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May 21, 2005Backcountry Skiing – Kamikochi – Karasawa Valley
3rd May 2006
All winter and spring it didn't really seem like there was more than 2 or 3 clear days in a row. When the forcast for Golden Week came out I was amazed to see 4 straight days of sunshine. Things just don't get any better than that.The plan was set long before with Dan and Nick in for an epic trip into the big mountains of the Karasawa Valley. We would take our 5 days and ski a few lines that have been haunting me for the past couple years.Day 1Wednesday May 3, 2006I met Dan and Nick in Hirayu and after some interesting pack stuffing we all shouldered our massive bags and trucked on down to the bus station. We arrived just a few minutes after a bus left so looking at the scedule saw the next one going in 20-30 minutes. Dan thought now would be a good time to relieve himself. A few minutes after he left though another bus came up. Nick ran to grab Dan and in the chaos of the bathroom Dan ripped his jacket and we missed the bus. Alright. Next bus then in again what we thought would be 20-30 minutes. 5 minutes later and with Dan's gear now all over the ground the next bus rolled up. Well we got onto this bus but it wasn't easy with all of us carrying armfulls of gear. But we were on our way just a little bit disorganized.Into Kamikochi and we again geared up this time attaching skis to our bags. Dan and Nick would hike in shoes so had to attach their boots to their bags making them even heavier. But they didn't complain too much about it or maybe I didn't listen but we set off to complete the massive march to camp. The kilimetres ticked off and a quick couple hours later I was able to take my skis off the bag and skin the remaining distance to Yoko lodge. Amazing that there was snow this low in the valley this late in the year.A good break and I got the whip out and made the boys get their bags back on for the remaining haul to the end of the Karasawa valley.Again it went a bit easier for Nick and I as we could skin while Dan was still walking. We slowly made our way up the valley gaining altitude while passing as many people as I could. It was quite busy but most of the people climbing up the valley were on foot with only 2 or 3 ski tracks.The hut came into view and then I was crossing the roll and finally I threw my bag off in victory. I had made it to camp. I found a nice secluded spot a bit further from the mass of tents right around the hut and started digging out a platform. Dan and Nick showed up shortly after both feeling very demoralized at what they had just come up. Dan even went so far as saying that he didn't want to descend the super couloir to ShinHotaka on Day 5. I scoffed at that as I knew he was just tired. We set up camp and retired to sleep.Day 2Thursday May 4, 2006Up with the sun we all felt great and wanted to ski something big. The something big would have to be the classic and steep direct ski off the summit of Japan's 3rd highest mountain OkuHotaka. Last year during Golden Week I spotted a lone skier climbing up this route and have wanted to ski it every since. I didn't however want to ski it by myself. On the climb up however it looked like I would be doing just that. I was out front passing people like I enjoy doing with Nick a bit behind and Dan bringing up the rear way back. From my vantage it looked like he was hating life and wouldn't make it. Nick didn't look that positive as well so I made my decision. I would climb the couloir by myself and hopefully meet Nick at the top. I had to climb it so that I'd know what the snow was like and where the route went. As I traversed over to the entrance though Dan all of a sudden got a second wind and was practically running up the mountain. It would be good to have some company on the steep approach.I shouted across to Nick that our turnaround time was 11 and that if we wern't on the summit by then or vice versa we'd have to turn around. I thought we would easily make that time as it was only 9 and we only had another 500 metres to gain. But the going was slow for Dan and myself. We were following 2 mountaineers up the route and they were pretty slow however I wasn't complaining as the pace was nice for me. Dan on the other hand was feeling super human and was always waiting for me to get going so that I wouldn't fall on top of his head. The time ticked by and soon we were cresting the steepest pitch of the climb which just happened to be a couple metres below the summit. The snow was icy and the slope was at least 50 degrees for this short section. It felt great to get up something that steep and icy. At the top we had a quick picture with our Japanese mountaineer friends and then another quick summit shot. By then it was 11 and we had to get on our way. We downclimbed a short portion of the ridge to our entrance and then got ready.With all our climbing gear stashed, boots done up and gloves on I walked to edge only to find that we were still too high and would have to ski into the steep icy top section. I had fucked up a bit. We should have decended to the next entrance along the ridge. We couldn't just walk down though as the north side of the ridge was quite icy and fall wouldn't have pretty. I quickly got my crampons on and booted down the ridge to the correct entrance however Dan with strap-on crampons had to take a bit more time. He ended up struggling down the ridge with a line of 20 mountaineers waiting for him to finish up. Pretty embarrassing and completly my fault. But now at the correct line and with Dan's cursing finally finished we clicked into our skis. I went first and traversed into the line. The snow was great. Dan followed me in and we leap frogged eachother to the bottom of the couloir where we skied right back to camp. A great line knocked off.Day 3Friday May 5, 2006Up early again we set out to knock another of my lines off. This time we would ski the steep couloir between peaks 1 and 2 of the MaeHotaka area. This line holds snow well into the summer but it's really steep and I just havn't had the time or partners to ski it. The slush down low that we were booting up quickly turned to hard ice and we were lucky to have our crampons and axes. The slope steepened and it turned into one of my steepest and iciest climbs yet. We pretty much ran up the slope and were sitting on top just 2 hours after setting out. A very fun climb. This gave us lots of time to relax and let the sun work the snow for a bit. We waited for over an hour taking in all the mountains all around us before gearing up for the run. I went first and found that the sun had cooked the snow just right. It was a perfect corn snow run. As we rounded the corner at the bottom and changed aspects though the temperature quickly rose and the last section of snow was a bit mushy. But all in all it was a really great ski and climb. I was really happy to have knocked that one off. While drinking our usual afternoon beer we got a weather forcast for the rest of the trip and found that a system would come in for Sunday bringing rain. Our perfect weather wasn't going to hold for the 5 days we were planning in the mountains. We made a group decision to bail on the 4th day instead of the 5th. Day 4Saturday May 6, 2006I got up before the sun rose as I knew we'd probably have a long day getting up and over the high col. With camp slowly getting packed away Nick set out on the climb to the top hut some 750 metres above. I left second and Dan dilly daddled around camp hoping to run up the slope and pass me. We all struggled up the hill with some of us struggling a bit more than others. For me it was a good climb as there was a bit of a challenge. Under our large bags I set a goal of passing 2 snowboarders way above me with little day bags. With some hard work I caught and passed them just below the top of the climb. It had taken me 2 hours. Dan had gotten a little cocky over the past 2 days though and had waited about 20-30 minutes after I left camp to start his ascent. He thought he would be able to pass me but I wasn't about to let that happen. While he made it to the top in 1 hour 50 minutes he didn't pass me like he wanted so dearly to do. Nick soon arrived at the top like I knew he would and we trucked into the lodge out of the wind for a much needed lunch. With warm food in our bellies we geared up for the decent. The snow looked good and with an audience of hut staff to watch us ski the super couloir with our large backpacks we set off. The snow up top was really nice and I hope we looked good for the gallery watching from above. Lower down the snow turned a bit mushy though and made skiing very difficult. I ended up traversing back and forth with a few kickturns thrown in to make things interesting. We got to the bottom of the couloir where we'd have to bypass the water fall and skied into the steep forest.The snow was quite a bit harder here which was good. I found my tiny little entrance couloir that I used the year before and it looked to be the best option to get around the steepest section of forest. Dan on the other hand felt the best option would be to lose a ski down a steep chute. His only option would be to follow the climbers track down and find his ski. We said we'd meet him below and parted ways. I lowered myself into the steep chute which was much easier this time around as there was a lot more snow. The scrambling was really fun and Nick couldn't get over how big the smile on my face was. He scrambled in next and while not really enjoying it as much as I was looked to have some fun making tight turns in the steep and narrow chute. We skied out into the next couloir and quickly saw Dan's ski sitting on the slope but no Dan. Shouting up we found that he was stuck in some steep trees with difficult ice right under the snow. He had to retreat up a ways and put his crampons on to descend. It took him about an hour to pop out of the trees and he looked pretty shaken up. I now saw that the classic decent that I had been raving about all trip was not so classic at all and was kind of turning into an epic. But the hardest part of the trip was just about finished with all that was left was negotiating a little bit of avalanche debris before we were able to get into the forest and easily ski down to the road. But that is where I lie. The little bit of avy debris was actually a ton of debris. Easily a class 5 slide that probably slid right from the top of the col some 1500 metres above. A class 5 slide will take out a town. Would have been an interesting site to see that thing ripping down the couloir.We finally got off the slide debris and found some fun and dirty snow in the low angle trees before hitting the thankfully unplowed road. We were lucky enough to be able to ski all the way to the gate just 15 minutes from ShinHotaka. Pretty amazing and a fairly large decent of almost 1900 metres. It had taken us almost 9 hours to reach the bus station. Nick was supposed to buy a round of beer for this portion of the trip however because I had led them into what I thought was kind of a fun route but could have been very dangerous I had to buy beer. If that was the only consequence then I'm fine with that.Overall this trip was one of my best ever. I was able to knock off 2 biglines that have been haunting me for quite sometime and upped my climbing ability which is pretty good as well.Another great time in the mountains.
Backcountry Skiing – Kamikochi – Karasawa Valley
17th June 2005
Erik who is out from America on a 3 month vacation wanted to go hiking so Bill and I organized a trip into the mountains for the 3 of us. It not like he had to twist our arms. The destination for them was OkuHotaka the 3rd highest peak in Japan. For me it would be of course skiing in the Karasawa Valley. Day 1Erik miraculously made it out to Takayama only a day after arriving in Japan and even more surprisingly early enough for us to catch the 5:15 bus to Kamikochi from Hirayu. We started hiking right away and with Bill, Erik and I gabbing away we made fairly slow time to our camping spot at the base of the Karasawa Valley 11km out from Kamikochi. I had walked that distance in my skate shoes and had the startings of nice little blisters. A good dinner and we were in bed to the sounds of the river flowing by just a few metres away.Day 2As usual I'm the first one to wake and spent an enjoyable few minutes with my arm out of my bivi sack throwing small rocks at the tent to wake the other 2 up. Why they wern't awake already is a mystery to me. I mean it was after 4:30. A quick breakfast and slow pack up had us hiking up the trail at 6:00am. We pushed it a little faster this time and were soon resting at the suspension bridge however the Nazi hiker that I am wouldn't let them rest too long and soon had them on their feet again going for base camp. I was able to drop onto the snow once we turned into the correct valley however the skinning was a little difficult on the remains of the avy debris. It was really nice having the weight of the skis off my back though. Gaining more elevation I met up with Bill and Erik again where a film crew from the top hut was making a nature documentary to be shown on NHK. We made it up to the hut by 8:30 and set up camp. I smoothed out a spot for my bivi sack and then set to work digging a hole for my legs so I could sit comfortably. Bill and Erik however put their tent behind me so if I used my hole to sit in I would be facing away from them. I had to dig another hole on the other side of my bivi sack. Now I was perched between two large holes. Roll either way and I'd have a rude awakening. Thanks guys. After a nice long rest we all descided it was time to get going. Bill and Erik were going to attempt OkuHotaka while I was going to attempt a fun couloir between the 2nd and 3rd subpeaks of MaeHotaka. I was hoping that at least 1 of the 3 fingers still went to the saddle. I skinned up as far as I could and then switched from skis to crampons, iceax and helmet. The lower slopes wern't that steep however I knew it would get pretty steep up high and I would like the crampons. Up up up I went. I had to set little goals for myself as I'm not disciplined enough to do this slowly all in one push. Go to the rock. Rest for a 20 seconds. Climb to the next crack. Rest. And so on and so on. I made my way towards the top where I found that the middle and right couloir's went to the ridgline while the left couloir melted out on a steep face. The right couloir wasn't skiable so it was the middle finger for me. It was pretty steep here and each step involved sinking the ax right up to the blade for safety. Really fun stuff. Into the middle finger I found it was steep, narrow and off falline. I climbed up it a ways before getting nervous enough to take a look at the rock on the side. Tried that before finding it too loose for crampons and hard boots. Back on the snow I made the final steps to the ridge where I had a nice break. It was nice seeing the area from a different angle. I could clearly see my ski line from a month ago when I came into this area with Dan. It was still very skiable. A quick rest and it was time for the fun part. I was able to make a few turns through the middle finger however it choked down and as it was off falline I didn't feel comfortable turning. So I had to side slip a bit of it however I learned quickly that this is more difficult than turning. Out of the middle finger and into the main couloir I made nice fun steep turns all the way back to camp. A really fun run and just over 600 vert with the steepest pitch being above 45 degrees. I was back in camp by 12:00 just 2 hours after setting out. I went over to the now open hut and bought 4 beer. 1 for my rewarding run and the rest for Bill, Erik and I when they got back. I passed the time relaxing in the sun and even getting a few Zs however bordom overcame me and I built a nice sitting and eating area next to my bivi. Still bored after that I went and sat on the patio eating ramen wondering where Erik and Bill where. The line just above the hut was calling me so after relaxing for long enough I booted up it. A group of people had collected on the patio and were all watching and waiting for me to descend. At the top I clicked in and had a really good high speed run down. It is such a fun little run and the claps and cheers from the hut make you feel like a hero. Back at camp and now nearing 4:00 I was starting to get a little worried however 2 people people stumbling down the snow face from the high saddle turned out to be Bill and Erik. They walked into camp 6 hours after setting out having spent well over an hour on the summit. I know I don't have much disipline but they have next to none. We drank beer around the camp for a while sharing stories from the days events. A really good day.Day 311:30pm and still actually Day 2 my bivi sack opens up and I got a bright light in my eyes and an english voice talking to me. Dan, Risa and Tom had walked up from Kamikochi and had just arrived. We had given up hope on them but I guess they kept on going. The night passed very slowly and was difficult for me. I wasn't very cold but it was more that I was uncomfortable. I was sleeping in all my clothes including my jacket and inner boot liners and was always worried I would slide into the holes on both sides of the narrow platform I was laying on. I gave up trying to sleep around 5:30 and ate a cold breakfast and then started to get ready for another run. Bill and Erik were using all my gear to stake out their tent so when I was finally ready at 6:30 I had to take it all collapsing their vestibules. I told them I would be back by 8:00am however all I got was a sleepy grunt. I had my eyes set on what looked like a narrow couloir going up to the same ridge as yesterday just a lot further down maybe between the 5th and 6th bumps of MaeHotaka. As I booted up I was able to see more and more of the run. It was not nearly as tight as I had hoped and was actually quite wide. But I wasn't going to turn around just cause it was wide. I made it to the top of the 400 metre vertical couloir by 7:30 and after a quick rest strapped in and made some really fun turns back to camp where again there were cheers from the other campers. That feels so good. One of them had even filmed me the entire way. He showed me the run but it wasn't as exciting as I had hoped it would be. It showed me traversing an awful lot. When I was skiing it though it certainly didn't feel like that. It fealt like I was going really fast. Wierd how that is. Back to camp everybody was emerging from their tents. I was mostly packed and had already eaten so had a nice lazy time talking with them. After breafast Erik borrowed my gear and went off for a run. He had a really good time skiing in the nice soft snow. Our go home time soon came and we were off. I was almost able to ski all the way down to the end of the little valley however had to get back on the trail where it joins up with the other valleys. Sad to have to walk that much further. But I guess it is mid June. Back at the suspension bridge Tom who had left much earlier and I relaxed in the sun waiting for the others. When they arrived we ralaxed some more before I fealt we had relaxed enough and started back to the main trail still far below. I set off first setting a pace and thought everybody was right behind me but soon found myself alone and instead of waiting descided to carry on. I made it to the hut and downed a morning beer as it was just before 12 as the others walked in. We again had another nice long rest before contemplating the 11km march back to Kamikochi. Not fun. I changed back into my skate shoes and hoisted the heavy load on my back really wishing I had my bike for this part. After another short rest at the grassy camp we set out for the last 6 km. I found my pace and set off not wanting to stop at all and soon came into Kamikochi at 3:00 where I enjoyed a great vanilla ice cream. A really nice reward for such a good weekend.I have however learned that skate shoes, distance and a heavy backpack don't go together. My left foot hurts really bad and I'm hobbling everywhere. It was way worth it though. Such a good ski and yet another step up in my climbing abilities.
Backcountry Skiing – Kamikochi – Karasawa Valley
21st May 2005
Wanting to get back into the Karasawa Valley again this spring but not wanting to walk the 11km approach a plan was hatched with my good friend Dan Neutel. We would ride our mountain bikes the 11km in saving our legs for the more important part of the trip which was skiing.Friday - I walked out of work at 3:30 much to the annoyance and or jealousy of my co-workers and raced my car up to Hirayu Onsen arriving with far to much time to catch the 5:10 bus. Dan arrived shortly after and we rode our bikes down to the bus terminal with all our gear on our backs. We were still unsure if they would let us on the bus with our bikes. When the time came the bus driver saw our mountain of gear and grudingly let us take the bikes onto the bus. They couldn't really say anything as there wasn't anybody else there to annoy. We quickly got to Kamikochi where there were a few bus employees waiting to help us off with all our gear. Very nice of them. They did however tell us that we wouldn't be allowed to put the bikes back on the bus when we returned in a few days. But we were there and would worry about that on Sunday. We didn't really have any ideas about carrying all the gear so just strapped it all to our backpacks and went on our way. It was hard on the back but we made our way and arrived at our campsite just over an hour after setting out and just before it got dark with lots of energy. A quick dinner and then we were into bed drifting off to sleep to the rushing of the nearby river. It has been quite a while since I have slept this low in a valley.Saturday - Up early we got packed really quick which is surprising as it always seems to take forever to break camp but we were on the trail in just over an hour. We started up the trail and were soon gaining elevation into the Karasawa. The winter route is closed now with the summer suspension bridge now in place so we crossed over and were soon walking up the side of the hill on more and more snow. As we turned into the valley and the trees opened up I put my skis on and dropped down to the bottom where I was able to skin beside the pile of avy debris. We quickly made it to the Karasawa Hut where we set up camp and had a quick break. We had already gained 600 metres but as the weather wasn't going to hold for Sunday wanted to make it up to the high saddle for a big run. With much lighter packs we set off up the cattle trail towards the hut 700 metres above. At first we kind of leap frogged eachother having to stop and take breaks in what seemed to be shorter and shorter intervals. The trail was difficult to walk up as the climbers coming down had obliterated there up track with much longer down steps. I was zig zagging all over the place trying to find a trail with small footsteps. The elevation ticked by and soon I was nearing the hut. I wanted to check out a skinny line I was going to attempt so made my own track across the steep face. There was a little new snow from earlier in the week and every few steps it would collapse onto the hard layer below. Nothing serious as it was not even 10 cms deep and wasn't moving anywhere. I made my way over and found that my line didn't go all the way to ridge. But it was definitly skiable choking down at the bottom to a couple ski lengths. I made my way over to the hut and exausted threw my bag onto the snow. Dan came up about 10 minutes later with bloody hands after having slid for a bit. One more reason for my leather gloves. But he was fine and ready for the ski. I was worried that we were to late as it was already 12 and the sun had been on the snow for about 5 hours but watching a snowboarder make a few turns saw that the snow was still good. A quick snack and I set off up the ridge towards the summit of what I have always called the middle Hotaka but now know as Karasawadake. I had to stay close to the ridge as I didn't want to miss the entrance to my couloir. I soon found it and also saw that the snow was guarded by vertical walls that with my limited rock skills would be too difficult to get into. A little more looking however and I found an easier entrance. It involved a few rocks holds and a couple vegetable belays and then I was on the snow. Strapping into my skis I made my way down the steepening couloir where near the bottom I went off to the side so I could watch Dan ski down his chosen route. I had the camera so took pictures of him as he made his way down. His skiing ability has risen so much in the last 2 months. After he was in a safe area I made the last few turns coming out onto the top of the main face. It fealt great to ski this line as I have been thinking about it for almost a year now since seeing it with Matt when we climbed Hotaka last July. We both skied over to a ridgline and I found an entrance to another short couloir that we both skied. It was really nice as well. This led us onto the large apron where it would be an uninterupted ski all the way back to camp maybe 500 metres below. I went first and the snow was really good. We could make nice big turns in the soft spring snow. There were loose rocks though and by the time you spotted them it was to late. A few new scratches on the Shuksans. Getting back to camp Dan said he hit a good sized rock. Taking his ski off we found a nice sized core shot. Hopefully he can get it fixed. But that didn't dampen our good spirits. We celebrated the run with a couple cold beer sitting on the patio of the Karasawa Hut in the sun. We were both exausted. A few snacks and general lazing around and finally it was dinner which after the temperatures started to drop and it was time for bed at the late late hour of 7:00 pm.Sunday - As this trip involves a longer approach I had gone light and crammed everything into my day bag. This included the tent. I didn't have any space for my warm down sleeping bag. So I had to suffer in my summer over bag which is really only meant to be used on it's own in the tropics. But I was wearing all my clothes including the inners to my boots and ski pants. It was a cold night and I managed to sleep despite the cold air. The temperature in the tent got down around 2 or 3 in the early morning hours. As promised the clouds moved in and we even got a few rain drops after the sun came up. We were planning on skiing a steep northern face but with a lowering ceiling decided to bail out. After a quick breakfast though I wanted to ski something steep so booted my way up the short couloir near the hut. It's a cool line that's just under 45 degrees and has large rock walls on both sides. I made my way as far as I would be able to ski and had a fun 200 metre run back to camp. Unlike during Golden Week though my only audience was Dan and he didn't clap or cheer like everybody did when a skier ripped through it with lots of speed a few weeks before.Packed up we made out way out. It was a fun ski out although most of it was traversing down the valley walls. We decended down to the river below the trail. Dan chose to hike out on the far bank along the winter trail while I tried to push the skiing on the opposite bank. It quickly turned into a boulder hopping, alder bashing, don't fall into the river adventure but I was able to eek out a few turns skiing the last patch of snow just before the bridge. Attaching skis to bags we made our way back down to our bikes. Another celebatory beer while we rested and debated how to make the ride out easier. Dan brought out quite a few straps from his bag and we rigged up the skis so they were attached to the frame of the bikes. We then clicked the boots into the bindings. This made the load on our backs much better. The ride out was really fun and I was kind of disapointed when it was over as I was having a good time. We finished it up our trip riding across the busy Kappa Bashi in the crowds of tourists. A really good trip made even better when they let us onto the bus with our bikes saving us from 10km of riding back to Hirayu.
Backcountry Skiing – Kamikochi – Karasawa Valley – Shin Hotaka
4th May 2005
Kamikochi - ShinHotaka Solo Ski TraverseDay 1Bailing off of Tateyama due to bad weather which eventually cleared up I wanted to get into the mountains again and not waste my Golden Week vacation. I had just bought "New" ski mountainteering boots off of my friend Sandy and wanted to try them out. Not wanting some pussy ski outing I set my eyes on a pretty ambitious route. A one way dealy starting in Kamikochi and exiting in ShinHotaka with a ski descent down a super couloir I have always wanted to ski. I can see this huge couloir from work and it is an amazing site.Getting up early I packed my bag with the intentions of going light and fast. The approach would involve about 15km of walking. All of which would be in my boots. I packed everything into my day bag leaving the tent and stove at home opting for the lighter less comfortable bivisack and taking only chocolate bars, rice, corn and tuna to eat. I was able to start marching at Kamikochi and as Sandy now has me saying I fealt ToKnar (Totally Knarly) walking through the masses in my boots with skis attached to my bag. It could have been downtown Tokyo there were so many people. But as with all the outdoor tourist spots in Japan the people started to vanish the further I got from the bus station. I made good time for the first 11 km which is a flat walk along a river. Amazing what a little rocker will do on the sole of ski boots. I was even more amazed to discover around km 10 that I was walking in ski mode. Oops. Leaving the wide trail I crossed the main river and ascended the trail into the Karasawa Valley. The pace really slowed down here as I was walking on loose rocks and slushy snow. I finally got frustrated and put my skis on. Such a good feeling and so much more efficient than walking. After gaining a little more elevation the valley chokes into a narrow ravine which was filled with recent avalanche debris. I would think that it probably came down just a few days before in the heavy rain. There was much more evidence of avalanches here than in the Tateyama area. But nothing seemed to be sliding on this beautiful sunny day. I slowly made my way up and over all the avalanche debris finding the best way was to skin directly up the climbers trail. They walk on our skin tracks. I'll skin on their climbing trails. I slowly made my way up to the hut and picked an area to put my small camp. I was exausted. Only 5 hours of hiking but I had travelled well over 15km. There were some beautiful ski lines that would have been easy to get to but I was just to tired to even contemplate them. Every so often there would be clapping and cheering from all the people as somebody ripped down the faces and chutes. I needed nourishment though and as my chocolate bars wern't to appealing opted for the hut made ramen. As I was sitting on the hut's balcony eating my lunch I spotted a familier red jacket and over comes Yutaka Takagi. The ski guide that Nick and I keep running into in the Tateyama area. He was guiding a ski trip that had traversed from Yari to Hotaka. A pretty cool route in the summer and even cooler in the spring with skis. My ramen eaten I said my goodbyes and went back to my bivi. I poured water into my rice to hydrate it and let it be for the next hour. Yummy. Cold rice, tuna and corn. The temterature started to drop and I was happy to be bivi-ing as you can still be outside while sitting snug in your sleeping bag. My dinner of mostly hydrated very cold rice eaten I pulled my hood up and gazed at the stars before falling asleep.Day 2I awoke to hail hitting the hood of my bivisack and was really annoyed to see that it was starting to cloud over. Looking closer though I found that the mass of Hotaka was creating it's own weather. The west side that I would be descending was blue while the east side was a bit cloudy. I packed my gear and with crampons attached started the grunt of a climb up to the hut 800 vertical metres above. The snow was soft down low however after gaining some elevation it turned to ice and I was glad for the extra purchase my crampons allowed. Most of the way up an amazing ski line appeared. It was a tight couloir starting near the summit of Hotaka and emptying out into the Karasawa Bowl. Next year I will ski it. 2 hours after starting I was at the hut and talking to my friend the guide. They were going to ski the chute that appealed to me so much. I wished them luck and watched them scramble up the ladders in crampons towards the summit. A lucky group. I waited around a bit longer wanting the sun to hit my line and soften the snow a bit. At 10 I had waited long enough and got ready to ski my line. Dropping in I found the first hundred or so metres to be pretty icy however the further I descended the softer and better the snow got. The couloir drops over a huge waterfall 800 metres in so I had to bypass this on the summer trail. Parts of it were bare though so after sidslipping in the very steep trees decided that the best option was to attach my skis to my bag and walk down the steep trail. This proved to be just as sketchy as skiing though as the tails of my skis hanging low off my bag kept catching the snow and pushing my forward. Not fun and very slow going. As I had descended this trail in the summer I knew that the trail would spit me out into the couloir on the right. I spotted a very steep entry into this couloir and bushwacked carefully over to it. It would involve 2-3 metres of downclimbing on loose rocks to get onto the very steep snowfilled chute which eventually led to the new couloir. I lowered my poles down (dropped) and then took my backpack off and lowered it as well (dropped). It tumbled once or twice but stopped with a crash against the cliffs on the side of the chute. Now I was commited to this route. Lowering myself in using vegetable belays I made it halfway down. Removing a few of the loose rocks I started to lower myself in but slipped on the loose rocks and fell into the steep cnow filled chute. It really is amazing how the body goes into survival mode when it is faced with something like this. I bounced off the side of the cliffs and came to a stop just above my bag and skis. Nothing to serious and I was laughing pretty good. I attached my skis put my backpack on and sideslipped into the new couloir. Everything was good now. I was able to ski right down the middle and quickly joined up with the summer trail. This is where the couloir ends and it just becomes a river. There seemed to be a continuous snow line down the side and all the tracks followed it so I did as well. It was patchy in places and more than a few times I had to take my skis off and walk across the large rocks to the next snow patch. Only once though did I give up and attached my skis to my bag. They were off a couple minutes later though when after rounding a corner I saw more snow. I eventually made it to the road where I was able to ski along the side on the only snow around. I got the last skiable snow which was at most 20 cms wide at 1500 metres. An amazing 1500 metre vertical. I was pretty happy as it really cut the time I expected to be walking. I put my skis on my bag for the last time and walked the rest of the way out arriving in ShinHotaka 3 hours after starting my descent. A really good ski.
3rd May 2006
All winter and spring it didn't really seem like there was more than 2 or 3 clear days in a row. When the forcast for Golden Week came out I was amazed to see 4 straight days of sunshine. Things just don't get any better than that.The plan was set long before with Dan and Nick in for an epic trip into the big mountains of the Karasawa Valley. We would take our 5 days and ski a few lines that have been haunting me for the past couple years.Day 1Wednesday May 3, 2006I met Dan and Nick in Hirayu and after some interesting pack stuffing we all shouldered our massive bags and trucked on down to the bus station. We arrived just a few minutes after a bus left so looking at the scedule saw the next one going in 20-30 minutes. Dan thought now would be a good time to relieve himself. A few minutes after he left though another bus came up. Nick ran to grab Dan and in the chaos of the bathroom Dan ripped his jacket and we missed the bus. Alright. Next bus then in again what we thought would be 20-30 minutes. 5 minutes later and with Dan's gear now all over the ground the next bus rolled up. Well we got onto this bus but it wasn't easy with all of us carrying armfulls of gear. But we were on our way just a little bit disorganized.Into Kamikochi and we again geared up this time attaching skis to our bags. Dan and Nick would hike in shoes so had to attach their boots to their bags making them even heavier. But they didn't complain too much about it or maybe I didn't listen but we set off to complete the massive march to camp. The kilimetres ticked off and a quick couple hours later I was able to take my skis off the bag and skin the remaining distance to Yoko lodge. Amazing that there was snow this low in the valley this late in the year.A good break and I got the whip out and made the boys get their bags back on for the remaining haul to the end of the Karasawa valley.Again it went a bit easier for Nick and I as we could skin while Dan was still walking. We slowly made our way up the valley gaining altitude while passing as many people as I could. It was quite busy but most of the people climbing up the valley were on foot with only 2 or 3 ski tracks.The hut came into view and then I was crossing the roll and finally I threw my bag off in victory. I had made it to camp. I found a nice secluded spot a bit further from the mass of tents right around the hut and started digging out a platform. Dan and Nick showed up shortly after both feeling very demoralized at what they had just come up. Dan even went so far as saying that he didn't want to descend the super couloir to ShinHotaka on Day 5. I scoffed at that as I knew he was just tired. We set up camp and retired to sleep.Day 2Thursday May 4, 2006Up with the sun we all felt great and wanted to ski something big. The something big would have to be the classic and steep direct ski off the summit of Japan's 3rd highest mountain OkuHotaka. Last year during Golden Week I spotted a lone skier climbing up this route and have wanted to ski it every since. I didn't however want to ski it by myself. On the climb up however it looked like I would be doing just that. I was out front passing people like I enjoy doing with Nick a bit behind and Dan bringing up the rear way back. From my vantage it looked like he was hating life and wouldn't make it. Nick didn't look that positive as well so I made my decision. I would climb the couloir by myself and hopefully meet Nick at the top. I had to climb it so that I'd know what the snow was like and where the route went. As I traversed over to the entrance though Dan all of a sudden got a second wind and was practically running up the mountain. It would be good to have some company on the steep approach.I shouted across to Nick that our turnaround time was 11 and that if we wern't on the summit by then or vice versa we'd have to turn around. I thought we would easily make that time as it was only 9 and we only had another 500 metres to gain. But the going was slow for Dan and myself. We were following 2 mountaineers up the route and they were pretty slow however I wasn't complaining as the pace was nice for me. Dan on the other hand was feeling super human and was always waiting for me to get going so that I wouldn't fall on top of his head. The time ticked by and soon we were cresting the steepest pitch of the climb which just happened to be a couple metres below the summit. The snow was icy and the slope was at least 50 degrees for this short section. It felt great to get up something that steep and icy. At the top we had a quick picture with our Japanese mountaineer friends and then another quick summit shot. By then it was 11 and we had to get on our way. We downclimbed a short portion of the ridge to our entrance and then got ready.With all our climbing gear stashed, boots done up and gloves on I walked to edge only to find that we were still too high and would have to ski into the steep icy top section. I had fucked up a bit. We should have decended to the next entrance along the ridge. We couldn't just walk down though as the north side of the ridge was quite icy and fall wouldn't have pretty. I quickly got my crampons on and booted down the ridge to the correct entrance however Dan with strap-on crampons had to take a bit more time. He ended up struggling down the ridge with a line of 20 mountaineers waiting for him to finish up. Pretty embarrassing and completly my fault. But now at the correct line and with Dan's cursing finally finished we clicked into our skis. I went first and traversed into the line. The snow was great. Dan followed me in and we leap frogged eachother to the bottom of the couloir where we skied right back to camp. A great line knocked off.Day 3Friday May 5, 2006Up early again we set out to knock another of my lines off. This time we would ski the steep couloir between peaks 1 and 2 of the MaeHotaka area. This line holds snow well into the summer but it's really steep and I just havn't had the time or partners to ski it. The slush down low that we were booting up quickly turned to hard ice and we were lucky to have our crampons and axes. The slope steepened and it turned into one of my steepest and iciest climbs yet. We pretty much ran up the slope and were sitting on top just 2 hours after setting out. A very fun climb. This gave us lots of time to relax and let the sun work the snow for a bit. We waited for over an hour taking in all the mountains all around us before gearing up for the run. I went first and found that the sun had cooked the snow just right. It was a perfect corn snow run. As we rounded the corner at the bottom and changed aspects though the temperature quickly rose and the last section of snow was a bit mushy. But all in all it was a really great ski and climb. I was really happy to have knocked that one off. While drinking our usual afternoon beer we got a weather forcast for the rest of the trip and found that a system would come in for Sunday bringing rain. Our perfect weather wasn't going to hold for the 5 days we were planning in the mountains. We made a group decision to bail on the 4th day instead of the 5th. Day 4Saturday May 6, 2006I got up before the sun rose as I knew we'd probably have a long day getting up and over the high col. With camp slowly getting packed away Nick set out on the climb to the top hut some 750 metres above. I left second and Dan dilly daddled around camp hoping to run up the slope and pass me. We all struggled up the hill with some of us struggling a bit more than others. For me it was a good climb as there was a bit of a challenge. Under our large bags I set a goal of passing 2 snowboarders way above me with little day bags. With some hard work I caught and passed them just below the top of the climb. It had taken me 2 hours. Dan had gotten a little cocky over the past 2 days though and had waited about 20-30 minutes after I left camp to start his ascent. He thought he would be able to pass me but I wasn't about to let that happen. While he made it to the top in 1 hour 50 minutes he didn't pass me like he wanted so dearly to do. Nick soon arrived at the top like I knew he would and we trucked into the lodge out of the wind for a much needed lunch. With warm food in our bellies we geared up for the decent. The snow looked good and with an audience of hut staff to watch us ski the super couloir with our large backpacks we set off. The snow up top was really nice and I hope we looked good for the gallery watching from above. Lower down the snow turned a bit mushy though and made skiing very difficult. I ended up traversing back and forth with a few kickturns thrown in to make things interesting. We got to the bottom of the couloir where we'd have to bypass the water fall and skied into the steep forest.The snow was quite a bit harder here which was good. I found my tiny little entrance couloir that I used the year before and it looked to be the best option to get around the steepest section of forest. Dan on the other hand felt the best option would be to lose a ski down a steep chute. His only option would be to follow the climbers track down and find his ski. We said we'd meet him below and parted ways. I lowered myself into the steep chute which was much easier this time around as there was a lot more snow. The scrambling was really fun and Nick couldn't get over how big the smile on my face was. He scrambled in next and while not really enjoying it as much as I was looked to have some fun making tight turns in the steep and narrow chute. We skied out into the next couloir and quickly saw Dan's ski sitting on the slope but no Dan. Shouting up we found that he was stuck in some steep trees with difficult ice right under the snow. He had to retreat up a ways and put his crampons on to descend. It took him about an hour to pop out of the trees and he looked pretty shaken up. I now saw that the classic decent that I had been raving about all trip was not so classic at all and was kind of turning into an epic. But the hardest part of the trip was just about finished with all that was left was negotiating a little bit of avalanche debris before we were able to get into the forest and easily ski down to the road. But that is where I lie. The little bit of avy debris was actually a ton of debris. Easily a class 5 slide that probably slid right from the top of the col some 1500 metres above. A class 5 slide will take out a town. Would have been an interesting site to see that thing ripping down the couloir.We finally got off the slide debris and found some fun and dirty snow in the low angle trees before hitting the thankfully unplowed road. We were lucky enough to be able to ski all the way to the gate just 15 minutes from ShinHotaka. Pretty amazing and a fairly large decent of almost 1900 metres. It had taken us almost 9 hours to reach the bus station. Nick was supposed to buy a round of beer for this portion of the trip however because I had led them into what I thought was kind of a fun route but could have been very dangerous I had to buy beer. If that was the only consequence then I'm fine with that.Overall this trip was one of my best ever. I was able to knock off 2 biglines that have been haunting me for quite sometime and upped my climbing ability which is pretty good as well.Another great time in the mountains.
Backcountry Skiing – Kamikochi – Karasawa Valley
17th June 2005
Erik who is out from America on a 3 month vacation wanted to go hiking so Bill and I organized a trip into the mountains for the 3 of us. It not like he had to twist our arms. The destination for them was OkuHotaka the 3rd highest peak in Japan. For me it would be of course skiing in the Karasawa Valley. Day 1Erik miraculously made it out to Takayama only a day after arriving in Japan and even more surprisingly early enough for us to catch the 5:15 bus to Kamikochi from Hirayu. We started hiking right away and with Bill, Erik and I gabbing away we made fairly slow time to our camping spot at the base of the Karasawa Valley 11km out from Kamikochi. I had walked that distance in my skate shoes and had the startings of nice little blisters. A good dinner and we were in bed to the sounds of the river flowing by just a few metres away.Day 2As usual I'm the first one to wake and spent an enjoyable few minutes with my arm out of my bivi sack throwing small rocks at the tent to wake the other 2 up. Why they wern't awake already is a mystery to me. I mean it was after 4:30. A quick breakfast and slow pack up had us hiking up the trail at 6:00am. We pushed it a little faster this time and were soon resting at the suspension bridge however the Nazi hiker that I am wouldn't let them rest too long and soon had them on their feet again going for base camp. I was able to drop onto the snow once we turned into the correct valley however the skinning was a little difficult on the remains of the avy debris. It was really nice having the weight of the skis off my back though. Gaining more elevation I met up with Bill and Erik again where a film crew from the top hut was making a nature documentary to be shown on NHK. We made it up to the hut by 8:30 and set up camp. I smoothed out a spot for my bivi sack and then set to work digging a hole for my legs so I could sit comfortably. Bill and Erik however put their tent behind me so if I used my hole to sit in I would be facing away from them. I had to dig another hole on the other side of my bivi sack. Now I was perched between two large holes. Roll either way and I'd have a rude awakening. Thanks guys. After a nice long rest we all descided it was time to get going. Bill and Erik were going to attempt OkuHotaka while I was going to attempt a fun couloir between the 2nd and 3rd subpeaks of MaeHotaka. I was hoping that at least 1 of the 3 fingers still went to the saddle. I skinned up as far as I could and then switched from skis to crampons, iceax and helmet. The lower slopes wern't that steep however I knew it would get pretty steep up high and I would like the crampons. Up up up I went. I had to set little goals for myself as I'm not disciplined enough to do this slowly all in one push. Go to the rock. Rest for a 20 seconds. Climb to the next crack. Rest. And so on and so on. I made my way towards the top where I found that the middle and right couloir's went to the ridgline while the left couloir melted out on a steep face. The right couloir wasn't skiable so it was the middle finger for me. It was pretty steep here and each step involved sinking the ax right up to the blade for safety. Really fun stuff. Into the middle finger I found it was steep, narrow and off falline. I climbed up it a ways before getting nervous enough to take a look at the rock on the side. Tried that before finding it too loose for crampons and hard boots. Back on the snow I made the final steps to the ridge where I had a nice break. It was nice seeing the area from a different angle. I could clearly see my ski line from a month ago when I came into this area with Dan. It was still very skiable. A quick rest and it was time for the fun part. I was able to make a few turns through the middle finger however it choked down and as it was off falline I didn't feel comfortable turning. So I had to side slip a bit of it however I learned quickly that this is more difficult than turning. Out of the middle finger and into the main couloir I made nice fun steep turns all the way back to camp. A really fun run and just over 600 vert with the steepest pitch being above 45 degrees. I was back in camp by 12:00 just 2 hours after setting out. I went over to the now open hut and bought 4 beer. 1 for my rewarding run and the rest for Bill, Erik and I when they got back. I passed the time relaxing in the sun and even getting a few Zs however bordom overcame me and I built a nice sitting and eating area next to my bivi. Still bored after that I went and sat on the patio eating ramen wondering where Erik and Bill where. The line just above the hut was calling me so after relaxing for long enough I booted up it. A group of people had collected on the patio and were all watching and waiting for me to descend. At the top I clicked in and had a really good high speed run down. It is such a fun little run and the claps and cheers from the hut make you feel like a hero. Back at camp and now nearing 4:00 I was starting to get a little worried however 2 people people stumbling down the snow face from the high saddle turned out to be Bill and Erik. They walked into camp 6 hours after setting out having spent well over an hour on the summit. I know I don't have much disipline but they have next to none. We drank beer around the camp for a while sharing stories from the days events. A really good day.Day 311:30pm and still actually Day 2 my bivi sack opens up and I got a bright light in my eyes and an english voice talking to me. Dan, Risa and Tom had walked up from Kamikochi and had just arrived. We had given up hope on them but I guess they kept on going. The night passed very slowly and was difficult for me. I wasn't very cold but it was more that I was uncomfortable. I was sleeping in all my clothes including my jacket and inner boot liners and was always worried I would slide into the holes on both sides of the narrow platform I was laying on. I gave up trying to sleep around 5:30 and ate a cold breakfast and then started to get ready for another run. Bill and Erik were using all my gear to stake out their tent so when I was finally ready at 6:30 I had to take it all collapsing their vestibules. I told them I would be back by 8:00am however all I got was a sleepy grunt. I had my eyes set on what looked like a narrow couloir going up to the same ridge as yesterday just a lot further down maybe between the 5th and 6th bumps of MaeHotaka. As I booted up I was able to see more and more of the run. It was not nearly as tight as I had hoped and was actually quite wide. But I wasn't going to turn around just cause it was wide. I made it to the top of the 400 metre vertical couloir by 7:30 and after a quick rest strapped in and made some really fun turns back to camp where again there were cheers from the other campers. That feels so good. One of them had even filmed me the entire way. He showed me the run but it wasn't as exciting as I had hoped it would be. It showed me traversing an awful lot. When I was skiing it though it certainly didn't feel like that. It fealt like I was going really fast. Wierd how that is. Back to camp everybody was emerging from their tents. I was mostly packed and had already eaten so had a nice lazy time talking with them. After breafast Erik borrowed my gear and went off for a run. He had a really good time skiing in the nice soft snow. Our go home time soon came and we were off. I was almost able to ski all the way down to the end of the little valley however had to get back on the trail where it joins up with the other valleys. Sad to have to walk that much further. But I guess it is mid June. Back at the suspension bridge Tom who had left much earlier and I relaxed in the sun waiting for the others. When they arrived we ralaxed some more before I fealt we had relaxed enough and started back to the main trail still far below. I set off first setting a pace and thought everybody was right behind me but soon found myself alone and instead of waiting descided to carry on. I made it to the hut and downed a morning beer as it was just before 12 as the others walked in. We again had another nice long rest before contemplating the 11km march back to Kamikochi. Not fun. I changed back into my skate shoes and hoisted the heavy load on my back really wishing I had my bike for this part. After another short rest at the grassy camp we set out for the last 6 km. I found my pace and set off not wanting to stop at all and soon came into Kamikochi at 3:00 where I enjoyed a great vanilla ice cream. A really nice reward for such a good weekend.I have however learned that skate shoes, distance and a heavy backpack don't go together. My left foot hurts really bad and I'm hobbling everywhere. It was way worth it though. Such a good ski and yet another step up in my climbing abilities.
Backcountry Skiing – Kamikochi – Karasawa Valley
21st May 2005
Wanting to get back into the Karasawa Valley again this spring but not wanting to walk the 11km approach a plan was hatched with my good friend Dan Neutel. We would ride our mountain bikes the 11km in saving our legs for the more important part of the trip which was skiing.Friday - I walked out of work at 3:30 much to the annoyance and or jealousy of my co-workers and raced my car up to Hirayu Onsen arriving with far to much time to catch the 5:10 bus. Dan arrived shortly after and we rode our bikes down to the bus terminal with all our gear on our backs. We were still unsure if they would let us on the bus with our bikes. When the time came the bus driver saw our mountain of gear and grudingly let us take the bikes onto the bus. They couldn't really say anything as there wasn't anybody else there to annoy. We quickly got to Kamikochi where there were a few bus employees waiting to help us off with all our gear. Very nice of them. They did however tell us that we wouldn't be allowed to put the bikes back on the bus when we returned in a few days. But we were there and would worry about that on Sunday. We didn't really have any ideas about carrying all the gear so just strapped it all to our backpacks and went on our way. It was hard on the back but we made our way and arrived at our campsite just over an hour after setting out and just before it got dark with lots of energy. A quick dinner and then we were into bed drifting off to sleep to the rushing of the nearby river. It has been quite a while since I have slept this low in a valley.Saturday - Up early we got packed really quick which is surprising as it always seems to take forever to break camp but we were on the trail in just over an hour. We started up the trail and were soon gaining elevation into the Karasawa. The winter route is closed now with the summer suspension bridge now in place so we crossed over and were soon walking up the side of the hill on more and more snow. As we turned into the valley and the trees opened up I put my skis on and dropped down to the bottom where I was able to skin beside the pile of avy debris. We quickly made it to the Karasawa Hut where we set up camp and had a quick break. We had already gained 600 metres but as the weather wasn't going to hold for Sunday wanted to make it up to the high saddle for a big run. With much lighter packs we set off up the cattle trail towards the hut 700 metres above. At first we kind of leap frogged eachother having to stop and take breaks in what seemed to be shorter and shorter intervals. The trail was difficult to walk up as the climbers coming down had obliterated there up track with much longer down steps. I was zig zagging all over the place trying to find a trail with small footsteps. The elevation ticked by and soon I was nearing the hut. I wanted to check out a skinny line I was going to attempt so made my own track across the steep face. There was a little new snow from earlier in the week and every few steps it would collapse onto the hard layer below. Nothing serious as it was not even 10 cms deep and wasn't moving anywhere. I made my way over and found that my line didn't go all the way to ridge. But it was definitly skiable choking down at the bottom to a couple ski lengths. I made my way over to the hut and exausted threw my bag onto the snow. Dan came up about 10 minutes later with bloody hands after having slid for a bit. One more reason for my leather gloves. But he was fine and ready for the ski. I was worried that we were to late as it was already 12 and the sun had been on the snow for about 5 hours but watching a snowboarder make a few turns saw that the snow was still good. A quick snack and I set off up the ridge towards the summit of what I have always called the middle Hotaka but now know as Karasawadake. I had to stay close to the ridge as I didn't want to miss the entrance to my couloir. I soon found it and also saw that the snow was guarded by vertical walls that with my limited rock skills would be too difficult to get into. A little more looking however and I found an easier entrance. It involved a few rocks holds and a couple vegetable belays and then I was on the snow. Strapping into my skis I made my way down the steepening couloir where near the bottom I went off to the side so I could watch Dan ski down his chosen route. I had the camera so took pictures of him as he made his way down. His skiing ability has risen so much in the last 2 months. After he was in a safe area I made the last few turns coming out onto the top of the main face. It fealt great to ski this line as I have been thinking about it for almost a year now since seeing it with Matt when we climbed Hotaka last July. We both skied over to a ridgline and I found an entrance to another short couloir that we both skied. It was really nice as well. This led us onto the large apron where it would be an uninterupted ski all the way back to camp maybe 500 metres below. I went first and the snow was really good. We could make nice big turns in the soft spring snow. There were loose rocks though and by the time you spotted them it was to late. A few new scratches on the Shuksans. Getting back to camp Dan said he hit a good sized rock. Taking his ski off we found a nice sized core shot. Hopefully he can get it fixed. But that didn't dampen our good spirits. We celebrated the run with a couple cold beer sitting on the patio of the Karasawa Hut in the sun. We were both exausted. A few snacks and general lazing around and finally it was dinner which after the temperatures started to drop and it was time for bed at the late late hour of 7:00 pm.Sunday - As this trip involves a longer approach I had gone light and crammed everything into my day bag. This included the tent. I didn't have any space for my warm down sleeping bag. So I had to suffer in my summer over bag which is really only meant to be used on it's own in the tropics. But I was wearing all my clothes including the inners to my boots and ski pants. It was a cold night and I managed to sleep despite the cold air. The temperature in the tent got down around 2 or 3 in the early morning hours. As promised the clouds moved in and we even got a few rain drops after the sun came up. We were planning on skiing a steep northern face but with a lowering ceiling decided to bail out. After a quick breakfast though I wanted to ski something steep so booted my way up the short couloir near the hut. It's a cool line that's just under 45 degrees and has large rock walls on both sides. I made my way as far as I would be able to ski and had a fun 200 metre run back to camp. Unlike during Golden Week though my only audience was Dan and he didn't clap or cheer like everybody did when a skier ripped through it with lots of speed a few weeks before.Packed up we made out way out. It was a fun ski out although most of it was traversing down the valley walls. We decended down to the river below the trail. Dan chose to hike out on the far bank along the winter trail while I tried to push the skiing on the opposite bank. It quickly turned into a boulder hopping, alder bashing, don't fall into the river adventure but I was able to eek out a few turns skiing the last patch of snow just before the bridge. Attaching skis to bags we made our way back down to our bikes. Another celebatory beer while we rested and debated how to make the ride out easier. Dan brought out quite a few straps from his bag and we rigged up the skis so they were attached to the frame of the bikes. We then clicked the boots into the bindings. This made the load on our backs much better. The ride out was really fun and I was kind of disapointed when it was over as I was having a good time. We finished it up our trip riding across the busy Kappa Bashi in the crowds of tourists. A really good trip made even better when they let us onto the bus with our bikes saving us from 10km of riding back to Hirayu.
Backcountry Skiing – Kamikochi – Karasawa Valley – Shin Hotaka
4th May 2005
Kamikochi - ShinHotaka Solo Ski TraverseDay 1Bailing off of Tateyama due to bad weather which eventually cleared up I wanted to get into the mountains again and not waste my Golden Week vacation. I had just bought "New" ski mountainteering boots off of my friend Sandy and wanted to try them out. Not wanting some pussy ski outing I set my eyes on a pretty ambitious route. A one way dealy starting in Kamikochi and exiting in ShinHotaka with a ski descent down a super couloir I have always wanted to ski. I can see this huge couloir from work and it is an amazing site.Getting up early I packed my bag with the intentions of going light and fast. The approach would involve about 15km of walking. All of which would be in my boots. I packed everything into my day bag leaving the tent and stove at home opting for the lighter less comfortable bivisack and taking only chocolate bars, rice, corn and tuna to eat. I was able to start marching at Kamikochi and as Sandy now has me saying I fealt ToKnar (Totally Knarly) walking through the masses in my boots with skis attached to my bag. It could have been downtown Tokyo there were so many people. But as with all the outdoor tourist spots in Japan the people started to vanish the further I got from the bus station. I made good time for the first 11 km which is a flat walk along a river. Amazing what a little rocker will do on the sole of ski boots. I was even more amazed to discover around km 10 that I was walking in ski mode. Oops. Leaving the wide trail I crossed the main river and ascended the trail into the Karasawa Valley. The pace really slowed down here as I was walking on loose rocks and slushy snow. I finally got frustrated and put my skis on. Such a good feeling and so much more efficient than walking. After gaining a little more elevation the valley chokes into a narrow ravine which was filled with recent avalanche debris. I would think that it probably came down just a few days before in the heavy rain. There was much more evidence of avalanches here than in the Tateyama area. But nothing seemed to be sliding on this beautiful sunny day. I slowly made my way up and over all the avalanche debris finding the best way was to skin directly up the climbers trail. They walk on our skin tracks. I'll skin on their climbing trails. I slowly made my way up to the hut and picked an area to put my small camp. I was exausted. Only 5 hours of hiking but I had travelled well over 15km. There were some beautiful ski lines that would have been easy to get to but I was just to tired to even contemplate them. Every so often there would be clapping and cheering from all the people as somebody ripped down the faces and chutes. I needed nourishment though and as my chocolate bars wern't to appealing opted for the hut made ramen. As I was sitting on the hut's balcony eating my lunch I spotted a familier red jacket and over comes Yutaka Takagi. The ski guide that Nick and I keep running into in the Tateyama area. He was guiding a ski trip that had traversed from Yari to Hotaka. A pretty cool route in the summer and even cooler in the spring with skis. My ramen eaten I said my goodbyes and went back to my bivi. I poured water into my rice to hydrate it and let it be for the next hour. Yummy. Cold rice, tuna and corn. The temterature started to drop and I was happy to be bivi-ing as you can still be outside while sitting snug in your sleeping bag. My dinner of mostly hydrated very cold rice eaten I pulled my hood up and gazed at the stars before falling asleep.Day 2I awoke to hail hitting the hood of my bivisack and was really annoyed to see that it was starting to cloud over. Looking closer though I found that the mass of Hotaka was creating it's own weather. The west side that I would be descending was blue while the east side was a bit cloudy. I packed my gear and with crampons attached started the grunt of a climb up to the hut 800 vertical metres above. The snow was soft down low however after gaining some elevation it turned to ice and I was glad for the extra purchase my crampons allowed. Most of the way up an amazing ski line appeared. It was a tight couloir starting near the summit of Hotaka and emptying out into the Karasawa Bowl. Next year I will ski it. 2 hours after starting I was at the hut and talking to my friend the guide. They were going to ski the chute that appealed to me so much. I wished them luck and watched them scramble up the ladders in crampons towards the summit. A lucky group. I waited around a bit longer wanting the sun to hit my line and soften the snow a bit. At 10 I had waited long enough and got ready to ski my line. Dropping in I found the first hundred or so metres to be pretty icy however the further I descended the softer and better the snow got. The couloir drops over a huge waterfall 800 metres in so I had to bypass this on the summer trail. Parts of it were bare though so after sidslipping in the very steep trees decided that the best option was to attach my skis to my bag and walk down the steep trail. This proved to be just as sketchy as skiing though as the tails of my skis hanging low off my bag kept catching the snow and pushing my forward. Not fun and very slow going. As I had descended this trail in the summer I knew that the trail would spit me out into the couloir on the right. I spotted a very steep entry into this couloir and bushwacked carefully over to it. It would involve 2-3 metres of downclimbing on loose rocks to get onto the very steep snowfilled chute which eventually led to the new couloir. I lowered my poles down (dropped) and then took my backpack off and lowered it as well (dropped). It tumbled once or twice but stopped with a crash against the cliffs on the side of the chute. Now I was commited to this route. Lowering myself in using vegetable belays I made it halfway down. Removing a few of the loose rocks I started to lower myself in but slipped on the loose rocks and fell into the steep cnow filled chute. It really is amazing how the body goes into survival mode when it is faced with something like this. I bounced off the side of the cliffs and came to a stop just above my bag and skis. Nothing to serious and I was laughing pretty good. I attached my skis put my backpack on and sideslipped into the new couloir. Everything was good now. I was able to ski right down the middle and quickly joined up with the summer trail. This is where the couloir ends and it just becomes a river. There seemed to be a continuous snow line down the side and all the tracks followed it so I did as well. It was patchy in places and more than a few times I had to take my skis off and walk across the large rocks to the next snow patch. Only once though did I give up and attached my skis to my bag. They were off a couple minutes later though when after rounding a corner I saw more snow. I eventually made it to the road where I was able to ski along the side on the only snow around. I got the last skiable snow which was at most 20 cms wide at 1500 metres. An amazing 1500 metre vertical. I was pretty happy as it really cut the time I expected to be walking. I put my skis on my bag for the last time and walked the rest of the way out arriving in ShinHotaka 3 hours after starting my descent. A really good ski.
