Der mittlerweile 44-jährige Altmeister Dai Koyamada hat es schon wieder getan. Mit „Ochimizu -Fountain of Youth“ konnte er einen weiteren Topboulder erstbegehen. Es ist sein zweiter schwerer Boulder in diesem Monat. Bei der Bewertung hält sich Dai bedeckt. Meinte aber es wäre einer seiner Top 5 -Boulder.

Der Boulder befindet sich im jpanaischen Bouldergebiet Gero. Dai konnte bisher dreiundzwanzig 8C Boulder erstbegehen und mehr als 30 Boulder in diesem Grad klettern. Damit ist er der erfolgreichste Boulderer der Welt. Der 165 cm große Kletterer konnte schon im Jahr 2003 seinen ersten 8C-Boulder klettern. Im Jahr 2005 holte er sich die 7. Begehung der „Action Directe“ 9a.

„To continue where we left off. Despite injuring a finger in the off season, I was in good enough shape to try the project. On the first day, I focused on remembering each move. The project as a whole felt too difficult on this day, so much so that I questioned whether it would ever be possible for me to link the moves. But as I spent more time and my body got used to the problem, I felt that I was slowly but steadily making progress toward a red point.

On the 13th of this month I was down to one remaining move. I rested for one day, and managed to make the first ascent on the 15th. The story of this boulder came full circle as Mr. Imai was there to watch the FA, and we shared the joy of completing this line.

I’ve reached an age at which declining performance is a daily concern, but I still made it back to this boulder in time. I named this problem “Ochimizu” (Fountain of Youth), in reflection of my futile wish to remain young, and count it among the top five of my first ascents.