The North Face climbers tackle Shomyo
- Friday 22nd March 2019
March 22nd; 2019
A film capturing athletes from The North Face climbing Shomyo, Japan’s highest waterfall, has just been released.
James Pearson, Caroline Ciavaldini and Japanese climbers Yuji Hirayama and Toru Nakajma teamed up to take on Shomyo, Japan’s highest waterfall. Prior to Shomyo the team got into the groove of waterfall climbing - or “Sawanobori” as it is called in Japan – by trying some smaller waterfalls. However, in the face of worsening weather the team decided to attack the 350m high Shomyo falls rather than delay any longer.
“I was overwhelmed by those spaces – difficult rocks, slimy rocks and the volume of water – realizing that there lurk unknown dangers in comparison to normal climbing” Yuri Hirayama explained.
Despite the weather conditions deteriorating, the climbers managed to successfully reach the summit of Shomyo, having camped overnight on one of the waterfall’s impressive four drops.
Reflecting on the climb and his Japanese companions Pearson added: “Day two on the Shomyo falls was really about stepping into the unknown – the only thing that was clear was that we needed to be fast. The more I see the Japanese climbers, the more I’m impressed by their vision of the sport. They look at things in a completely different way and it’s only by coming here and meeting people, spending time with them and immersing myself in these kind of cultures I realise that I’m actually still really closed into my box – and that climbing can take place equally on a waterfall or on a big wall of solid, dry rock. At the end of the day they’re all vertical playgrounds for us to explore”
Watch the film below…