18 May 2009

Last week I skied 1000m or more off each of the 3 peaks above Hakuba in one day. The trio of peaks tend to be offered as an iconic image of the alpine town. It took 14 hours, however 30 minutes was wasted in the pitch black pre-dawn during very thick clouds when I couldn't see a thing and had to double back to remain on path.

In total I skied 3500m and climbed 4000m making it the biggest day I've had in the mountains. The route I took covered 40km of travel (climbing and skiing). I purposely chose to take the easiest routes on each peak with the focus being completion of a challenge/training exercise rather than severity of lines skied. During the course of the day I consumed 10 energy gels, 6 snickers bars and drank 2 liters of water. I went alone choosing not to take my dog as I thought such a big day would be unfair on him.

Hakuba 3 peaks in mid-May

I didn't take many pictures on the tour since my focus was not on photography, rather moving quickly.

After sunrise the valley clouds clears and the day remained perfectly blue

I started at 3am from Sarukura, climbed 1600m to the top of Daisseke and traversed behind Shakushi to the summit of Hakuba Yari (2903m) in 5 hours.

5 May 09

Back from my second week-long trip to Hokkaido, this time with Mio my wife. We had not seen each other in 5 weeks and so the trip was a great chance to cruise through life slowly enjoying each other company.

Lloyd chases Mio down some ice on Shokanbetsu Dake

We used our little Suzuki Kei Van as a campervan and based ourselves in trail head/onsen/ropeway carparks at Shokanbetsu Dake, Asahi Dake and Tokachi Dake.

Mio sooths her feet in a hot foot onsen after a long traverse around Asahi Dake. The volcanic pond is in a wonderfully remote area high on the flank of the range. From there we continued our ascent and had a good descent in a new area for me

24 April 09

Not bad corn in Hakuba above 2300m. Today I skied a quick 1300m vertical from 2700m on Korenge to the river crossing at 1400m near Sarukura. It remained cloudy all morning making the south aspect line much safer. I managed the ascent from 1800m to 2700m in 2 hours and was at the river not long after followed by a 6km walk down the closed road to the gate which for no good reason they have not opened yet. A good half day trip.

Note: that ^ picture was taken in mid-winter. It looks a bit more patchy and browner in April.

Looking down from the middle section:

23 April 2009

Whilst I was away on my recently reported 4-peak nirvana trip, Hakuba resident Matsumoto-san left a message on my phone asking if I would like to join him on his weeklong holiday to Hokkaido. Not long after I returned from camping we had loaded his van onto the 19 hour ferry ride bound for Hokkaido from Niigata City. Matsumoto-san works very hard as the local mountaineering shop owner (Rappies) and was in the mood for a very active vacation. It was a great trip.

Day 1:
Clear but windy and cold so good soft spring touring was not on offer. So we went surfing instead. I admit that I didn't end up entering the 6C water after being driven back into the car by blustery 6C winds. This is on the Pacific coast not far from Yotei San. After Matsumoto-san enjoyed a cold surf we camped off the side of the road near a nice lake.

Day 2: