BURSTDai Koyamada has made the first ascent of Kaikien V15 in Japan at the age of 48. Last year, he made the first ascents of Okuro V15 and Mugen V15. He’s also opened several V16s over the year, including Nayuta, Epitaph and Story of Two Worlds.
In 1996, Koyamada won the Japanese National Championship. He spent four years competing before retiring, saying, “The real nature of my climbing resides in crags.” Before he retired, he placed fourth in a lead world cup. The 48-year-old bouldering legend climbed his first V15 in 2003 with the first ascent of Byaku-dou. On a rope, Koyamada sent Action Directe 5.14d in 2005, Hugh 5.14d in 2002 and made the first ascent of Logical Progression 5.14d in 2001. He then made the first ascent of The Wheel of Life V16 in 2004. In Switzerland, he repeated Dreamtime, which was the first V15, before it was downgraded.
“Yesterday I finished the project I had been trying to do,” he said about Kaikien. “I discovered this project about three years ago, and at the time the landing was bad and it seemed impossible for me to climb this high rock… After several days of trying and not being able to climb, I started to lose confidence, when I discovered a good sequence in the middle.”
Watch Koyamada tick some of his hardest boulders to date below.
Dai Koyamada Bouldering
The post 48-Year-Old Climbs New V15 in Japan appeared first on Gripped Magazine.