Keita Kurakami climbs 8c+ rope solo at Mt. Futago in Japan

Mt. Futago in Japan was the scene of a remarkable ascent carried out by Keita Kurakami, the climber known for his psychological highballs and, above all, his repeat of The Nose up El Capitan in Yosemite, carried out free and rope solo.

Kurakami has now transferred the techniques required for rope-soloing on big walls and multi-multi-pitch rock climbs to the crag where he has made the noteworthy self-belayed repeat of Mare, a 25m 8c+ freed recently by Sachi Amma.

What is astounding is the fact that Kurakami mastered 8c+ on his own, and also that he did so ground-up. "It was big progress for pushing the limit of my solo skills" stated Kurakami. Superfluous to say that this is probably the hardest ever single pitch climbed rope-solo.

Kurakami announced recently that he has now quit his job to become a full-time climber. There may well be more in store in future.

Links: keitakurakami.wordpress.com, FB Keita Kurakami, SCARPA

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Today, I red-pointed hard one, Mare (5.14c, 25m) on rope-solo style. This route was published by @sachiamma in early this year. I did it in ground up style and I did all process on solo style. It was big progress for pushing the limit of my solo skills. Thanks for the photo: @teru.teru.bo_zu 今年初めに二子山白壁フェースに新たに引かれたラインの一つ、Mare (5.14c)をロープソロスタイルで登りました。 トライは5日間。スタイルはグラウンドアップで、パートナーにビレイしてもらうことなく全ての行程を単独で行いました。ルートとしては第２登でしょうか。 今回の登攀は個人的なソロクライミングの中でも最もハードなクライミングの一つで、自分のソロスタイルの大きな前進になりました。 ルートの内容も、ロケーションも素晴らしかったです。このラインを見出してくれた @sachiamma 君に感謝です。 今シーズンはもう少しの間、ハードなルートを攻めようと思います。 @patagonia_climb @tokyopowder @trailbutter.jp @trailbutter #lostarrow #solo #stylefirst #commswithrock

A post shared by Keita Kurakami (@keitakurakami) on Mar 20, 2019 at 5:07am PDT