Yuji Hirayama (52) fires first ascent of Hanabi 8c+ at Mt Futago in Japan

Yuji Hirayama is an absolute climbing legend. One of those champions who, wherever they go, bring their contagious smile and boundless positive energy. One of those athletes who despite their age - 52 years and counting - show no signs of slowing down at the top of the game.

The Japanese climber has now freed the project he bolted in November 2020 at Mt Futago, the crag located about 3 hours north-west of Tokyo and close to Hirayama's home. The line features 20 meters of very technical and almost vertical climbing, followed by a no-hands rest and then the 5-6m crux section which weighs in at about V9 V10 boulder. Put in numbers, French 8c+ awaiting confirmation. No confirmation is needed for the route name: Hanabi, which in Japanese means fireworks and is a reference to the bouldery crux that awaits after 20 meters of highly technical climbing.

When asked about his recipe for success for all these years of inspirational climbing, Hirayama told planetmountain.com “Haha, yes, I'm 52 and I do feel like I'm not as strong as I used to be. But I enjoy climbing more than ever before... well, maybe! I train whenever I can, but above all I follow my motivation."


YUJI HIRAYAMA - PORTRAIT OF THE TIMELESS CLIMBER
Yuji Hirayama’s zest for climbing seems boundless. For the last three decades the Japanese has been a prime player in the international climbing scene, ever since his fast ascents in 1986 of Phoenix and Cosmic Debris, two standard-bearing climbs repeated on his first visit to Yosemite when he was aged a mere 17. Two years later Hirayama repeated Les Specialistes, the steep bulge in the Verdon gorge considered one of the hardest in the world at the time, and he also made one of the world's most difficult onsights by walking up to, and waltzing up, the extremely technical 8a Orange Mécanique at Cimaï.

In 1995 he made a faultless, famous onsight of The Sphinx Crack (5.13b/c) in Colorado, and he then successfully transferred this crag fitness to the plastic competition circuit, winning the Lead World Cup in 1998 and confirming his unbeatable form with overall victory once again in 2000, as well as winning the Rock Master trophy twice, in 1991 and 2001. After retiring from competitions, in 2003 he left his mark with Flat Mountain in Japan, making an early first ascent of a 9a+ sports climb therefore that even today is considered one of the hardest in the country.

But Hirayama's penchant for onsighting remained and while in 1999 he onsighted Mortal Kombat in Castillon, an 8c he subsequently downgraded to 8b+, in 2004 he stunned the climbing community with world’s first onsight of an 8c sports climb, White Zombie at the Baltzola cave in Spain.

This groundbreaking moment was nothing more than a stepping stone for one of the world’s greatest allrounders, and unsurprisingly Hirayama soon returned to Yosemite where in 1997 he had narrowly missed out on on-sighting the Salathé route on El Capitan; climbing ground-up over two days, this attempt is widely recognized as one of the most important ascents of this genre. The Big Stone remained a fixed venue and between 2002 and 2008 Hirayama teamed up with Hans Florine to break The Nose speed record a staggering four times, while in 2009 he paid a quick visit to Squamish in Canada where he pulled off a fast repeat of Cobra Crack, one of the hardest trad cracks in the world.