Rope

Kazuya Hiraide, three times Piolets d'Or winner by conquering unclimbed routes of Kamet, Shispare and Rakaposhi, discovered ideal climbing route on north face of Tirich Mir (7708m) 20 years ago. Since then, he has had eyes on Tirich Mir until right time comes. Though some teams has climbed the mountain since first ascent by Norwegian expedition at 1950, none of them challenged north face because it’s very difficult even to get to the base of it. Late 2022, Hiraide asked Kenro Nakajima to climb together who has been his climbing partner since 2016. Nakajima is younger and less-experienced than Hiraide. But Hiraide trusts Nakajima. Because he thinks Nakajima has pure spirits to jump into the mountain without hesitation that he thinks he lost several years ago as fear for mountain is growing bigger and bigger inside Hiraide after he turned 40 years old. Nakajima is uncertain whether he is good enough to be a “real” partner of Hiraide. Two climbers leave base camp to climb Tirich Mir themselves without oxygen or big support. No one has climbed their route before and there are no photo or information. Hiraide and Nakajima have absolutely no idea what kind of danger they face. After many struggle of 6 days and nights, two climber reach the summit of Tirich Mir. Nakajima feels his growth physically and technically. Tears fall from his eyes.