Dai Koyamada establishes 'Kaikien' (8C) at Mt. Kasagi in Japan

48-year-old Dai Koyamada has surprised pretty much only himself with the first ascent of Kaikien, a recent project of his at Mt. Kasagi in the Gifu prefecture of Japan.

Koyamada found the boulder in October and after spending several days building a safe landing, he got to work on the problem. A first line was climbed in mid-November which he called Onishiki and graded V13/14, after which he immediately set to work on the the harder version which comes in from the right before sharing the same finish. A further two weeks of effort, plus new beta in the middle section, were needed for the send of this powerful and technical 18-move 8C.

Commenting on his success on what he believes is the best problem in the area, Koyamada stated "I was in good form, which was unusual for me. The biggest change as I get older is that I have fewer good days. When I was younger, the day after a rest was usually the best. That became once a week, then once a month, and the best days came only a few times a year. But there are still a few good days. Yesterday made me realize that if I go on a good day, I can still climb difficult problems."

 

 

 

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