Dai Koyamada Climbs New V15 at 47 Years Old
His first-ever V15 was a first ascent he opened 20 years ago in 2003
Dai Koyamada has made the first ascent of Okuro V15 at Kasagi, Japan. Earlier this year, he opened another V15 with Mugen, also in Japan.
The 47-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.
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. In 2004, he travelled to Australia and repeated every problem at the Hollow Mountain Cave (HMC) in the Grampians, problems put up by Fred Nicole and Klem Loskot.
He then made the first ascent of The Wheel of Life V16 in 2004. In Switzerland, he repeated Dreamtime, which was the first V15, but it was later down-graded to V14. In 2017, he made the first ascent of Nayuta V16 in Gero, Japan.
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