HAKUBA Mountainlife M AG A ZINE
Free Backcountry Magazine 2012/13 Season, Issue 1
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CONTENTS The Five Seasons of Snow 6 Where To Get Started 10 Hakuba’s Own Avalanche Information Bulletin 13 Avalanche Safety 14 A Long Way To Go For A Beer 16 Centre Fold 18 Shirouma-dake, Hakuba’s Highest Peak 20 Gallery 24 Kodama: Japanese Tree Spirits 28 Interview With Lee Lyon 31 Hakuba Snow Monkeys 34
Cover: Shirouma-dake (2,932m), viewed from the Obinata-yama area. This page: The north east aspect of Norikura-dake. READ ONLINE Hakuba MouantainLife Magazine is available online. Please visit www.mountanlife.jp to read and share electronically. FACEBOOK Our Facebook page contains volumnes of very useful information. You won’t regret it if you check it out at www.facebook.com/mountainlifejp CONTRIBUTE We are interested in photography and writing from backcountry skiers and boarders who have spent time in Hakuba’s mountains. Please contact us at info@mountainlife.jp ADVERTISE Hakuba MountainLife Magazine offers very limited advertising space. To advertise please contact us at info@mountainlife.jp Publisher: MountainLife.jp Editor: Damian Banwell Design: Mio Tonouchi Photos: MountainLife.jp unless otherwise stated Contact: info@mountainlife.jp © 2012 MountainLife.jp All rights reserved.
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Welcome to Hakuba MountainLife Magazine MountainLife is a small local backcountry guiding and avalanche training business in Hakuba. This is our free home-grown magazine. For more information about us please visit www.mountainlife.jp You are reading our very first issue. Created for mountain people visiting Hakuba, this is a backcountry magazine, not a resort guide. This season we feature Hakuba’s highest peak, Shirouma-dake. You can find pictures of it throughout the magazine. Viewed from the valley, Shirouma is the broad peak on the right of Hakuba’s well known “Three Peaks”, which all sit between Happo and Tsugaike.These peaks, and the entire range, are more than just scenery to us. It simply feels good to be on the snow in Hakuba’s mountains. This is why we ski in them every day we can for 6 months a year. Reading this magazine might give a small sense of that good feeling—please let us know if it does or does not. If you spend enough time tasting the freedom of cold white pure mountains you will know how it gets into you soul, and we all have that in common. In life you are what you share, and we hope that you enjoy this free magazine. Please use it to better enjoy your mountain time in Hakuba. Be safe. MountainLifeは白馬で外国人を対象に、バックカントリー ガイドと雪崩トレーニングのビジネスを行っています。 この雑誌は私たちが初めて作成したフリーマガジンで、 今後、 日本語での記事掲載も検討しています。 白馬におけ るマウンテンライフについて、写真や記事などの寄稿にご 興味がある場合は、 ぜひお知らせください。 - Damian
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THE FIVE SEASONS OF SNOW Backcountry touring is good from December to May, however there is more than just autumn, winter and spring. Here’s how the snow season usually unfolds in Hakuba.
Along the Korenge ridge (2,600m) in early January.
L
ate November and Early December
By the third week of November you will probably have had a chance to climb Hakuba’s Yari-ga-Take (2,903m) and ski the open slopes from the summit to the south. It is a long walk up there, and a long walk back. However after a very green summer, it’s skiing, and with surprisingly few rocks sticking through. One possible route up is via Daisekkei, the permanent snow (neve) field that leads up to the main ridgeline. You would have noticed that it is cracked/crevassed in places, and that is useful info as by early December the first skiing on Daisekkei will have usually taken place. Typically the crevasses are poorly bridged after the first storms and some are deep with narrow constriction. Autumn, or in Japanese, aki, is cold, pure and clear.The colours in the trees are simply amazing and you know winter is coming, you can smell it. This is the best season for the expectation which it brings. Seeing the early flakes settle feels both exciting and hesitant, as you know what mayhem is about to be unleashed. That one centimeter on the ground outside your door is the first of between 800 and 1,200cm that will fall in the next 4 months. Hang on, because it’s coming. A very good option near to Hakuba for mid-November is a visit to Tateyama. From Omachi—a town just south of Hakuba— you are able to take a sequence of expensive modes of mountain transport into the Tateyama section of the Japan Alps. After a funicular, cable car, tunnel bus, and a walk across
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Yari-ga-take (2,903m) in November.
a dam wall, you’ll eventually see a lot of very good quality alpine terrain. You’ll possible also be greeted by perhaps 100-200cm of snow in a good year, especially by late November. Tateyama mechanised access shuts at the end of November and the long weekend public holiday that coincides with this shutdown is usually busy enough to justify going mid-week instead. Very inexpensive camping is right by some luxury amenities (beer machines and onsens) whilst lodges are available for a higher price.
December into Late January When the snow starts, as though a switch has been flicked. Enormous falls can be recorded during this phase of the snow season with 200cm in a week quite possible. Or 10cm every day for 10 days—even better. It just keeps snowing. The driving force behind the snow is the cold air that comes from Siberia. It picks up moisture over the Sea of Japan, then with orographic lift, it is dumped as it hits the coast and heads inland. Once true winter kicks in this system is a regular repeater. If this cold powder weather pattern is unreliable, then so too is the season as Hakuba depends on this system to overcome the generally warm weather that we might otherwise have. Around Christmas we usually get great skiing from about 2,300m. In fact, some seasons it can be better than it will be all winter. Lower tree skiing is ok, but not yet fully filled in. Higher alpine is also good in the early new year, though restricted due to constant storms. Said
with caution, steeper terrain is sometimes at its safest as no rain crusts exist in the snowpack so early in the season. By about mid-January, winter is in full swing on all aspects and at all elevations, the tree skiing is great, and the mountains are full of powder with few later season hazards such as wide open glide cracks starting to form.
February At 36.7 degrees north, Hakuba is on the same latitude as the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. So if our Siberian air conditioner and snow machine temporarily turns off in February, Hakuba warms up. By now we are skiing just about everything from trees to summits and any honest local is getting it done knowing that some rain may come sooner or later, if it has not rained already. Hakuba does not have a serious winter, and the coldest period does not last for very long. Rather, we have coastal mild temperatures and a high moisture content deep snowpack that accumulates very rapidly. 7
February can be the big decider for the rest of the colder season with anything from continued big powderstorms, rain, ongoing high pressure, or a bit of everything. Sometimes February can be cruel to the fans of our easy access steep skiing.Yet Hakuba has plenty out there and this is the time to make the most of the terrain and go touring to solve whatever the wind brings in. By the end of February, temperatures will usually have become much milder and those familiar with winters further north will think that it is spring. The value of shaded aspects becomes apparent as the sun climbs higher in the sky every day—it is a strong sun at this latitude. Keep an eye out for big glide cracks terrain by mid-month. These will have opened on steeper slopes without much anchoring by vegetation and can cause nasty injuries.
March Spring usually arrives with a bang for a week, then it backs off again, only to return for good by late March. Sometime in early March, if not a before, the cold Siberian system will stop for 8
good, and you will notice when it does. Early March may well have a persistent avalanche problem related to a rain crust that is not buried so deep since regular snowfalls abated. It will also have some powder and longer days with warmer snow. Quite suddenly, friendly crowds will start to appear along well known Tsugaike ski touring routes—places that have been mostly empty all winter. The Japanese enjoy backcountry skiing right into their retirement years, however many do not start their season until spring arrives. Most of the ski-holiday foreigners have stopped coming to Hakuba with those visitors remaining being more so mountain people. The mix makes for a different culture at the trailhead after the frenzy of January’s storms and February’s hustle and bustle on the streets. The well known mountain hut at Renge Onsen opens after mid month and touring is good for as high and far as your legs will take you. Understandably the tree skiing has started to back off, though it is still great during storms.
ACMG Mountain Guide, Rich Marshall, climbing in the Obinata-yama - Junction Peak area in mid season. Shakushi-dake (2,812m) sits in the background. Some days are perfect.
April and May Along with January, April is arguably the best month in Hakuba’s snow season. Yes, there is more to mountain life than deep powder and constant storms, and in April the terrain comes to life in terms of access and with people visiting from all around the world. Backcountry skiers who have come to ski in the mountains without strict expectations. There is so much snow on the terrain, perhaps 200cm still at 1,000m and months worth of melt in the alpine. If you thought March was warm, late April will feel hot down in the valley and it is time to chase the corn cycle, with interruptions from sporadic snow storms. Tateyama access via the Kurobe Alpen Route opening again in mid-April. Some lodges will open, you can camp with toilets and water on tap and beer vending machines nearby. Be warned that in spring some volcanic onsens are extremely hot and uncomfortable. There is a very crowded public holiday known as Golden Week around the end of April which is best avoided. If you want to get away from people you can head south to the difficult to access headwaters of the Kurobe drainage. This wide zone of great touring terrain which arcs towards the Hotaka sector, though is quite separate from that very steep environment. A few huts in that area have emergency winter room access as well, however research this carefully before committing to them. At the very end of April road access to a variety of good zones opens up (see Access, in this issue) and all of the snow at valley bottom has melted. Cloudy weather frustrates the patience, whilst extended blue skies exhaust the legs. By mid May and the farmers are tilling ground and planting seed. Some of us are still skiing, and the touring is great during May and remains ok right up until the monsoon season arrives in June. • 9
WHERE TO GET STARTED
P
eople starting out in the backcountry usually benefit from terrain that is easy to access and easy to exit. Hakuba has plenty of that. However, much of it has higher risk than many want to acknowledge, or even realise. Nearly all the easy access terrain along the Happo and Goryu ridges require careful planning and a group with a few years of critical decision making in avalanche terrain, and which can communicate well. They are not playgrounds—when things go wrong, they really go wrong. Sure, luck gets most people through most of the time, however every season there are very close calls, serious injuries, and sometimes deaths.
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The better option Tsugaike is the best place to go for an easy to access backcountry zone where there are plenty of options with different aspects, altitudes and terrain styles to work with. Hiyodori is the first place many people head to, and understandably so. It offers lower angle tight conifer skiing as well as gladed hardwoods with steeper options. Access is right outside Tsugaike’s boundary with a short but meaningful hike up to the right. Likewise, returning to the safety of the resort is easy in the event of an accident or change in conditions. Despite this accommodating position, working the area still lets you apply navigation and route selection skills whilst building confidence. So you get the full package, including hiking on the snow that you are
going to ski—an important phase in backcountry travel that is lost when walking along bootpack ridges directly from the resort. All dcsents to south on Hiyodori will cross the cattrack, so it is hard to get lost.
Closed area Running from the very summit of Hiyodori is a distinct avalanche path which heads south across the cat track and directly for a cable car building. Skiing in that slide path is not allowed by the resort. Within the Hakuba backcountry community it is seen as poor form and not done by any locals. There is plenty of good terrain just to the skiers right of it. Check the map at the well known backcountry cattrack trailhead and also at 11
the loading area of the top chairlift. It marks the closed areas clearly in red. Please stay out of them!
the convexed and slightly corniced pocket at a top. This explains the long strip of absent trees
Going a little further
below the bowl, if you had not already noticed. The terrain on the climbers left of the ascent ridge does not lead directly back to the cat track and is also much more avalanche prone, so make good decisions of you decide to venture over that side.
Still in the same Tsugaike area is Tengupara— a wide open flat area at 2,200m. It requires a longer hike, a good portion of which is unfortunately on that dull cat track, though still some map reading is required. Head west along the Hiyodori cattrack. The forested south facing hill-side of Hiyodori will pass on the right as you head towards a gentle ridge which intersect with the cattrack at about 1,800m, just before you reach the top of the cable car (closed all winter). With the small Seijo University hut at its base, this roomy ridge leads up to Tengupara. On the climbers right of the ascent ridge are two open bowls which converge and then run back down to the cat track via a narrowing drainage which is well known for a large deep hole that ends in running water at about 1,850m. The furthest skiers left bowl produces avalanches at times from
Hints on how to get good local help Ask people for advice on terrain, however always double check how often they go there and how well they really know the area. Check avalanche bulletins and perhaps even blogs. Do not be afraid to contact local guides and ask for their advice regarding routes and conditions in the area. One tip—you will likely get a better reply from them if you first research your own route, and then ask them what their opinion is of your route, rather than simply asking them how to find a certain place. •
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The Japan Avalanche Network
HAKUBA’S OWN AVALANCHE INFORMATION BULLETIN
T
he Japan Avalanche Network (JAN) is a nation-wide Non Profit Organisation which, in addition to investigating avalanche incidents, provides valuable avalanche information and public education courses in Japanese.
features, aspects, elevations and the likelihood of triggering an avalanche along with how destructive it might be. In addition to this important information you’ll find a description of recent weather, snowpack and avalanche observations that have been gathered by local guides who are members of JAN.
Hakuba Avalanche Information If you visit most alpine countries you’ll notice that they offer avalanche information in the form of bulletins. You always hear professionals recommending that backcountry skiers and boarders should “read the bulletin”. And it is very good advice. Without that valuable information you are possibly going in blind and luck will play a big role in the outcome of the day.
Where to find the information Visit www.nadare.jp and click on the tab with the yellow exclamation mark symbol. Always pay attention to the issue date. Remember that avalanche information like this has limitations you should always look out for worse conditions than were described.
There are instances of local avalanche information being written by individuals, however up until recently no formalised and consistently structured avalanche information was available in Japan. In the 2011/12 season this changed with the landmark release of the first formal avalanche information bulletin in Hakuba which is based on the Canadian Avalanche Association’s model, respected as the best in the world. New Zealand also uses this model and the Danger Rating scale is the same as you will find across all North America. It really is exciting for Hakuba to be part of this global mountain community in terms of internationally recognisable public avalanche safety information.
More about JAN
How to use the Information
Recent avalanche activity is very useful data for everyone in the backcountry. So if you see an avalanche, please send us an email at MountainLife (info@mountainlife.jp). Take note of the elevation, aspect, type and size of the slide. Did a skier/boarder trigger it, or do you think it happened naturally? How old do you think it is? •
The information is available in English alongside Japanese. To get the most out of it, don’t just look at the Danger Rating. Also click on it to find the detailed report, and take the time to read the descriptions provided of the current avalanche problems in the snow. This will indicate the most dangerous terrain
For 10 years JAN has been in close partnership with the Canadian Avalanche Association, themselves world leaders is public avalanche safety and education. As a result of this relationship many aspects of JAN’s operations have adopted the CAA standards of best practise, particularly in snow, weather and avalanche observational standards. Also, for several years JAN have been offering a Japanese language version of the well known Avalanche Operations Level 1, and in recent years started offering the various modules of the more advanced Level 2, both aimed at professional avalanche workers.
Helping Each Other
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AVALANCHE SAFETY Ski with a partner. Always carry a beacon, shovel and probe and be very well practiced in using them Saving a life buried 100cm deep in under 10 minutes. When did you last practice? Did it involve probing and digging?
Read the Avalanche Bulletin Do not just glance at the Danger Rating, also read the text that describes the current avalanche problems and recent avalanche activity. Visit www.nadare.jp for the Hakuba avalanche bulletin. Also talk to locals, check blogs, ask guides. Gather info any way you can about avalanche conditions and the terrain you are thinking about traveling through.
Plan your backcountry trips thoughtfully A Size 2 skier triggered slab avalanche on Kamijo in the Hiyodori - Tengupara area near Tsugaike.
Choose terrain that suits the current avalanche conditions, and how it is evolving with the weather. Have a Plan B in mind. Who is in your group and how well can you work as a team with common goals and communicate openly about concerns? Are there any conflicting motivations for getting out there? What emotional biases might negatively influence the group’s avalanche decision making? Google: avalanche human factors. How much experience in avalanche terrain does the group have? How well equipped and trained are they in avalanche rescue?
Once you are out in the mountains PAY ATTENTION
Things you can do right now: Online education from the Canadian Avalanche Centre www.avalanche.ca/cac/training/online-course Hakuba Avalanche Infomation from the Japan Avalanche Network www.nadare.jp 14
Gathering lots of small pieces of information and observations add up to making good avalanche decisions. Pay attention to the snowpack, the weather, the group dynamics. What signs of instability are you seeing in the snow? Have you had a chance to look for them on your climb? Remember that there are no signs of stability, only signs of instability, and just because you have not seen any does not mean the snow is stable. Be prepared to go back the way you came. What group dynamics are developing? What is happening to the weather, and how might it impact avalanche danger? If your route is more hazardous than expected and you feel worried then speak up.
Use terrain safely Your avalanche risk changes constantly during the day. At any time it is made up of the probability of there being an avalanche, your exposure to that avalanche, and the consequences of being in it. By using terrain you can manage your avalanche risk. Avoid gullies and terrain traps, stay in treed areas and on gentle sloping ridge crests whenever possible, particularly when slowly ascending. Be aware of large convexed slopes, and also small areas of convexity within a wider slope where it is easier to trigger an avalanche. Avoid cornices and shallow areas of snow near rocks. Always look out for windslab on lee-side slopes near ridges and cross loading in gullies. Know that hucking rocks and cornices adds far more stress to weak layers, usually in the weakest part of the slope.
Reduce exposure to avalanche terrain whenever possible Ride one at a time between islands of safety when in avalanche terrain. When ascending, spread out or go one at a time across avalanche slopes if you can not go around them. Always try to hedge your bets and take a longer safer lower angle route rather than a shorter route through a steep hazardous area. Tracks are not a sign of stability: just because someone has already ridden a slope does not mean it is stable.
Be conservative and humble in the mountains “I slipped and fell. The mountains were silent” - Taneda Santoka. Mountains owe us nothing, certainly they do not owe anyone an ego boost or a reputation. Mountains do not care who we are nor how good we ski or snowboard. If you think you know what is going on, then you probably don’t.
Respect the safety of others It is your job to make sure you do not ski above other people, putting their lives in danger. Also try never to cut underneath another group—they are probably trying not to ski above you. Some places in Hakuba get far too crowded and it is best to assume that there is someone above or below you, even if you can not see them. So make a serious effort regroup in safe terrain that is not exposed to avalanche triggered by someone else above, including people in your group.
Mountain common sense Tell someone where you are going, and ski with a friend. Take whatever gear is necessary to help you survive an uncomfortable night in the open in case of injury, getting lost, or gear failure. If you are not prepared to spend the night out there, then you are in the wrong place. • 15
SKI TOURING FROM OTARI TO MYOKO IN A DAY
A LONG WAY TO GO FOR A BEER
Basic Beta | If you are fit for the tour, you’ll need about 12 hours to ski the 30km from Otari Onsen to Myoko. Vertical climbed 2,700m. Vertical skied 3,400m. The two and a half hour return trip to Hakuba in the evening requires two busses and a train.
Three Willing Skiers Matsumoto-san, long-time backcountry local skier in Hakuba. Master sake brewer, Iwase-san, from nearby Omachi, and Damian, a Hakuba backcountry skier.
The Route via Three Peaks Due to serious avalanche terrain with high consequences, this tour is best completed in spring. By the end of April you can drive to the Amakazaridake camp area a few kilometers past Otari Onsen, which is down and across the valley from Hakuba. From the pre-dawn trailhead at 1,100m you have a narrow but trench-like river to deal with, follow a deep wide gully, up a steep climb on hard melt-freeze, then along a nice long pretty ridge to the summit of Kana-yama (2,220m). If your timing is lucky, you can rip skins and immediately get right into the early morning softening corn on an easterly aspect offering very good skiing which ends in tight terrain of the lower drainage. Next up is another steep climb via gullies at first, then onto ridges that can get a bit scrubby due to melt. With Yake-yama venting volcanic gas on the left, the target is the top of famous Hiuchi-yama (2,461m). Hiuchi is the classic long slender very snowy peak
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Top: Waiting for the bus with afternoon beers in front of Yahata shrine in Sugi-no-sawa near Myoko. Bottom: Matsumoto-san with Yake-yama (2,400m) in the background.
which sits prominently between Hakuba and Myoko, though much closer to the the later. From the summit of Hiuchi, the route to Myoko requires skiing to the south east then follow on with an easy rising traverse to Takayaike Hut. The hut is a small A-frame building which in late April will have just opened for limited backcountry business. You can buy a bowl of instant noodles and fill your water bottle there.
Once you hit the bottom of the ski area just follow the narrow roads down hill through the rundown but Japanese-quaint village and look for a shrine, which is next to the bus stop and opposite an old corner store selling cold beer. Buy at least one. Then catch the 5pm bus to the local station, slow train to Nagano and change for the Hakuba bus. By 8pm you should be home and can finally take your ski boots off and have another beer. •
As the crow flies, there is only about 7km between Takayaike and the edge of the Myoko-Suginohara residential area, however it takes some time to get there. From the hut head towards Myoko-san (2,420m) along rolling ground with a small descent that is only just worth de-skinning to ski. Skins on again, possibly for the last time, to cross some flats, then up, up, up and around to climbers right on a long traverse through the forest on the south aspect of this old volcano. To claim Myoko-san’s proper summit you need to ski into the caldera and then climb the rocky centre plug which is about 100m higher than the caldera lip. On tired legs the gentle long slopes running to the south from the caldera offer great tree skiing followed by an easy skiers left traverse into the top of the Suginohara Ski Resort and its fast smooth gentle ski runs out. 17
Kashimayari-ga-take 2,889m
Goryu-dake 2,814m
Karamatsu-dake 2,690m
Shira-dake 2,540m
Goryu / Hakuba 47 Ski Area
Happo One Ski Area
Shakushi-dake 2,812m
Kaerazuno-ken 2,560m
Iwatake Ski Area
Tengu-no-atama 2,812m
Yari-ga-take 2,903m
Obinata-yama 1,907m Tsugaika Ski Area
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Korenge-san 2,740m
Daisekkei Shirouma-dake 2,932m
Tengupara
Yukikura-dake 2,610m
Akaotoko-yama 2,180m
Asahi-dake 2,418m
Gorin-zan 2,240m
Norikura-dake 2,436m
Norikura Ski Area
Cortina Ski Area
Kazafuki-dake 1,907m
Mountainlife . jp 19
SHIROUMA-DAKE 2,932m
HAKUBA’S HIGHEST PEAK The word Shirouma is an alternative pronunciation of Hakuba, meaning white horse. The Japanese word dake means peak. So a white horse peak? No, there is no white horse, only a rocky and distinctly black cliff which slowly forms the shape of a galloping horse as the snow melts in spring.
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Opposite page: Windy as usual. The north east aspect of Shirouma-dake with the approach ridge from Tsugaike on the right and the East Ridge classic climbing route in the center. Photo: Patrick Fux / powdermania.com. This page: The east face, showing the popular skier’s right line and direct summit line. Next page: Somewhere along the route to Daisekkei near 1300m you might see this beautiful sign. Refer to the Dictionary in this issue to translate.
W
hen the horse shape is fully formed in the warming weather, it is time to plant out the rice seedlings at valley bottom. So there is a horse, but ‘white’ is rumoured to have been an error when, sometime in the past, the character representing ‘rice seedling’ was incorrectly transcribed as the character for ‘white’ and hence the mountain mistakenly became known as Shirouma, and the town as Hakuba.
Ascent From Hakuba there are two main routes up Shirouma. The most direct is climbing via Daisekkei—a deep long narrow gully filled with permanent snow which itself can be accessed up the road to Sarukura (shut to cars until the end of April). This route requires a climb of 2,100m over several kilometers starting low in the valley near Obinata-no-yu. The upper reaches of Daisekkei are steep and full of windslab. Highconsequence avalanches are a real possibility in winter to early spring. A number of people died in an avalanche in early May, 2011 after a quick storm added significant new slab. Daisekkei is flanked by steep terrain and numerous large feeder gullies and couliors are prone to deliver avalanches into the main gully. It is a very exposed place, and you are in there for a long time during the ascent. In spring beware of rock fall particularly as you approach about 2,200m—roughly where most people seem to stop for a big break and to switch to crampons. The less direct ascent is via the Tsugaike lift system from about 1,600m, either over Norikura-dake then via Korenge-dake, or, a little more straight forward, across the Shizen-en and up to the Korenge ridge, skipping Norikura-dake altogether.
From Tsugaike, once on the main Hakuba ridgeline expect undulating travel with boot crampons being sometimes very handy. If you wander too far hikers left you may hit the poorly covered deep cracks behind the cornices, or a cornice itself. Stray to the right and you expose yourself to very slick scoured ice. Besides these hazards, and at times gale force wind, it is mostly easy mountain ridge walking terrain. Traversing this ridge from Norikura-dake to Shirouma takes longer than most people expect, so perhaps calculate your map times conservatively for this stretch. If you take the ridge approach then you will be off to a late start due to ski lift dependency, unless of course you camped above Tsugaike from the previous afternoon. If you did not camp then getting to Shirouma will be a race and you will arrive late enough that any day-time warming will have reduced stability commensurately.
Descent The summit of Shirouma is a fantastic place. Very steep on one side with wide views on the other. Suddenly you are looking at terrain which most people 2,000m below you in the valley have 21
“The most picturesque line, and probably the most committing, is the NE couloir which starts out guarded by a steep corniced entrance”
never seen, and some of it is very good skiing under the right conditions. Assuming it is your intention to ski east back to Hakuba, then you have a few choices and none of them are easy or safe, particularly in winter. Luck is involved. All three main descent lines from the summit area down the east face of Shirouma have very steep entrances and typically a big cornice or rock to negotiate. Expect to use a rope and have limited vision into the line from a safe position. Many people definitely underestimate how serious the situation is when viewing the peak from valley bottom. Once in your line, hope that there isn’t any unstable windslab or crust. Your option for an easier descent is to follow the main ridge line over the summit to the south, past the giant summer ‘huts’ (closed in winter with no emergency shelter possible) then turn east and ski Daisekkei. It is simple to navigate
yourself into this terrain, however as already mentioned, look out for large areas of windslab at the top of Daisekkei in particular. If that route doesn’t appeal, and you have chosen against the steep lines from the summit area, then it is back the way you came, all the way to Tsugaike. You wouldn’t be the first, however probably most force themselves into otherwise unsuitable or unknown conditions rather than face the long back-track. If you want to ski from the summit area, then the line that starts a little way down hill to skiers right of the summit is probably the easiest and safest of the three main-face lines, and is popular in spring. However accessing it is not so easy, and for some just finding it can be a hassle (try not to confuse it with another nearby likely looking candidate that quickly cliffs-out.) If you ski the popular route it will spit you out quite high in Daisekkei as it bends skiers right rather than running the full face to the bottom. By April through May this line, like the other restricted gullies from the summit, is often messy with rock fall and avalanche debris towards the bottom. Very late in spring there is some steep exposed rock and running water. Alternatively, the line almost directly under the summit runs longer and steeper down the face, however it is very nasty to access with a long loose-rock rappel required from the summit, or a traverse over difficult snow at 55 degrees with rather tense side-stepping. Again, you will exit this line in Daisekkei, however lower than the easier line already mentioned.
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The most picturesque line, and probably the most committing, is the NE couloir which starts out guarded by a steep corniced entrance. It is steep, and funnels to a choke that is sometimes showing exposed rock and ice, depending on recent avalanche activity. You’ll get a view of this line on your approach if you can via Tsugaike. This route offers a long descent and unlike the other two, it takes you to the skiers left of Shirouma’s main face and almost underneath the black horse cliffs, and then into Hakuba-zawa, another gully which eventually bends skiers right and joins with the base of Daisekkei. A big day out. Like many peaks in Hakuba, Shirouma-dake is a very special and enjoyable challenge. However please respect the danger as it has claimed lives due to avalanche, rock fall and weather. Think long and hard about your honest level of mountaineering experience before going up there prior to late April-May.
Hakuba Classic Climbing If you want the best mountaineers ascent before your descent, and have the time and skill, then you could try climbing the long elegant famous east ridge of Shirouma, which splits the main face in half. The lower convexed wide slope which approaches the east ridge from Daisekkei is very prone to avalanche in winter. In the gullies that run to the climbers left off this narrow ridge there are old mines, and in spring you can find small pieces of equipment as it melts out of the snow. One of the benefits of this route is that there are multiple options: skiing to the left or right all the way up if you decide to give up on the summit. Very few people ever climb this route if their intention is to ski, so that is also quite appealing. •
Important Note: This article is not a topo guide, nor a challenge nor an invitation to give Shirouma a go.You’ll need a lot more research into the terrain and routes than is provided here. Winter is not recommended. 23
Gallery
Ian Millar along the Happo ridge. Photo: Patrick Fux / powdermania.com.
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Gallery
Skiier Katja Laukkanen sharing powder turns with friends. Photo: Patrick Fux / powdermania.com.
Nick Kowal on Happo. Photo: Mark Virgin.
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Gallery
Unknown skier working a ridge in the Kotoomi-yama area. Photo: Patrick Fux / powdermania.com.
Nick Kowal, skiing fast on Happo. Photo: Patrick Fux / powdermania.com.
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Gallery
Lee Lyon, featured in this issue’s Interview. Photo: Zack Paley.
ACCESS
A very brief list of things to learn more about.
Backcountry gates There are several sanctioned “bc gates” in Hakuba leading out of commercial ski areas to hiking terrain. Goryu, Happo, Tusgaike, and Norikura.
Buses and trains The Happo-Tsugaike bus time table is worth knowing. Also consider using the train from Otari to Hakuba as a way of getting home from oneway ski tours.
One-ride tickets No need for day passes if you are touring. Most ticket offices will sell one-ride tickets to get you to their “bc gate”. In fact, at most lifts you can simply pay for a ride as you load.
Tsugaike cable car If you want to pay you can buy a ticket on the very short cable car which cuts out about 300m of climbing up a very gentle cat track. It opens around mid March and can give you an extra boost if your planned trip is a long one that day.
Spring roads Most access roads open at the end of April. In central Hakuba, the road to Sarukura cuts out 5km hiking towards Daisekkei. Across the valley, the road between Otari Onsen and Amekazaridake camp area is clear at around the same time. There are other partially open mountain roads also worth knowing about.
Mountain huts Renge Onsen opens around March 20th, whilst the giant hut near the summit of Shirouma-dake opens in time for the Golden Week holidays in early May. Likewise the array of huts at Tateyama further from Hakuba. No backcountry huts are open in winter except for very distant emergency shelters.
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A classic dake-kanba at 1,900m with the summit cliff of Shirouma-dake in the background.
KODAMA JAPANESE TREE SPIRITS Japanese folk lore tells of spirits living in the trees. If you are here in mid-winter then chances are you are going to be skiing trees more often than not, but what type trees are you skiing in?
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At 2,300m near Norikura-dake, these cones are purple in summer. Small ground conifers are all that you will find above this altitude.
T
he most prolific tree that offers the best skiing are famous beech forests. Locally known as buna (pronounced more like boona), they are the 1530 meter tall hardwoods with a mottled camouflage patterned dark grey bark. If you are skiing them, it is likely not sunny and you are well below treeline, so they tend to be associated with images of limited visibility, heavy snowfall and deep powder. Do not collide with one of these trees, as there isn’t much padding. Generally you won’t find many buna above 2,000m. Where the buna start to thin out, you may see more mountain birch, or dake kanba in Japanese, with dake meaning mountain peak and kanba an alternate reading of birch. These trees have a subtle beauty that really comes out when the sky is bright blue. The bark is a luminescent streaked creamy golden colour and peels off like paper. Get up close to them at around 2,200m and you start to notice the bent and gnarled structure of the branches. Dake kanba are frequently noticed as one of the more striking trees found in Hakuba’s mountains. Given their
preferred altitude at the tree-line, you find them in isolated stands, often a lone tree jutting out of a steep open slope. One of the easiest places to see some dake kamba is above the Waseda University Hut at the foot of Hiyodori in Tsugaike, where there is a well known small forest of them at a lower than usual altitude. Alternatively, there is another well known collection at about 2,150m on the Happo ridge line. If you are at the altitude for dake kanba then you may also be skiing amongst some type of conifer; perhaps a spruce, or hemlock. Or, most likely, a fir such as Veitch’s Fir, known in Japanese as shirabiso. In some parts of the valley conifers are hard to find, sitting only on very steep ridges and mixed into pillow lines. Other places, there are forests of them between 1,700m and 2,200m offering classic gladed skiing and peaceful times even if it is stormy. The higher you go naturally the fewer and smaller the trees become. However you can find conifers all the way to 2,400m, little tough guys exposed to the wind whilst etching out a living where few people ski. • 29
DICTIONARY A rough pronunciation guide ‘R” sounds more like “L”. The letter “E” at the end of a word is always pronounced. Vowels are sounded as follows: a as in father i as in sit u as in tool e as in egg o as in pot Pronounce the verbs correctly and keep them clipped, or else Japanese sounds very different. Happo One is not Happo 1, rather it is Happo oh-ne. One means ridge. Finally, pronounce every syllable equally. Ha-kuba is correct. H’kooba is incorrect.
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dake / take mine yama / san / zan kougen daira hara / para / bara one sawa / zawa kawa / gawa ike ooike onsen / yu koya / goya sansou tanbo kita minami higashi nishi nadare tasukete -kudasai
peak peak mount plateau plain plain ridge stream river pond large pond volcanic hot spring small hut mountain hut rice field north south east west avalanche please help
岳 峰 山 高原 平 原 尾根 沢 川 池 大池 温泉 小屋 山荘 田んぼ 北 南 東 西 雪崩 助けてください
INTERVIEW
LEE LYON
Lee is a skier, and he skis often. We spoke to him about local terrain, skis, touring, avalanches and his day trip to Hakuba’s Yari-ga-take in mid-winter during a rare window of ideal conditions.
Photo: Zack Paley.
Is Hakuba becoming a chosen habit, or a passing phase?
What skis are riding for Hakuba’s wide range of snow conditions and terrain styles?
Lee Lyon (LL): This will be my third winter in Hakuba. I see Hakuba as my chosen winter home for the next few years, at least. Prior to coming here in 2010-2011, I spent seasons in a few different places, and I think Hakuba has the perfect balance of good snow, big mountains, and interesting culture.
LL: The past two seasons, I was riding almost exclusively on 185 Praxis Powder Boards with Dukes. They are obviously great in powder, but they also really excel in various forms of wind affected snow and in tight trees. However, they are full reverse sidecut and reverse camber, so they require a more forward, surfy style. I enjoy that, but it really ruins your technique. I’m not sure what I’ll be on this year, but I’m looking for something that is a bit more traditional and carvy. As for bindings, I’ll be on Marker Dukes most of the time, and Dynafit FT12’s for bigger hikes.
Hakuba is unique in Japan. There is plenty of vertical to work with and unlimited gnar. What do you think your skier’s mission and focus will be in coming Hakuba seasons? LL: As you mentioned, there is unlimited gnar around Hakuba, and practically no one riding it. I would love to get the chance to start “opening” some of that more challenging terrain that remains unexplored. However, each winter offers something different as far as weather and stability, so it’s always important to just take what the mountains are giving you. I think this is true anywhere in the mountains, but especially true in Hakuba, where we see a lot of extremes in weather and snow conditions.
Talking about traditional and carvy, did you ever suffer from a lack of edging ability on the R/R decks? Would you consider a Praxis Protest? LL: Edging is definitely not a strong point for the Powder Boards. I’ve gotten used to it, but there are still times when the snow changes from soft to hard unexpectedly that I get completely out of control and can’t stop. I’ve spent a little time on the 196 Protests. I like them, but they’re too 31
Climbing steep terrain in Shakushi-zawa between Yariga-take and Shakushi-dake. Photo: Zack Paley.
I’m guessing you don’t get out on many classic tours over long distances of terrain. Any desire for that, or too much attraction in what you are doing for now? LL: Every year I enjoy touring more and more, so it is something I see myself doing more of in the future. I do try to ride chairlifts a lot in Japan, because the rest of my year is usually more touring focused. This year I spent 10 weeks exclusively touring in Alaska, and in my southern winters in Las Leñas, Argentina I tend to hike a bit more as well. Generally speaking, one of the strongest points of the local Hakuba resorts is how well the lifts can help you access the sidecountry.
long for me most of the time. I’d love to check out the 187s. Generally, I like Praxis a lot, and try to support them whenever I can. How many ski days do you ski each year? How many in Hakuba? LL: Typically, my season goes November and December in the US, late December through March in Hakuba, late March through end of May on varying spring trips (last year Alaska, this year hopefully Europe and Scandinavia), then July through October in Argentina. I didn’t keep a count this year, but I probably did a little over 200 days, about 85 of which were in Japan. I felt like most of my days this last season were memorable, which for me is the measure of a successful season. I guess blogging for UnofficalNetworks.com allows you more freedom? How often does the need to blog dictate what you ski? LL: So far, I think the effect on what I ski has been minimal. I definitely feel lucky to have a relationship Unofficial Networks, because they encourage the kind of skiing I want to do rather than hindering it. 32
Considering the lifted then ridge access directly to Hakuba’s complex terrain, how do you approach the necessary snow stability decision making? LL: Happo’s greatest strength and greatest danger is how easily you can access high consequence terrain. You may remember that last winter some friends and I made some huge mistakes and triggered a really large avalanche at Happo. Thankfully no one was caught in it, but afterwards we were left wondering how we had ignored so many signs to be in a situation where we were ski cutting such a big slide. Usually the signs are all there, if you are looking for them. One thing that I try to do a lot at Happo is make use of all the sub ridges descending from Happo’s main ridge. If you begin by descending a sub ridge, you can stay on relatively safe terrain, and get the opportunity to test a number of slopes on your way down, before choosing the one you want to ski. You skied Yari mid-winter, correct? Some pretty big decisions on that route up and down? LL: Looking back, it was January 19 that we skied Yari. We definitely needed to feel very
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confident with the snow to ski a line like that, because the route goes through so much enormous, high consequence avalanche terrain on the ascent and descent. The decisions up there were made a little easier for a couple reasons: the snowpack was reasonably simple at the point in the year because he had seen nothing but consistent snow with no rain and little sun for the past few weeks, and we had a few sunny days leading up to Yari where we could progressively step up the risk factor in what we were skiing. Having said all that, Yari and some of the other bigger lines around Hakuba always need to be treated with the utmost respect. During the tour were there any near turnaround moments? LL: I wouldn’t say we had any near turnarounds, but I was pretty nervous traversing under Shakushi. We were under there as the face was starting to get direct sun, and we weren’t sure exactly how warm things were going to get. It was pretty exhilarating crossing beneath such a beautiful and dangerous face.
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How long were your pitches on the descent? Did you get to open it up? Also, how was the exit through the gorge? LL: The snow was great and everything seemed really filled in. I believe we skied from the summit to the gorge in four pitches, which we felt was really spreading out a lot. Given how filled in things were, we decided to descend through the gorge, which I probably wouldn’t do again. It worked out fine, but it was a little unnecessarily risky; traversing steep pitches and pillows above flowing water. In this issue we featured Shirouma-dake. Have you been up there? Also, any others that really attract you? LL: I haven’t gotten the chance to ski Shirouma yet, but it is really high on my wish list. What’s so cool about Shirouma is that it has so many different potential lines off it. While Yari has one really obvious main descent, Shirouma seems to have years worth of possible options. As far as main peaks I want to ski, I’d really like to get Shirouma, Shakushi, and Goryu done, before branching out further. • 33
A common sight in Hakuba, tribes of these colourful animals can be found along river banks mostly during clear weather. Happy creatures displaying a common bond, they often share amongst themselves expressions of pure natural joy, suggesting they have discovered a greater purpose to their existence.
HAKUBA SNOW MONKEYS
The Flying Lotus Snow monkeys like to throw things across the water. It appears to be a game because sometimes they all cheer.
In The Raw Look at this little guy. Some of them just love being in the water.
Tool Using Animals Others fear the water, despite being seemingly drawn to it. The smartest Hakuba Snow Monkeys have employed simple tools to keep their strange paws dry.
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Photos: Patrick Fux / powdermania.com
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Skier: Mark Virgin, Photo: Patrick Fux / powdermania.com