eskimobasecamp 0 Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 After 3 really nice powder days, riding the areas of happo which were closed and hiking back out, and then a few more days searching for pow along the edges, testing out the big skis and the park skis..... it turned to moguls and stones. I still wanted to do something, so with a full moon out, a sky full of stars, and a bluebird day lined up for today's weather, yesterday i decided to go winter camping at a nice spot near Iwatake. We perched ourselves next to a beautiful bronze statue my friend's Grandfather made, looking out over the valley, the ski hills and the big peaks. We heated up some red wine over the stove and enjoyed the mountians by night. There are more photos to come (my friend has a much better camera than i do) including some excellent night shots. My camera died in the cold and then woke back up again in the morning, so i snapped a few shots. We walked back down and took a dip in Kurashita onsen at 9am this morning, before heading back to my house. A night well spent under a full moon in the snow! My tent, looking over to Happo-one... Looking out over the Hakuba valley... The bronze statue... Link to post Share on other sites
eskimobasecamp 0 Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 The sunrise in the Hakuba valley today... The bronze statue and 3 Hakuba peaks... View of Happo-one at sunrise... moguls anyone?! Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Moderator SnowJapan.Com#4 5 Posted January 5, 2007 SnowJapan Moderator Share Posted January 5, 2007 http://www.snowjapan.com/e/insider/photo-of-the-moment.html Photo of the Moment! Link to post Share on other sites
Markie 0 Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Sunrise, maybe I need to get some new glasses, but I can't see you in BCS's first pic anywhere. Link to post Share on other sites
eskimobasecamp 0 Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 Quote: Originally posted by SnowJapan.Com#4: http://www.snowjapan.com/e/insider/photo-of-the-moment.html Photo of the Moment! COOOOOOOL Link to post Share on other sites
merryJim 1 Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Great pics eskimobasecamp - again! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with this season. Link to post Share on other sites
Thunderpants 0 Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Worthless pictures. no moon! no really, beautiful. thanks for sharing that moment with us Link to post Share on other sites
SirJibAlot 0 Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Sweet pics! -SJA Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Great stuff! You're odds-on to win the comp. Will be enjoying your pics this season...! Link to post Share on other sites
eskimobasecamp 0 Posted January 6, 2007 Author Share Posted January 6, 2007 thanks guys! we had fun, good way to use time/gear/outdoors when it's all moguls on the hill. here's my keitai pictures... a moon shot... me outside the tent this morning... liza outside kurashita noyu this morning, keen to get in before it opened... me outside kurashita noyu this morning... Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Looks like fun EBC How far did you go from Iwatake and did you bring a pillow this time? I thought Iwatake was closer to Yari but in one of the pictures Yari is off in the distance Link to post Share on other sites
eskimobasecamp 0 Posted January 6, 2007 Author Share Posted January 6, 2007 ha ha you know i like to pack lite toque didn't i bring a pillow last time? i used my down vest and jacket as pillows. the thermarest was great. 3 season tent all good in calm conditions. must have been a chilly night, wasn't overly comfortable even in my -18C down bag. the location is sort of half way up iwatake, but not accessed via the actual ski hill, it's quite hard to find. iwatake is further out into the valley away from the big peaks, than happo... not closer. Link to post Share on other sites
nzlegend 1 Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Quote: Originally posted by eskimobasecamp: My camera died in the cold and then woke back up again in the morning, so i snapped a few shots. great pics EBC, to solve that camera trouble get some of those ubiquitous heat hand warmer heat pads and put one in your camera bag, i tried it for the first time and it worked a treat, they last 24 hours! and they are tiny and take up virtually no space. I put one in my chest pocket to help my aging Keitai too Link to post Share on other sites
eskimobasecamp 0 Posted January 6, 2007 Author Share Posted January 6, 2007 ah very good idea SG thanks Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Nice pics. I've got a dodgy panorama taken from there in the summer that I'll have to dig out. You should ask your mate why that statue isn't on any tourist map I've seen, isn't signposted, and has a chain strung across the entrance! I don't know if they close the road up there in winter but there's a couple of very steep tight bends on it. It could be a bit hairy. Link to post Share on other sites
cayote 0 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 EBC and Liza, sharing probably kept you warmer. Down in the valley, my -18C bag was fine, however, a Prolite 4 and RidgeRest weren't enough. I am consider an Exped Downmat 9, which has an R-value of 8!!! Does your bag become damp from water vapor from your body (not breath) condensing at low temperatures? I tried a WM VBL, which felt too clamy around my feet. I prefer a deep cover of clean snow instead of thin snow and patches of dirt, which seemed to feel colder. Inside the tent, spikes of frost grew overnight from my damp gloves. Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Great pics ebc. Whats the meaning of the statue dudes? Link to post Share on other sites
snobee 0 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 EBC - thanks for that great tent shot. Looks so good that you'd think it was set up for a beer CM. Link to post Share on other sites
eskimobasecamp 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Author Share Posted January 9, 2007 scouser - not quite totally sure about the meaning of the statue, but he's pointing up to the sky, it's very beautiful at night. mr w - yeeeeees i know, there is indeed a big chain across the access point into there, and it's a well hidden spot, i always get lost trying to find it, not so many people know about it, maybe just locals. the road up there is not closed, but yikes it's hairy, covered in ice and snow, and tight hairpin bends. we didn't go up there and set up camp until about 11pm or so, because we cooked a big dinner at my place before.... AK drove us up the access road, but not the hairy part, we walked that. i'll ask my friend more about the statue next time i see him, he's guiding in argentina just now i think. wanna find some more great winter camping spots around hakuba, that was a lot of fun and very beautiful. good to look down on hakuba and not be around the oshogatsu crowds Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Nice pics EBC, glad to hear you and Liza had fun >>AK drove us up the access road, but not the hairy part, we walked that. Facking AK has a tendency to drive up sketchy shite dont 'e? FREAK!!! Yo 'as$ shouldnt ever be behind the wheel! Kuroshita no Yu sucks - its the ultimate sausage fest. Never go there again. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I dont like kuroshita really the showers have zero water presure. Nice picks I was up at 5:30 trying to get my fires going and the view was crystal and perfect. then a few hours later the front moved in. A very lucky picture chance really due to so many factors. 1 full moon 2 so clear 3 snow and frost 4 timing really you only get so many full moons with snow. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Ah I know the area then. Near the onsen with the shitty water pressure. I hate that place. Nothing like cooking your body in the same water as a bunch of old men or little kids and then not even being able to clean off after Yari still looks a ways off in that picture. Maybe just because it's a tiny shot Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 basically that is near the top of iwatake toque the camping spot Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Quote: Originally posted by Fattwins: A very lucky picture chance Said through gritted teeth?! Here's that panorama. Its from August 2004. Its made up of 8 photos in total. Maybe 180 degrees or so. I won't embed it coz it'll mess up the format of the thread. http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9548/panorama1600au3.jpg Link to post Share on other sites
eskimobasecamp 0 Posted January 9, 2007 Author Share Posted January 9, 2007 Quote: Originally posted by Fattwins: A very lucky picture chance really due to so many factors. 1 full moon 2 so clear 3 snow and frost 4 timing really you only get so many full moons with snow. that's why i went, because i KNEW it would be those weather conditions, the timing was on purpose - i wouldn't have gone to do that on any other day i don't like kurashita either, brown water that kinda makes your skin itch, but a nice view and just at the bottom of our walk back down from the hill. Link to post Share on other sites
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