievements are the first ascent of a possible 5.15a/9a+
called Flat Mountain. And the first onsight of a 5.14b/8c (White Zombie) in 2004 . (On 2005 Aug 10, Tomas Mrazek
had the 2nd 8c onsight, Pata Negra at Rodellar in northern Spain
.)
Hirayama has put up and repeated hard boulder problems, such as the third ascent of Uma V14 at Shiobara in 2008, and the first ascent of Ginga V14 at Kanoto in 2008.
Hirayama is also a big-wall climber with ascents of El Capitan
. During September 2002, Hirayama and Hans Florine
climbed The Nose in 2:48:55, setting a new speed record. In 2007 this record was broken by the German "Huberbuam" (Alexander Huber
and Thomas Huber
). The two brothers climbed The Nose on October 8th, 2007 in 2 hours, 45 minutes and 45 seconds. On July 2, 2008, Hirayama and Florine retook the record in a time of 2:43:33. Then on October 12, 2008, they extended the record to 2:37:05.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese rock climber
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
, born on February 23, 1969.
Yuji is the first Asian climber to win the climbing world cup in 1998, and in 2000 for a second time.
Among his other notable achievements are the first ascent of a possible 5.15a/9a+
Grade (climbing)
In rock climbing, mountaineering and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a climbing grade to a route that concisely describes the difficulty and danger of climbing the route...
called Flat Mountain. And the first onsight of a 5.14b/8c (White Zombie) in 2004 . (On 2005 Aug 10, Tomas Mrazek
Tomas Mrazek
Tomáš Mrázek is a professional Czech rock climber with an outstanding track record in sport climbing. He is born in 1982.Tomáš started climbing on the rocks of Stránská skála near Brno in 1997...
had the 2nd 8c onsight, Pata Negra at Rodellar in northern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.)
Hirayama has put up and repeated hard boulder problems, such as the third ascent of Uma V14 at Shiobara in 2008, and the first ascent of Ginga V14 at Kanoto in 2008.
Hirayama is also a big-wall climber with ascents of El Capitan
El Capitan
El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about from base to summit along its tallest face, and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers.The formation was...
. During September 2002, Hirayama and Hans Florine
Hans Florine
Hans Florine is an American rock climber, who together with Yuji Hirayama previously held the Speed Climb World Record for climbing The Nose of Yosemite’s El Capitan in 2:37:05; 2 hours, 37 minutes and 5 seconds set on October 12, 2008...
climbed The Nose in 2:48:55, setting a new speed record. In 2007 this record was broken by the German "Huberbuam" (Alexander Huber
Alexander Huber
Alexander Huber , is a German physicist, climber and mountaineer. He lives in Traunstein.When they were still young Alexander Huber and his brother Thomas Huber were taken into the mountains by their father, Thomas Huber, himself a noted climber known for early fast ascents of now classic climbs...
and Thomas Huber
Thomas Huber
Thomas Huber , is a German climber and mountaineer. He lives in Berchtesgaden with his family. His brother and climbing partner is the German climber Alexander Huber....
). The two brothers climbed The Nose on October 8th, 2007 in 2 hours, 45 minutes and 45 seconds. On July 2, 2008, Hirayama and Florine retook the record in a time of 2:43:33. Then on October 12, 2008, they extended the record to 2:37:05.
Trivia
- Flat Mountain comes from a literal translationLiteral translationLiteral translation, or direct translation, is the rendering of text from one language to another "word-for-word" rather than conveying the sense of the original...
of Yuji's family name, Hira(平)-yama(山), into English. - Back in 2001 in his USA tour with François Legrand he had to climb up the rope on the route Ghetto Booty 5.14c / 8c+ after falling on the crux move to get to the next quick-draw. He thus pulled hard on the rope but when he let go the rope formed a loop which two finger got caught in and were crushed, as he put all his weight on the rope. The result was a severe sprain of his right hand middle finger. This took him out of climbing for 6 months. Also filmed and released in "The Professionals".
- His first 8c onsight of White Zombie in 2004-09-01 is still not widely accepted by the climbing community, as according to his own words he belayed his friend who placed the draws and chalked up the holds, but didn't watch him climbing. There has been a grade discussion, because it is argued that the route is a soft 8c and some even mark it as 8b+.
- In 2010 "Climb Park Base Camp" opened, a climbing gym produced by Yuji Hirayama in the Saitama prefecture, Japan.
External links
- video of onsight of White Zombie
- http://vimeo.com/16279796, Road to Slovenia, Yuji Hirayama video portrait
- http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/features/japan235/, Way of Weekend Warrior article
- http://www.b-camp.jp/, Base Camp climbing gym produced by Yuji Hirayama