Kazuya Hiraide is an alpine climber and a video cameraman who shoots mountains in the Himalayas, Alaska, and Europe. He started mountaineering when he was a university student. In high school, he was a member of the track team and a competitive walker. At that time, he used a small watch to take running laps. He eventually discovered mountaineering, and the first watch that Hiraide picked up was the SUUNTO XLANDER. I think my parents had an influence on me, but even when I was young I wanted to choose a watch that would last a long time. When I saw the Xcelander with crystal glass on the face and a reinforced aluminum body, I knew this was the one. I worked part-time at a mountain lodge unloading and saved up the money to buy it,” he says.
Athletics was a sport in which he competed with others, but mountaineering was different. I wanted to do something where I could face myself instead of competing with others, an activity where I would be responsible for everything. For me, I used to use a watch to measure laps in track and field, but when I got the XLander, I realized that from now on I would decide my own start and finish times.

The first Himalayan climb with Exlander was the East Peak of Kulakangri (7381m) in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in 1998. It was also Hiraide's first visit to the Himalayas. He was a member of the expedition team of the Tokai University mountaineering club to which he belonged at the time. On the same day that he made his first ascent, Hiraide and a fellow member of another university's mountaineering club headed for Cho Oyu (8201m). This mountain rises on the border between Tibet and Nepal. I had climbed Kulakangri with my seniors, but this time I was alone with friends my own age. I wondered what the world was like at 8,000 meters,” he says. The world's 14 8000-meter peaks are a special kind of existence for mountain climbers, a different world from the 7000-meter peaks. I wanted to keep a record of the altitudes above 8,000 meters on my watch. I kept a log book, and I remember glancing at my watch repeatedly near the 8,000-meter mark.
I used it until 2008, so that's more than 10 years. It is a watch that has been a part of my mountaineering history. The leather belt broke during the climb, so I had to replace it with another one. When I climbed Kamet (India, 7756m, 2008), I hung it directly from the rack of my climbing gear with an improved belt in order to save weight.


*Image shows Cho Oyu in 2001. The “Xlander” can be seen on his left wrist.
*Photo: Akihiro Oishi

Outdoor watches are equipped with what is called an “ABC function,” or the ability to determine altitude (Altitude), barometric pressure (Barometer), and direction (Compass), and SUUNTO is a front-runner in the outdoor watch category. For mountain climbers, the ability to not only tell the time but also read changes in atmospheric pressure is a great ally in helping to predict the weather.
Especially when climbing in remote areas such as Hiraide, it can be difficult to obtain weather information, and because the area is unexplored, there may be no information at all about the local weather. In such cases, you have to rely on yourself. At the base camp, we record the flow of clouds and temperatures. We also set up a stream to observe the wind. In addition, we use the SUUNTO to read changes in atmospheric pressure. With the EXLANDER, the fluctuations in atmospheric pressure were indicated by arrows, so I could understand them visually.” In the core I have used since then, it is now represented graphically, which helps me even more. We had a heavy snowfall at our base camp in Kamet. But I knew that it would clear up after that because of the data I had been getting and the pressure readings I was getting from SUNNTO. I was ready to resume climbing as soon as it cleared.

High altitude mountaineering requires the body to acclimate to the altitude: at 6,000 meters, the amount of oxygen is less than half that of flat terrain, and at the summit of Mount Everest, it is less than one-third that of flat terrain. However, human beings are a strange species, and as we repeatedly ascend and descend in altitude, our bodies gradually become acclimatized. At that time, one barometer is the heart rate. When Hiraide climbed Sisperle (7611m, Pakistan) last summer, he used the “Traverse Amber” to record his heart rate all the way to base camp. The heartbeat, which was fast at first, gradually calmed down. The heart rate, which is usually in the 40s, would soon reach 60 at base camp, which is 4,500 meters above sea level. Last year,” he said, ”I did photography work on Everest and Denali before heading to Cispale. We had been climbing at high altitude for a while, but acclimatization to high altitude quickly unravels, and you have to reacclimate each time. But I guess your body remembers how to acclimatize. The more experience I gain, the smoother it becomes. We acclimatize carefully up to the base, but from there the conditions are different. We sometimes have to run through avalanche hazards or under seracs. I wonder what happens to your heart rate at the core of the climb. Your breathing may become shallow due to nervousness. But more often than not, I am excited about the climb,” he says.


*Image shows Sisperle in 2017.

The sunrise/sunset time indicator is very useful when taking photographs. My favorite time in the mountains is from the moment the sun sets to the moment the moon rises. The sky turns purple. This is the time known as the “magic hour. I check my watch to make sure I don't miss this time, both to savor it for myself and to take photographs. Spartan is equipped with a GPS function, so I can determine the magic hour by knowing the sunrise, sunset, and phase of the moon at my current location,” he says.

Magic hour” is a technical term in photography and film. The sun, which is the dominant light source, has set, which means that shadows are no longer cast and the colors become softer. However, this time is not long. The sky changes color from moment to moment, moving into a dark night. During this period of twilight, which lasts only a dozen or so minutes, the world glows golden. Hiraide has long said that when photographing people, he wants to capture their shining parts. The magic hour, like the moment when a person shows his or her brilliance, is a miraculous moment in the day when the sky is beautifully tinted.
I also like the moment when the moon rises. The moonlight illuminates the mountains, and white snow-capped peaks emerge from the darkness. It is the moment when the dark landscape changes. I want to capture these transitions that occur in nature. It is lighting woven by nature.

*The image is Makalu at sunset from Island Peak, Nepal, 2011.

Photo by Kazuya Hiraide

When I was on the high school track team, I used to run 20 kilometers in the morning practice, and some days I would run 100 kilometers in a day. I still love the feeling of running with the wind in my face. As I approach 40 years of age, I am thinking about how to maintain my physical fitness in the future. On the other hand, my time in Japan is limited, and when I do have time, I like to spend it with my family. I don't have as much time for myself as I did when I was younger. But even though the quantity of my training may decrease, I would like to make an effort to improve the quality of my training,” he says. Hiraide is also good at making time for training in his spare time. In his spare time, he runs along the riverbanks and parks near his home, or goes jogging in the mornings when he travels.
When I went to Sisupare, I ran every morning in Islamabad (the capital of Pakistan). I would leave the hotel gate and start running without a map, so even though I would know that I had run for an hour, it was difficult to determine the distance I had run. This watch makes it easy, because it has a GPS function, so I can see the distance and elevation difference. It is also useful for training. Besides, I like to run when I travel. I feel like I can see where we are by running around the city.

Core Crash” can be seen on the left wrist.

Hiraide summited Cispale on his fourth attempt last August. It had taken him 15 years to reach the summit since he first encountered “the mountain he wanted to spend his life climbing. Immediately after the climb, he said, “Now I have a break. I want to take my time and think about the future,” Hiraide said, but now he has his sights set on his goal.
There is a line left on the west face of K2, a mountain I have seen from many summits. We scouted this summer and next summer is the real test. Right now the potential is still small, but the challenge is to make this potential grow over the next year and a half. I have been able to do some record-breaking climbs such as Kamet, but I want to do climbs that will be memorable, not record-breaking. I also want to be a climber who will be remembered by many people. Even Sisperl was able to climb the Sisperal despite repeated failures. This way of life in mountain climbing is also my life. I want my son and young people to see this. I have always been bored with mountain climbing. But after nearly 20 years of mountain climbing, I still want to climb more. I think that is why mountain climbing is so appealing. It is an activity that deserves to be continued throughout one's life. I have a stopwatch right here, and as long as I don't press the stop button myself, I can keep climbing forever. I don't want to press the stop button myself yet. I want to climb higher and higher, to seek out more and more difficulties.

Interview + Text = Sumiko Kashiwa
All photos without annotations by Kenro Nakajima