Mañana, Utsugi-dake, mañana
December 8, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized
I’d broken a trail through snow that grew from knee to thigh and then to chest deep, climbing almost six thousand vertical feet, alone all day. Less than five hundred feet from the summit the snow was just too deep, and I was too exhausted. With two hours of daylight left, I slid back through the snow to the treeline and the leeward side of the mountain to dig a snow hole and bivvy down for the night. Mt Utsugi could wait another day.
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Stunning photo (as usual). I hope you don’t mind, I’d like to post a smaller screen shot of this on my blog with a link to here. It’s usually a roundup of Japan politics, but when you see shots like this, it fills you with awe and deserves more attention.
Sounds like a great way to spend a solo day.
That said, I’d love to see video of how one makes one’s way through chest high snow! Anyone capable of following you on such a trail toting a video camera?
Were you not planning to stay the night which is why you dug a snow hole or do often go really light and not take a tent?
Our Man in Abiko – absolutely, please feel free – if you click the photo it will take you to the Flickr page where there is a smaller version should you prefer.
Jason – it was a fun day. I was annoyed with the weather though – in the valley and across the Minami Alps it was beautiful, but on Utsugi it was awful, snow and horizontal freezing winds all day. To answer your question, I think a video of someone ploughing through deep snow would be pretty dull – it’s a laborious process of stamping the snow into submission literally inches at a time. It would be more Ingmar Bergman than Warren Miller…
Tornadoes28 – I’d planned to stay in the emergency hut just off the peak, but it’s some way down off the ridge and with visibility so low I didn’t want to risk missing it. I think that’s my last bivvy trip for this winter, it’s the tent from hereon in!
Exactly why you should carry skis everywhere you go. You never know when they might come in handy.
Another amazing photo. Sounds like you’ll be hiking throughout the winter?
Also envious to hear of the amount of snow you experienced there. Here in the Yuzawa/Tanigawadake area we are still waiting for the real winter to begin. Only seeing about 1 meter of snow at the 2000m level, and we really need 2x that to open up the usual descents.
Clint – not sure about skis, but I definitely wish I’d taken my snowshoes. “Surely not necessary this early on in the season”, I thought…
George – thanks, I just wish i could have got some photos from the summit instead. Sounds like the snow was about the same on Utsugi as it is around you up to around 2000m, and a little deeper above that. It snowed all day long up there, so it was unconsolidated powder – good for boarding, not good to climb up! I’m thinking about spending time at year end in the southern end of the minami Alps if the weather is OK, and maybe take some time out from hiking in Jan and Feb to try to get my ice climbing up to scratch.
cjw, it is a bit of a drive for you, but or you info – consistent good weather has opened up the local Hakuba peaks, which are full of snow yet not chest deep (I ache for your effort in that kind of snow). The only reason I have not skied from a summit above 2500m in the last week is a want of partners interested in that type of trip. The early snow, good weather and lack of follow up storms has created a European Alps type of Hakuba. It is great!
For your next winter trip, highly recommended:
http://www.backcountry.com/store/DNF0001/Dynafit-Se7en-Summits-Touring-Ski.html
http://www.backcountry.com/store/DNF0003/Dynafit-TLT-Vertical-ST-Alpine-Touring-Binding.html
http://www.backcountry.com/store/BLD1105/Black-Diamond-Ascension-Custom-STS-Climbing-Skins.html
http://www.backcountry.com/store/BLD0359/Black-Diamond-Method-Alpine-Touring-Boot-Mens.html
http://www.backcountry.com/store/BLD0673/Black-Diamond-Carbon-Fiber-Ski-Poles.html
I can’t say I have ever been chest deep in snow but two years ago I had to stop just below ç‡•å±±è˜ because the snow was up to my thighs and I couldn’t find the trail and sometimes slid off down the slope a little.
I did 空木岳 in October. It was pretty good but the weather was too good. At least it was good enough for me to sleep on a small mountaintop in only my sleeping bag. I had planned to reach the é¿é›£å°å±‹ but spent too much time photographing at sunset.
I’m looking forward to reading about your winter hikes since I won’t be going out until February maybe.
glad to see you embarked on another adventure but sorry you couldn’t make it to the summit.
which route did you take? The gondola up the the base of Mt. Hoken/Kiso-koma or did you do the long vertical ascent from Komagane village?
You shouldn’t checked the Kiso-koma webcam before you departed. Those peaks are solid white with meters of snow.
I have fond memories of climbing Utsugi solo from Komagane in Sep. 1999, as it was the highest vertical climb I’d made. But seeing as how that mountain boasts several unmanned é¿é›£å°å±‹, I’m curious as to which ones we are referring to. I recall one by a stream in the woods on the lower half of the climb, and though there may have been one or two more on the way, I remember walking past a roughly built hut that seemed to say “use only in case of emergency” in a valley about 30 minutes or more from the top. But the map showed one more 「é¿é›£å°å±‹ã€immediately below the summit, and that was my target, encouraged by descending hikers who told me that the hut attendant was on his way up ahead of me. What I found was was a nice, clean, two story hut, that charged a fee for staying there whenever there was someone there to collect it, as there was on that 敬è€ã®æ—¥, a national holiday. Since the weather was starting to get nasty, I didn’t mind too much having to pay, since the hut kept the typhoon out very nicely, and the attendant’s radio was on to inform me of the damage this unexpected typhoon was causing. So the next morning, I abandoned my plan of traversing to Kiso-Koma, and after fighting the wind up the 200 meters of trail to the actual summit, I retreated down the ridge line (which does not pass the grimy é¿é›£å°å±‹), destroying my foldable umbrella in the process.
Sorry for the long reminiscence, but I am trying to picture which hut(s) we are referring to. Thanks
Thanks Damian, that’s some nice kit, we might have to see if Santa can manage some of that. Conditions look great up in Hakuba – it’s just that it seems to be raining/snowing every weekend….
Hi Peter – just a sleeping bag and a mountaintop, that’s the perfect way to do it!
Hey Wes – the long vertical, of course
In a fit of hopeless optimism, I thought I might be able to get up to Utsugi and over to Kumazawa-dake on day 1, then along to Kiso-Kaikoma on day 2 and back down via the gondola. But it wasn’t to be. Actually, I did check the webcam before I went and it looked OK – a lot of the snow you are seeing now actually fell the previous evening and during the day I went up. I definitely would have made it otherwise.
Hi KamoshikaBob – the emergency hut I was aiming for is (I think) the one you mention as being in the valley about 30 mins from the peak – south of the ridge at about 2500m maybe?
The 「é¿é›£å°å±‹ã€ just below the peak is the 「駒峰ヒュッテã€, the Komamine Hutte, maybe? I wasn’t sure whether that was manned or not, or whether it would be open – either way, no chance of getting there on Saturday for me.
That’s some serious hiking! Sounds amazing though!
It was good to get out, Melanie. I’m going to give it another shot tomorrow, forecast is looking good..