mattlucas 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 This is taken from my SJ journal and is a Trip Report into the Karasawa Valley May 20,21,22 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. Dan riding in Kamikochi with Hotaka in the background Getting near camp and also very close to dark 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 always classic ass hiking shot Dan crossing the bridge and also as far as we were able to ski down to on the 22nd 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. Our camp with the cattle trail to the saddle. The line I wanted to ski is the T shaped line on photo right. 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. Getting closer to the saddle 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. Looking up at the entrance to my line Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Author Share Posted May 30, 2005 I've always been a fan of the entrance pic. My line looking down. 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. Dan skiing down with the Saddle in the upper right of the photo 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. Our run. I got the T shaped line just photo right of the saddle and then we skied all the way back fron below the pointy peak. A nice 700-800 metres vert. 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. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Author Share Posted May 30, 2005 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. My line with me being the dot in the middle hiking up. A fun line. To avoid the avy debris near the bottom I traversed photo left and lined it through the trees gettin gmore smooth snow. 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. A closeup just so you can see how we rigged the skis and boots to the bikes 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. I guess we all see the mountains in different ways Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 pretty sweet pics! that Karasawa patio is one of my favorite places in Japan looks like you were packing a much heavier load than we were.. right now we're switching over to hiking mode. lots of lines I want to check out for next season. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Author Share Posted May 30, 2005 Such a nice place to sit eh To bad the sun disapears over the ridgling early and it gets cold. Would be nice to sit out there and watch the sun set. Our bags with boots and skis probably weighed about 15-20kg. Not so nice. We tried to go as light as possible though. I'm becoming quite the minamalist Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 nice pics toque too bad about the core shots Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Author Share Posted May 30, 2005 Thanks FT I'm not to concerned about my shuksans. Would have been worse sitting at home eh. How was guide training dude? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 training got canceled then put back on and I missed it. Went for a paddle and the water is so low. great temps though its like a pool in there now. How bad are your core shots can you fix em Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Author Share Posted May 30, 2005 I have a picture that I will put up when I finish the roll. It is right along the edge. Lucky it didn't rip right out I guess. Rainy season is coming so I guess your river will go up again right? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 I gotta get to another river but tats wnats to finish the house stuff first. Its the time of year though toque the rocks are gonna creep into your lines. My first core shot comment was more directed to dans skis, ie the pic above. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Author Share Posted May 30, 2005 His is fixable for sure. Really clean. My core shot was from the fresh snow covering a rock that under normal near summer conditions would have been exposed Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 If its a core shot, at least melt a bit of p-tex into it to protect the core till you get a proper repair. Link to post Share on other sites
HoTRoD 2 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Love them pics, great stuff. You finished now then? Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Share Posted May 31, 2005 You would be surprised how often I get that question No I'm not finished. Still a few trips planned and there is lots of snow to be skied Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 He just keeps on going and going, like a Duracell bunny. Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 toque you've done enough routes to write up a good-sized guidebook.. betcha it would be pretty interesting Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Toque whats the next plan? Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Share Posted May 31, 2005 I actually started writing a guide book and had completed 2 routes. But I ran out of steam and got lazy. No real time to do it at school and I don't have a computer at home. I'm just making excuses now. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 just do it and it might sell, pass it on to my inlaws who get theirs printed. Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 I picked up a copy of "Hiking in Japan" by Paul Hunt, it's ok but only covers stuff from a hiking pov. His website is: http://www.geocities.com/trek_japan/ Yet to see anything out there in English from a yama-ski perspective, that's why I think it would be an interesting project dude. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Share Posted May 31, 2005 I have that book as well but am not a fan of it When I first came here I used the Lonely Planet hiking guide most of the time until I learned enough about the mountains and towns in my area to be able to find my own routes. It would be good to have something for BC skiing in english but I'm not sure if I'm the person to write that. I have done a lot of routes but I'm just really learning it all as I go. I put myself into bad situations. I would hate to get somebody else into trouble. Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 You've got a books worth in the Journals on here anyway! Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 If you shift the thematic emphasis from "travel guide" to "travel chronicle" then it might work. You wouldn't have to worry about getting the routes perfect, and the problems/mistakes you've made would be the most interesting part of the story. anyway, back to work.... tap tap tap Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Share Posted May 31, 2005 Thanks for the motivation guys I'll see what I can do Other stuff on my plate right now though Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Share Posted May 31, 2005 Quote: Originally posted by Fattwins: Toque whats the next plan? Sorry dude I missed this one Dan and I are heading to Tateyama this weekend as long as the weather is good. Anybody????? Link to post Share on other sites
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