yamabushi 3 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Hakkoda has two patrolled trails, the direct and the forest course. Folks stick to them and then complaint that Hakkoda is flat and short and lame and whatnot. The reality is that those trails are less than 1% of what Hakkoda has to offer. Here are some pictures I found on my work computer. On a good day you can have half a mountain to yourself http://www.snowjapanforums.com/index.php/gallery/album/199-hakkoda/ Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 So the area that you can ski at Hakkoda is literally over 100 times more than the official runs? Link to post Share on other sites
Error404 0 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Nice pic, don't need to be so defensive from the off! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Ah winter photos, can't wait. Link to post Share on other sites
yamabushi 3 Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 Nice pic, don't need to be so defensive from the off! Sorry, didin't mean to come across that way. It actually makes me smile every time I see a post about it being short and flat. So the area that you can ski at Hakkoda is literally over 100 times more than the official runs? Actually I was being generous. The 2 runs have a total of 2.4km vertical. Hakkoda is not a mountain but a mountain range with eight main peaks. Two have proper volcano craters and on a third one half the mountain blew off, creating a huge bowl. Link to post Share on other sites
gnarly-dude 1 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Couldn't you say the same about lots of places though? If you are willing to hike, go out to exotic non-resort areas - either on your own or with someone - then a whole at lots of ski resorts around Japan suddently get much larger than their bare stats. Link to post Share on other sites
yamabushi 3 Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 Couldn't you say the same about lots of places though? If you are willing to hike, go out to exotic non-resort areas - either on your own or with someone - then a whole at lots of ski resorts around Japan suddently get much larger than their bare stats. Yes, but in a lot of cases the terrain is actually not conductive for proper skiing because it becomes a death trap, or it lacks uninterrupted verticals, or trees are two thick, or it launches you into ravines and valleys that takes you forever and a day to hike out. The mount of accessible and skiable terrain is quite significant there. On a good day the gondola keeps dumping people at the top of Sancho eki by the hundred every 15 minutes, most set out for the back country, and you can still hike out and not see another human being. Shit, without hiking any significant distance I can go four days after the last snowfall and find me untracked lines to run. Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 awesome fun pics. Loved the one of you hiking it home. Brings back memories of hiking it up to the gala station from that little onsen place... or is it bringing back memories of walking back from akakan to myoko station because i took the wrong road to ind the bus stop... actually it might have been the time i had to walk back to toomi from 47 because we came down late and all the buses had stopped running... then again it might have been the time i had to walk back from kagura because i accidentally left my wallet at yuzawa station... Ah trapsing on the roads in my snowboard gears... much more of a common event for me than you might think Excellent pics though. Made me mad jealous (especially the words LATE JUNE), and thats pretty much the whole point of posting photos as far as im concerned. Make me jealous, but also make teh air arround me feel about twenty degrees cooler for the three minutes i spent looking at them. Link to post Share on other sites
yamabushi 3 Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 My favorite walk out last year was in Tomamu. My non back country buddy and I went after a dry spell, the snow condition left a lot to be desired. On the second run we went to the top, I took a look at the far right side of the resort, saw the most inviting slope on the entire mountain, and off into the yonder I went, friend in tow. The slope was worth it, but the long ravine at the bottom was a tad too much for my buddy. I don't know what he was complaining about, we even found raindeer trails to make the heavy knee deep snow trek easier (I could had done without all the deer shit they left all over). At the end it got better, a good size river to cross Life was good. A long field and a walk on the road later we made it to the resort grounds, to find out that this side of the resort was closed and we needed to walk another mile and a half but the guy at the counter felt sorry and called a bus for us. Can you believe that my friend refused to do it again? Some people... Link to post Share on other sites
nagpants 1 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Good way to cool down cheers Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Actually I was being generous. The 2 runs have a total of 2.4km vertical. Hakkoda is not a mountain but a mountain range with eight main peaks. Two have proper volcano craters and on a third one half the mountain blew off, creating a huge bowl. According to SJ, the resort is 666 ( the number of the beast! ) meters max-min. How can its two runs have 2.4 km of vert? Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Link to post Share on other sites
Slippery Jim 65 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Mr Wiggles is correct. The vertical is 660 meters; it yields a couple of 2,400-meter runs. That ratio of about 1:3.5 isn't particularly steep overall, though of course there can be some very steep pitches. For comparison, I believe the Niseko Annupuri gondoa has a ratio of just under 1:4 Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Rich 78 Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 I've been saying it for about 3 years now, but I must get myself up to Hakkoda. The nearest I've got to it so far was the Nebuta matsuri Link to post Share on other sites
yamabushi 3 Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 My bad, when I said vertical I meant to say horizontal, or how long the two 'official' runs were. On the front of the mountain alone I can think of 7 named runs, not to mention the stashes inbetween and the weird shorcuts. Link to post Share on other sites
igloo 3 Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Cool pics! Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Yes great pics need to get myself up there one day. It's just so far. Yeah, I know big girls blouse. Link to post Share on other sites
blaster 0 Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Like the pics dude. A bit far for our plans but always great to see different places. Link to post Share on other sites
yamabushi 3 Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 The Shinkansen makes it to Shin-Aomori in a matter of hours. There are three buses to Hakkoda per day from Shin-Aomori (8:20am, 12:20pm and 1:40pm) and from Aomori train station (7:55am, 11:55am and 1:15pm). From Shin-Aomori take the bus on the number one stop just outside the east exit. It takes from 60-90 minutes to get to Hakkoda. There are three buses per day from Hakkoda to Aomori and Shin-Aomori, all in the afternoon. Taxis can get tricky. Not all taxi drivers will want to take you to Hakkoda, particularly if the weather or road conditions are not ideal, which is the entire months of January and February. There are tons of taxis so you should be able to find someone with chains willing to go. From Shin-Aomori to Hakkoda it should cost you about ¥7,500 and about 45 minutes depending on road and weather conditions. To the Aomori airport it is less. The road up to Hakkoda closes in the evenings. Once night sets you pretty much stay put whethever you are, be it at the hotel drinking sake while soaking on the ofuro, or on a snow cave still at the mountain... Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 The Shinkansen makes it to Shin-Aomori in a matter of hours. There are three buses to Hakkoda per day from Shin-Aomori (8:20am, 12:20pm and 1:40pm) and from Aomori train station (7:55am, 11:55am and 1:15pm). From Shin-Aomori take the bus on the number one stop just outside the east exit. It takes from 60-90 minutes to get to Hakkoda. There are three buses per day from Hakkoda to Aomori and Shin-Aomori, all in the afternoon. That sounds fantastic!!! But lets make it a bit clearer.... How many hours? A quick look online seems to be telling me 3.5 hours. Plus another 1 - 1.5 hours from the station. That sounds to me like it takes at least 5 hours at least from Tokyo to Hakkoda. It hardly compares favorably with Yuzawa (80 minutes) and Nagano places (a bit more). Just being realistic. Link to post Share on other sites
yamabushi 3 Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 I agree, this is certainly not for a day trip. This is a backcountry experience where you end up in the heart of the north, a spec of warmth in a sea of endless snow. Soaking in the traditional Sukayu onsen will make you feel like you stepped all the way back to the Edo period. To top things off you should pick up "Death March on Mount Hakkoda " by Jiro Nitta. This is the account a military training mission gone horibly wrong. In the winter of 1902, 210 soldiers are ordered to cross the snowbound slopes of Mount Hakkoda to test their military strength in anticipation of a Russian invasion. A mixture of poor planning, bureaucratic interference, and plain bad luck killed them all. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 This is a backcountry experience where you end up in the heart of the north, a spec of warmth in a sea of endless snow. Soaking in the traditional Tsukayu onsen will make you feel like you stepped all the way back to the Edo period. Oh dear. Cheese alert! Never does much good for credibility. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 (Sorry Cheeseman!) Link to post Share on other sites
yamabushi 3 Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 You should stay at Sukayu when there's 400cm base on the mountain, and the sun has been gone from sight for over a month. If you are trully blessed, you get out in the morning greeted by another two feet of fresh snow and a blue sky. How's that for cheese? Link to post Share on other sites
JellyBelly 1 Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Wow, sounds like a place where Dreams Really Do Come True. (etc). Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts