This V16 in Japan Looks Hard, Even for V16
A new video featuring the third ascent of Epitaph has been released
After a year of attempts, Dai Koyamada made the first ascent of Epitaph on Mount Horai in 2009. It follows a line of thin edges up an overhang on soft rock. The second ascent didn’t come until 2017 by Ryuichi Murai. Both climbers said that it was V16.
Shortly after the second ascent, a hold broke and the problem was deemed unclimbable. That was until Toru Nakajima arrived, a climber who’d made a repeat of Lucid Dreaming in Bishop. After finding new beta, he started to make links and then on his 13th day of attempts he sent it. Nakajima suggested that it was V16 post-break, but then more rock broke off and it was once again deemed likely unclimbable.
And then in 2023, 20-year-old Kazuma Ise, who had climbed Floatin V16 and Hallucination V16, repeated Epitaph and assigned a personal grade of V16.
Nakajima is currently in Finland projecting Burden of Dreams V17 with Murai, and they’re both making quick progress. A new video featuring Nakajima’s ascent of Epitaph was just released, watch it below.
Epitaph V16
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