Yuji Hirayama (平山ユージ; born February 23, 1969) is a Japanese

rock climber Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

specializing in lead

climbing competitions A climbing competition (or comp) is usually held indoors on purpose built climbing walls. There are three main types of climbing competition: lead, speed, and bouldering. In lead climbing, the competitors start at the bottom of a route and must c ...

. He won two Lead World Cups, in 1998 (becoming the first Asian climber to win the title) and in 2000. He is notable for being the first-ever climber to

onsight __NOTOC__ This glossary of climbing terms is a list of definitions of terms and jargon related to rock climbing and mountaineering. The specific terms used can vary considerably between different English-speaking countries; many of the phrases d ...

an route, and for his various speed records on

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granit ...

Climbing career

On November 25, 1999, Hirayama

ed ''Mortal Kombat'' (Castillon,

FRA A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

), which gained some historical relevance because it was initially believed to be the world's first onsight of an ; however, a few days later, Hirayama himself downgraded it to 8b+, which has become the consensus grading. On September 29, 2002, Hirayama and

Hans Florine Hans Florine (born June 18, 1964) is an American rock climber, who holds the record for the number of ascents of Yosemite Valleys El Capitan and is known for holding the speed record on '' The Nose'' of Yosemite’s El Capitan 8 different times. ...

climbed '' The Nose'' in 2:48:55, setting a new speed record. In 2003, he made the first ascent of a proposed called ''Flat Mountain''. On October 6, 2004, he

ed the graded ''White Zombie'' in Baltzola Cave,

ESP ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

. This was the world's first-ever onsight of an 8c in history.). On 2005 Aug 10,

Tomas Mrazek Tomas may refer to: People * Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name * Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name * Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name * Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian su ...

had the 2nd 8c onsight, ''Pata Negra'' at Rodellar in eastern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. In 2007, his El Capitan ''Nose'' record was broken by the German "Huberbuam",

Alexander Huber Alexander Huber (born 30 December 1968), is a German rock climber and mountaineer. He became a professional climber in 1997, and was widely regarded as the world's strongest climber in the late-1990s, and is an important figure in rock climbin ...

and

Thomas Huber Thomas Huber (born 18 November 1966 in Palling, Bavaria) is a German climber and mountaineer. He lives in Berchtesgaden with his family. His brother and climbing partner is Alexander Huber and the two are called "Huberbuam" (Huberboys) in the B ...

. The two brothers climbed ''The Nose'' on October 8, 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 lowered the record to 2:37:05. In 2008, he made the third ascent of boulder problem, ''Uma'' at Shiobara, and the first ascent of ''Ginga'' at Kanoto. In 2012, he freed a multi-pitch route called ''Pogulian Do Koduduo'' in the Mount Kinabalu National Park in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

with one pitch at 9a.

Business career

In 2010, Hirayama opened "Climb Park Base Camp", a climbing gym in

Saitama prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...

, Japan.

References

External links

* *
Onsight of White Zombie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirayama, Yuji Japanese rock climbers Living people 1969 births Sportspeople from Tokyo IFSC Climbing World Championships medalists

Climbing career

Business career

See also

References

External links