montoya 0 Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 I recently hiked/rode down Yarigatake in Kamikochi and promised Andrew from sj.com some pics, so here goes. We entered the valley April 27 to find about 30cm of new snow. I heard there was about 50cm higher up on the peaks. There was no trail after Tokusawa, so we ended up walking on the river up to Yoko. Someone had hiked ahead to Karasawa and we considered going there. But, I had a feeling that much new snow was just too unstable on Karasawa's steeps, so we opted for Yarigatake instead. We broke trail from Yoko to Yarisawa lodge and called it a day there, after 7 hours of hiking. Next day we left Yarisawa lodge around 6:30, hoping to reach the Yarigatake around noon before the sun warmed up the snow too much. On an established trail on the snow, we had made it up in 4.5 hours before, but this time it took us around 7 hours again as we were breaking trail all the way up. After reaching the top, we took a quick breather then dropped in. Snow was good and light, really glad we were on our powder boards. Relaxing after climbing back to the top. The peak to the right is Obami-dake. The plan for Friday was to hike up it and drop down the other side to Tengu-hara, hike-up to Yoko-one then drop down the valley to Karasawa. A different view from top: The line I ended up dropping in on Fri. Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 1, 2006 Author Share Posted May 1, 2006 Next day, unfortunately there was a 2-5cm wind slab due the howling winds the previous night. We waited for a few hours, but the snow was not warming up enough and we were pressed for time, so we changed plans and would just ride down to Yarisawa. There was enough snow that we ended up riding just past Yarisawa lodge. I think total vert ended up being 1200-1300 meters in all: Resting at Yoko on the hike out. There were lots of people heading up to Karasawa, hopefully we will too next time. Link to post Share on other sites
joshnii 2 Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Good stuff! And great to hear from you montoya! Link to post Share on other sites
nzlegend 1 Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 great pics mate, that valley is massive! the one with the all multiple avie debris looks hairy, I guess you wouldnt want to hang around there for too long. 7.5 hours? you must have been buggered after that hike! do you regret not taking your split board? Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 2, 2006 Author Share Posted May 2, 2006 I was thinking we should've brought our splits since we could've skinned most of it up. But I had no idea it was gonna snow that much, and it is pretty heavy to carry on a non-snowy trail (which is what we did last year). The valley-side from Yarisawa lodge to around Omagari is pretty steep, and there were loose-snow slides all over the place Thurs and Fri. On the ride down on Friday I could see several places where debris had overrun the trail up. Quote: Originally posted by snowglider: great pics mate, that valley is massive! the one with the all multiple avie debris looks hairy, I guess you wouldnt want to hang around there for too long. 7.5 hours? you must have been buggered after that hike! do you regret not taking your split board? Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Great trip Montoya Too bad you couldn't do the route that you wanted. It would have been pretty good if the snow was stable. What's next for you? I'm surprised at the amount of snow in the valley bottom still Maybe when we get up there tomorrow we can skin right from Yoko hut. Or maybe start skinning even earlier. That would be nice. Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 2, 2006 Author Share Posted May 2, 2006 most people were walking on the snow-covered river after Tokusawa, you could skin from there no problem. from Kamikochi to Tokusawa I'd say there's about 40cm-100cm of snow on the valley bottom, so if you were willing to pick your spots you could probably skin next to the trail. this month is busy work-wise so not sure what's next. would like to do Karasawa eventually. some other places we're interested in are Hakuba, Tateyama, and various mountains in Niigata like Makihata-yama, Tairappyo, Sumon, etc. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Where is Tokusawa? Is that the hut with the big grass field just before Yoko? Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 2, 2006 Author Share Posted May 2, 2006 yep, that's the one http://www.gosenjaku.co.jp/english/hikingmap.html Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Thanks Let me know if you are going into the Karasawa or Tateyama If you want the company Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 some of the spots that you might want in hakuba are getting killed by rain today. the roads out are now plowed. that means a long walk or a pre positioned car. my next real goal is hakuba yari. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 This time last year there wasn't any snow in sight at this hut. It was all well above in the higher vallies Strange year Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 that rain would have done some damage but it would be nice if we could skin in for sure. Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 2, 2006 Author Share Posted May 2, 2006 sure, if we head up there again I'll be sure to let you know! Quote: Originally posted by Toque: Thanks Let me know if you are going into the Karasawa or Tateyama If you want the company Link to post Share on other sites
tsondaboy 0 Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Great picks montoya. Did you go up there only the 2 of you? Link to post Share on other sites
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