Shinichiro Nomura Destroys Two V15s and a V14 in One Day
Two V15s and a V14 are all in a day's work for up-and-coming Japanese boulderer Shinichiro Nomura
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Twenty-one-year-old Japanese boulderer Shinichiro Nomura, who has a mere six months of outdoor bouldering under his belt, sent two 8Cs (V15) and an 8B+ (V14) in a single day on May 24. The climbs, Hydrangea (8C), Babel (8C) and UMA (8B+), are at Shiobara, in the Tochigi Prefecture of Japan. All three problems were put up by Japanese bouldering legend Daï Koyamada in the latter half of the last decade.
Nomura hails from the city of Ibaraki and is sponsored by Evolv Japan and the Japanese sportswear company Montura. Although he only began climbing outside towards the end of last year, he’s been ripping on plastic for a number of years, notably placing first in both the Male Juniors Lead and Male Juniors Boulder categories in the Asian Youth Championships in Tehran back in 2016, then going on to place seventh in the IFSC World Youth Championships later that year.
Despite his relatively recent outdoor start, Nomura has been lapping hard boulders like a monster since he got on the scene. He sent Orochi (8C/V15) and Ginga (8B+/V14)—two problems in Kanato—back in February of this year. He also snagged the third ascent of Babylon (8C/V15), a Toshiaki Takeuchi problem, and sent Shambala (8C/V15), another Koyamada testpiece, in Toyota, Japan (home of the folks who made your mom’s favorite minivan) last December, almost immediately after he made the transition off of plastic.
“Today is the best day ever!” Nomura said on Instagram yesterday, post-send. Hydrangea, a roof climb linkup of Hydra (8B+/V14), has also fallen to Daniel Woods, Motochika Nagao, Sachi Amma and Ryuichi Murai. Of the problem, Nomura said, “definitely the most exciting climb in my life.” Babel and UMA, he noted, “were also able to ride on that momentum! Conditions were also very good,” he said, “but I definitely was on a good wave today.” He began working on the problems earlier in May. Nomura now has five V15s to his name, and is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with as he continues to chase hard boulder sends. -Owen Clarke
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