The main ridge of Mt Myoujin (明神岳主稜)

Route name:  Main ridge (Shu-ryo, 主稜)

Mountain:  Mt Myoujin (2931m明神岳)

Map sheet:  37 [Yama-to-kougen-chizu (山と高原地図) series]

Time:  1-2 days

Grade:  Overall Grade 1 alpine route

The terrain around Kamikōchi (上高地) in the North Alps is deservedly famous. With world-class natural beauty at every turn, soaring ridgelines and peaks on all sides, and the famous view of the Hotaka range from the Kappabashi bridge, people flock here with their cameras throughout the high season.

For the alpine climber there is no shortage of classic variation routes to play on, and they don’t come much more classic than the main ridge of Mt Myoujin. Viewed from Kappabashi the ridge looks improbably steep and inaccessible, but on closer inspection turns out to be quite reasonable. Similar in size and technicality to something like the Genjiro ridge on Mt Tsurugi, it provides a fantastic gateway to the Hotaka range, but without any of the crowds and the chains and ladders that festoon the main trails.

Like its neighbour, the north ridge of Maeho, this route calls out to the alpine climber. For those looking for speed, it can be done lightweight in a single (long) day up and down, but the full experience demands a bivvy on or near the airy summit of Mt Myoujin. Spectacular!

Getting there:

The start point of this itinerary is Kamikōchi (上高地) in the North Alps (北アルプス). If travelling by train from Tokyo (東京) or Shinjuku (新宿), take a Super Azusa limited express train on the Chuō Line (中央線) out to Matsumoto (松本) station.  From there you need to change to the Alpico Line for a 30-minute train ride to Shinshimashima (新島々). The final leg of the journey is a bus ride of about an hour from outside the train station at Shinshimashima to the alpine village of Kamikōchi, nestled at the foot of the Hotaka range in the North Alps.

If travelling by car, you need to get to one of the car parks at Sawando (さわんど) on route 158, as private vehicles are prohibited from entering the Kamikōchi area. From Sawando, take a bus or taxi to Kamikōchi. Buses are regular and cost around ¥1000, and a taxi (quicker and more convenient) will set you back about ¥6000.

Description:

If you’re planning to camp up on the summit ridgeline, make sure you load up with plenty of water for the whole trip. There are no water sources on this route once you leave the Kamikōchi vicinity.

From the Kamikōchi bus terminal, walk about 5 minutes to reach Kappabashi, and cross the bridge. Continue for around 15 minutes through beautiful low-lying marshland along the river until you reach the trailhead for the Dakesawa (岳沢) valley.

The hiking trail between here and the Dakesawa hut is punctuated every so often with a numbered sign, descending from 10 to 1. Hike up the trail for around half an hour until you reach the number 7 signboard. From here a thin trail heads off up the slope on the right, and this is the approach to the Myoujin Shu-ryo.

You will be hiking/scrambling up this trail for the next 3 hours or so, and it is consistently steep, but fairly clear with no particular route-finding difficulties. As you progress up through the various zones (forest, sasa, haimatsu) the trail begins to open out and you’ll eventually exit tree line. At one point you’ll need to scramble up a very exposed section of rock ridge, and there are occasional ring bolts if you feel the need for the security of a rope.

Eventually you will emerge onto a sort of plateau, with multiple flat tent spots dotted around it. From here a steep trail will bring you to the summit of peak 2726, also known as Myoujin V. This is the first peak along the Shu-ryo itself, and there is a vintage wood-shafted ice axe marking the summit.

Now you are on the ridge proper, and the next 3-4 hours will be spent traversing the peaks of the Myoujin massif from V down to I, the main summit.

A steep descent from Myoujin V brings you to the V/IV col. Continue up the ridge along a fairly clear trail to gain Myoujin IV.

From here you will now see the real meat of the traverse ahead. A short traverse brings you to the foot of the rocky fortress of Myoujin III. This peak is basically tackled head-on, with a steep and exposed section of scrambling.

Scramble down the other side, and then hike along the ridge to Myoujin II. Scramble up to the top, and continue until you reach the far end, and you’ll find an in-situ rappel anchor. From here you can descend in two vertical 25m rappels, with a good intermediary anchor halfway down.

Now you just need to scramble up the slope ahead to reach the main summit of Myoujin I (2931m). There is a single tent platform right at the summit, but if this is taken, climb down the other side a short way and there are several more spots where a tent can be pitched. This whole area is airy and exposed, with dramatic views on all sides.

From Myoujin you now need to continue on to the 3090m summit of Maehotaka. First walk down the airy ridgeline from Myoujin, and scramble up a small intermediary summit. On the far side of this lies a very steep and exposed downclimb of around 40m in length. The exposure is tremendous, and most people describe this downclimb as the psychological crux of the route.

Once down, continue scrambling up the ridgeline with some relatively complex route-finding to cover the 200m of elevation to the broad flat rocky summit of Maeho. For many people this will be the highpoint of the route and the views all around, and particularly down the north ridge of Maeho, are truly exhilarating.

Getting down:

From the summit of Maeho you need to drop steeply down the main trail for around 20 minutes, with chains in places, to reach the trail junction at Kimiko-daira (紀美子平). From here you have the option to do an out-and-back along the Tsuri-one (吊尾根) ridgeline to reach the 3190m summit of Mt Okuhotaka (奥穂高岳), the high point of the North Alps.

Once back at Kimiko-daira, continue down the Dakesawa trail for around two hours to reach the Dakesawa hut. This trail is infamous… one of the steepest trails in Japan, and an absolute knee-crusher. Hang in there, keep repeating “this too shall pass”, and you’ll get down it.

From the Dakesawa hut there just remains about 1h50m of map time down the hiking trail back to the trail junction and on to Kamikōchi.

Overall:

A stunning variation route, of moderate technical difficulty for those with the requisite climbing experience, without the crowds of the nearby ridgelines and trails. Mandatory rappels from Myoujin II require a 50m rope, and a night up on the summit makes for a very memorable outing.

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Mt Ryogami (両神山) – Akaiwa ridge (赤岩尾根) variation route

Route name: Akaiwa ridge (赤岩尾根)

Mountain:  Ryogami-san (両神山)

Map sheet:  27 [Yama-to-kougen-chizu (山と高原地図) series]

Time:  9-10 hours

Difficulty:  Exposed scrambling

The area around Mt Ryogami is one of the Tokyo region’s best adventure playgrounds. It’s a popular mountain, on the list of the hyakumeizan (百名山); and both its eastern hiking trail and the Hacchō ridge (八丁尾根) to the northwest, with its endless chains, are always busy at weekends. But very few venture off these main courses.

What most people don’t realise is that the mountain can also be climbed by several variation routes, navigating over and around steep and exposed pinnacles, often requiring a belay or a rappel.

The Akaiwa ridge is a rugged variation route that offers an exciting and exposed ridge traverse, and can be extended along the Hacchō ridge all the way to Mt Ryogami’s summit. It features many steep sections and rock scrambles, with plenty of exposure, and is a popular route among mountaineers looking for a bit more adventure than the standard trails can provide.

Getting there:

You’ll need a car for this itinerary, as there is no public transport to the start of the route. First head to Chichibu (秩父) in Saitama, and from there you need to take route 140. Stay on this road as it winds its way up the Arakawa river, past the roadside station at Ōtaki (大滝), and keeping right at the fork just after Ōtaki. After a few more kilometres you’ll come to the dramatic Raiden Todoroki loop bridge (雷電廿六木橋).

Continue alongside the Okuchichibumomiji lake (奥秩父もみじ湖) until you come to a junction with a tunnel on your right. Take this right turn through the tunnel onto route 210. Stay on route 210 as it winds its way up an increasingly stunning gorge, surrounded by limestone walls. In the upper reaches of this road, you will pass concrete factories with mounds of lime, disused houses and infrastructure from the days when this area was a major mining operation for concrete production.

Eventually you will reach a sharp bend with a lay-by, near an old mining facility. Park in this lay-by.

Description:

From the lay-by walk up the small mining road just off the left of the main rindou, past abandoned mining houses to a trailhead on the right. Take this trail, gentle at first but soon steepening into zigzags up the forested slope on the left side. Once you hit the ridgeline, continue upwards as the trail steepens further up the leaf-covered hillside in front of you. Eventually, after around an hour of hiking, you will reach the Akaiwa col (赤岩峠). The trail to the left will take you to nearby 1532m Mt Onageshi (大ナゲシ), a fun scramble in its own right. But the Akaiwa ridge lies to your right.

To gain the ridge, hike up the trail for several minutes until it strikes leftwards across and up into a broken gully (pink tape markers). Scramble up this gully to a small col. Now the route begins in earnest.

Scramble up a steep rock step on your right, then continue up easier ground to gain the crest of the ridge leading up to the summit of the Akaiwa (赤岩, “Red Rock”). This distinctive large rock section, visible from the road far below, gives the ridge its name and is the first peak along the route. It involves some scrambling and minor climbing moves. The views from up here are really fantastic!

Now continue along the ridge for several hours. Route-finding is mostly straightforward, but sometimes rather unclear. You will cross another minor peak of 1570m, and will pass sections of fixed rope and lots of exposed areas.

Eventually you will reach the most exciting section of the ridge, an exposed downclimb towards a crest of jutting rock, followed by a steep climb up the face behind the crest. It would be prudent to rope up for this climb, and it will generally require two pitches to the top.

The next obstacle along the ridge is a vertical chimney. It can be soloed comfortably if you have the confidence, but there are in-situ pitons if you’d prefer the security of a rope.

Continue along the exposed ridgeline for another hour or so and you will eventually find yourselves descending slightly to the Hacchō Pass and the end of the Akaiwa ridge traverse.

Descent:

From the Hacchō Pass, the shortest descent is to take the signposted descent trail that drops off into the valley on your right. After descending for about 40 minutes map time, you will get down to the road. Continue walking down this road and in about another 30-40 minutes you will reach the lay-by where you left your car.

Alternatively, if you want to continue to the top of Mt Ryogami (recommended), just carry on along the Hacchō ridge for several hours more exposed scrambling with chains until you reach the summit.

The descent from Mt Ryogami back to the lay-by is a bit more involved though. Continue over the summit and down the ridge beyond for a short way and you will come to a roped off trail on the right. Take this trail and continue down a rather indistinct trail into the sawa on your right. It should take around 1.5 hours to get down to the rindou near the same point where the main trail down from the Hacchō ridge reaches it too. But the experience will be entirely different. This trail is not marked on the hiking maps, and is rather steep and exposed in places, so take care. There is pink tape on trees all the way down, but it would be prudent to have a GPS map as a back-up in case you lose the trail. One could almost think of this descent trail as a variation route in its own right.

Summary:

An exhilarating circular scramble over the top of this fine hyakumeizan, with around 7-8 hours on consistently steep and exposed terrain. Bring a 30m rope and a selection of slings for protection as needed.

*** NEWS ***

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Mt Ryogami (両神山) – Karikura ridge (狩倉尾根) variation route

Route name: Karikura ridge (狩倉尾根)

Mountain:  Ryogami-san (両神山)

Map sheet:  27 [Yama-to-kougen-chizu (山と高原地図) series]

Time:  9-10 hours

Difficulty:  Exposed scrambling

The area around Mt Ryogami is one of the Tokyo region’s best adventure playgrounds. It’s a popular mountain, on the list of the hyakumeizan (百名山); and both its eastern hiking trail and the Hacchō ridge (八丁尾根) to the northwest, with its endless chains, are always busy at weekends. But very few venture off these main courses.

What most people don’t realise is that the mountain can also be climbed by several variation routes, navigating over and around steep and exposed pinnacles, often requiring a belay or a rappel.

The Karikura ridge is probably the most challenging of them. It could properly be called the mountain’s west ridge, but there is no marked trail on any maps; and trust me, you won’t see anybody else until you reach the summit.

Getting there:

You’ll need a car for this itinerary, as there is no public transport to the start of the route. First head to Chichibu (秩父) in Saitama, and from there you need to take route 140. Stay on this road as it winds its way up the Arakawa river, past the roadside station at Ōtaki (大滝), and keeping right at the fork just after Ōtaki. After a few more kilometres you’ll come to the dramatic Raiden Todoroki loop bridge (雷電廿六木橋).

Continue alongside the Okuchichibumomiji lake (奥秩父もみじ湖) until you come to a junction with a tunnel on your right. Take this right turn through the tunnel onto route 210. Stay on route 210 as it winds its way up an increasingly stunning gorge, surrounded by limestone walls. In the upper reaches of this road, you will pass concrete factories with mounds of lime, disused houses and infrastructure from the days when this area was a major mining operation for concrete production.

Eventually you will reach a sharp bend with a lay-by, near an old mining facility. Park in this lay-by.

Description:

To access the Karikura ridge, walk back down the road you’ve driven up for several hundred metres.

Your mission is to get up onto the ridge above you on your left, and there’s no perfect place to do it, so just pick the easiest location you can find and start hiking/scrambling up. You will soon reach an abandoned wooden building, which is interesting to explore a little.

Above here it is consistently steep, but there are plenty of trees where you need them. You may need to deploy your rope in places too.

After a couple of hours, you should reach the top of the first peak on the ridge, known as Antenna Peak (for the old radio antenna that graces it). Take a short break here as you are about to start the Karikura ridge proper.

The descent off the back of Antenna Peak is very steep, and I’d recommend rappelling the final section just to be on the safe side. From the col, continue up the ridge on the other side.

Things get more narrow, exposed and rocky, and the views all around are quite thrilling. You will cross over the 1625m Karikura peak, and after several hours you will come to the Karikura Yari pinnacle.

There are several places along the way where a rope is prudent. The first is a horizontal traverse across a knife-edge rock ridge. It’s not overly difficult, but the exposure is immense.

After that you’ll need to climb a rather steep face followed by more scrambling to regain the top of the ridge.

Eventually you will leave the exposed ridge behind, and at the top of the Karikura ridge you will hit the main ridge running south to north, and join the hiking trail. Follow this trail all the way to the summit of Mt Ryogami.

Descent:

The day is not over yet though, and you still have a long way to go before you reach the car, and this will involve traversing the Hacchō ridge. Continue over the summit to the north and after about 30 minutes of map time you’ll reach the minor summit of Mae-higashi-dake (前東岳). From here you are onto the Hacchō ridge, and several hours of continuous up and down over polished limestone with countless chains.

The two main peaks along the Hacchō ridge are Higash-dake (東岳) and Nishi-dake (西岳) and, once past those, another half hour of scrambling will bring you to the Hacchō Pass (八丁峠).

From the Hacchō Pass take the signposted descent trail that drops off into the valley on your left.

After descending for about 40 minutes map time, you will get down to the road. Continue walking down this road and in about another 30-40 minutes you will reach the lay-by where you left your car.

Summary:

An exhilarating circular scramble over the top of this fine hyakumeizan, with around 7-8 hours on consistently steep and exposed terrain. Bring a 30m rope and a selection of slings for protection as needed.

*** NEWS ***

Don't forget to order your copy of Volume 2 of the "10 Classic Alpine Climbs of Japan" series from Amazon today!

Mt Hinata (日向山) ice-climbing - Gamma gully (岩間ルンゼ)

Route Name:  Gamma runze (岩間ルンゼ)

Mountain:  Hinata-yama (日向山)

Map sheet:  41 [Yama-to-kougen-chizu (山と高原地図) series]

Time:  1 day

Grade:  Overall route grade 4- (WI4 IV+ cruxes)

The vicinity of Mt Kaikoma is famous for the depth and breadth of the ice-climbing opportunities that abound there. It ranges from epic large-scale alpine routes to more Scottish-style ice and mixed gullies. Once the first big snowfalls of the winter arrive though, the alpine routes lose their edge, as much of the slab ice is buried. Then it can be time to turn the attention to some of the gullies up above the Ojira-gawa river below Mt Hinata.

The Gamma runze is one of the most enjoyable of them, covering a full mix of terrain; water ice, slab ice, delicate mixed pitches, and even the chance to climb through a tunnel behind a massive chockstone!

Getting there:

If travelling by car from Tokyo (東京), take the Chuō Expressway to Sutama (須玉) and then exit onto route 141. A combination of local roads will bring you within about half an hour to the Yatateishi-tozanguchi chushajou carpark (矢立石登山口 駐車場). This small parking area is the end of the road for vehicles, and there is a metal barrier across the road, so from here you will be on foot.

Description:

THE APPROACH

Several minutes up the road you will come to the entrance to the hiking trail that leads up to Mt Hinata (日向山), but you should continue walking along the rindou, or dirt road, for around 30-40 minutes, crossing a small landslide with fixed ropes, until you reach the Nishikitaki waterfall (錦滝). This waterfall freezes in winter and can be climbed.

Continue past the viewing platform, across a bridge which spans the river below the Nishiki fall, and keep walking for about 5 minutes. You will soon come to the entrance to Gamma runze.

 

THE CLIMB

If you find Gamma runze frozen and in good condition, there will be no confusion about where to go. Just follow the sawa and you cannot go wrong. The topo shows up to 10 pitches for the gully, but this will depend on conditions, rope length etc.

Here are some of the highlights of the route:

F1:

Thin mixed pitch:

Approaching the chockstone:

Climbing out from behind:

DESCENT

Simply rappel the gully to get back to the rindou, and then walk back out to your car.

Overall:

A varied outing, taking in slab ice, vertical ice, mixed rock and ice pitches and steep snow. This is an excellent route and will not disappoint. A rack of 8 ice screws, quickdraws and slings, and 50m double ropes should be enough.