Yuji Hirayama
 Yuji Hirayama at TEDxTokyo 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Japanese | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
February 23, 1969 Tokyo | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 173 centimetres (5 ft 8 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 65 kilograms (143 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired from competitions | 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Website |
ameblo | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Climbing career | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type of climber | Sport climbing | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known for |
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Updated on 13 May 2013. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=icon}
.svg.png){kind=icon}
Yuji Hirayama (平山ユージ), born on 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 various speed records on El Capitan.
Biography
In 2001, Hirayama made a climbing tour in the U.S. with the French climber François Legrand.[3]
On September 29, 2002 Hirayama and Hans Florine climbed The Nose in 2:48:55, setting a new speed record.[4]
In 2003 he made the first ascent of a proposed 9a+ (5.15a) called Flat Mountain.[5]
In 2004 he hit the headlines when he onsighted the 8c (5.14b) White Zombie. This ascent represented the first 8c onsight in history.[6] On 2005 Aug 10, Tomas Mrazek had the 2nd 8c onsight, Pata Negra at Rodellar in eastern Spain.[7]
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.[8] On July 2, 2008, Hirayama and Florine retook the record in a time of 2:43:33.[9] Then on October 12, 2008, they lowered the record to 2:37:05.[10]
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.[11]
In 2010 Hirayama opened "Climb Park Base Camp", a climbing gym in Saitama prefecture, Japan.[12]
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.[13]
References
- ↑ "Rankings - UIAA Climbing Worldcup 1998 - MEN lead". ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ "Rankings - UIAA Climbing Worldcup 2000 - MEN lead". ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ "Sansoz, Legrand and Hirayama in America". planetmountain.com. 14 April 2001. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ "Hirayama and Florine set new Nose record". planetmountain.com. 2 October 2002. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ Jeff Achey. "Flat Mountain". climbing.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ Dougald MacDonald. "Yuji Onsights 5.14b". climbing.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ "Mrazek onsights Pata negra 8c!". planetmountain.com. 13 September 2005. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ Luke Bauer (9 October 2007). "Huber brothers break speed record on the Nose, twice". alpinist.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ Eric Perlman. "The Nose goes quicker". climbing.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ "Yuji and Hans Speed Up The Nose – An El Capitan Dispatch from Yosemite, CA". climbing.com. Larry Arthur. Retrieved 23 May 2013. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ "Yuji Hirayama Still Has the Power". climbing.com. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑ http://www.b-camp.jp/
- ↑ http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=39707
External links
- IFSC Profile
- 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