Karun Koh is one of the most daunting near-7,000’ers. (It’s 6,977m.) Yet for Kazuya Hiraide, it was merely a secondary goal. The mountain love of his life was Shispare. It took him four attempts and earned him a Piolet d’Or when he finally reached the top.
Karun Koh just happened to be nearby. Its beautiful Northwest Face lured him back to the region. Hiraide planned to climb it in December 2021 but didn’t even begin. He frostbit his feet badly while acclimatizing on a neighboring peak. The injury almost ended his climbing career.
Hiraide spent a month in the hospital in Pakistan. To his surprise, he wasn’t lonely. Many locals visited him, and he received a huge outpouring of support on social media. This support made him change his mind about giving up climbing. Eventually, he decided to return to Karun Koh.
A frostbitten Hiraide is airlifted to the hospital, December 2021. Photo: Kazuya Hiraide/Instagram
The return
By cherry blossom time in Japan, he was able to put his damaged feet in running shoes and tie them up again. And Karun Koh was firmly back in his mind.
Hiraide had made that first attempt with Takuya Mitoro. For the second try, he elected to go with the man who has become his regular climbing partner in recent years: Kenro Nakajima.
Nakajima, left, and Hiraide at Karun Koh Base Camp, where Hiraide was evacuated the year before. Photo: Kazuya Hiraide/Instagram
Hiraide met the young, strong, and bold Kenro Nakajima while coping with the loss of his life partner Kei Taniguchi, who died in a climbing accident in the Japanese Alps in 2015.
“Kenro reminded me of myself 10 years ago. He was very strong and very oblivious, he ignored the risks of climbing,” Hiraide told ExplorersWeb in a recent interview. “I felt I had to teach him, protect him somehow, because I thought that if he goes to the mountains with others like himself, he will probably die soon.”
Hiraide faced Karun Koh one more time. Photo: Kenro Nakajima
Hiraide and Nakajima went to Karun Koh in September this year. “Just being there, ready and on my two feet, was a triumph — a moment of joy,” he said.
An uncertain way up
Fighting spindrift and a vertical section on Karun Koh. Photo: Kenro Nakajima
They made their way up “a wonderful route that miraculously connects a line of ice through rocky walls, all the way to the summit,” Nakajima wrote on social media.
A meagre dinner during one of their bivouacs on the face. Photo: Kenro Nakajima
The result of their perseverance was a 1,800m line up the very center of Karun Koh’s Northwest Face. Despite difficulties up to AI5, they climbed hard and fast and summited on September 21 at 2:51 pm. They had only two bivouacs on the wall on the way up and one on the way down.
Nakajima says that they carried rations for only one person, which they shared each day. No wonder the climbers gorged on food after they returned to Base Camp. “I am eating too much,” admitted Nakajima while he was still in Pakistan, “but I am remembering when I was starving during the climb.”
Hiraide and Nakajima’s route up Karun Koh. Photo: Barrabes.com
One more Piolet d’Or for the collection?
Hiraide and Nakajima’s was the second overall ascent of Karun Koh after an Austrian team climbed the Southwest Ridge 38 years ago. The Japanese made the first climb of the Northwest Face.
Unfortunately, neither climber has yet shared a detailed report of the climb. Since they returned, they have been busy at their everyday jobs. Incredibly, neither is a full-time professional climber. We will have to wait before learning more about the terrain, the crux pitches, and their feelings as they climbed.
For the time being, their image of the highly aesthetic line and the few available photos give an idea of the magnitude of the achievement. During a recent talk in Spain, Hiraide was introduced by veteran Carlos Soria, who neatly pointed out that, “In addition to his skills in choosing difficult routes, Hiraide places his projects on extremely beautiful mountains.”
Some in the mountaineering media are already making the Japanese climbers favorites for yet another Piolet d’Or. Both already won the prestigious award for their climbs of Shispare and Rakaposhi. In addition, Hiraide has a third Piolet d’Or for his climb of 7,756m Kamet, with Kei Taniguchi.
Hiraide and Mitoro’s 2021 Christmas greeting while Hiraide recovered from frostbite last year. Photo: Kazuya Hiraide/Instagram
