40-year-old Yuji Hirayama, the legendary all around climber from Japan, made a trip to British Columbia late this summer. Not surprisingly he left with a couple of notable sends that included a repeat of the Squamish trad climbing testpiece Cobra Crack (5.14) and an onsight of Dinosaur Highway (5.14a) at Horne Lake.
Besides the impressive sends, Hirayama also has some words of wisdom I think apply to climbers at any level. When asked in an interview with PlanetMountain.com about the seeming inevitability of a 5.14d (9a) onsight, he had this to say (emphasis mine):
It’s incredible. These guys can boulder hard, have great endurance. I think they can imagine doing 9a on-sight. If I were in their position… I’d seriously think about that. What is important though is that they continue to push their limits as long as they enjoy themselves. What is also important is that we sometimes need to focus less on the grade and more on the actual route – don’t ever forget that there are so many great climbs that aren’t necessarily 9a!
Read the rest of the interesting interview here.
Yuji Hirayama on Cobra Crack
