Dai Koyamada, 48, FA’s Kaikien (8C)

Dai Koyamada reports with an Instagram video that he has done the FA of Kaikien (8C) at Kasagi. The project started almost a year ago when he first spent two days creating a landing.

”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. This gave me great hope. And finally, yesterday, I completed it. 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.”

The 48-year-old first made headlines in 1998 when he was #4 in a Lead World Cup. After quitting the comp circuit, he did his first 9a in 2002; the next year, he did his first 8C boulder. Over the last 20 years, he has done close to 40 8C’s, most of which have been FAs.