Yatsugatake (八ヶ岳) ice-climbing – Hirogawara-sawa (広河原沢) No3 gully (3ルンゼ)

Route Name: Hirogawara-sawa (広河原沢) No3 gully (3ルンゼ)

Mountain:  Amidadake (2805m 阿弥陀岳)

Map sheet:  33 [Yama-to-kougen-chizu (山と高原地図) series]

Time:  1 day round trip

Grade:  WI4 / Overall Grade 3+ alpine route

Of all the winter routes in Hirogawara-sawa on the southwest aspect of Amidadake, No3 gully might be the best of them. Deep and committing, it has a remote alpine feel to it, requiring the full skillset of ice and mixed terrain. And when you get to the top, as an added bonus you then get to climb the South ridge (Nanryo, 南稜) from its crux at the P3 gully up to the summit… A big route with big satisfaction!

Getting there:

There is no public transport to the trailhead for this route. As a pre-dawn start is required, it is therefore necessary to travel by car.

If travelling by car from Tokyo (東京) take the Chuō Expressway as far as the Kobuchizawa (小淵沢) interchange. After passing through the ETC barriers, turn right and drive uphill on route 11 for around 5 minutes to a set of traffic lights. Turn left and continue until route 11 changes into route 484. Stay on route 484 for around 10 minutes, and then turn right onto a narrow road uphill in the direction of Funayama-jūjiro (船山十字路). There is space for around 15-20 cars to park here.

Description:

From the carpark at Funayama-jūjiro walk up the road for several minutes and pass through the gate. Continue up the forestry road in the direction of Hirogawara-sawa. Eventually the road becomes less defined as it narrows into a valley path.

After about an hour of hiking the path crosses to the right bank of Hirogawara-sawa. Another 20 minutes will bring you to the Futamata junction (二俣), the point where the left and right forks of the river part ways.

Take the right fork here into the Migi-mata (右俣), and continue up the stream. Some way up you will come to a short ice step that is usually not formed, so you may need to scramble up a sort of natural staircase in a cave on the right side.

At the top of this is another fork in the stream. The right fork goes to Christmas runze (クリスマスルンゼ), and the left fork continues up towards No3 gully.

As you get further in you will begin to find short frozen ice steps, which can be climbed unroped.

Eventually you will reach the junction where No2 and No3 gullies part ways. Take the right fork and head up into No3 gully.

Depending on when you are climbing, this next section might involve wading through some deep snow that has accumulated at the bottom of the main gully. Once through this, continue up the steepening slopes until you reach the crux 30m 3-step Ōtaki icefall (大滝).

In early season conditions (Dec) this will probably require a rope due to the exposure, and there is an anchor midway up it. In later season (Jan) with more snow on the ground, you may be able to solo it, but you must decide based on conditions.

Above the Ōtaki continue climbing slab ice and steep snow slopes. You will eventually see an icefall on the right, which is often not fully formed. To bypass this, continue up the slopes on your left in the direction of P4 on the Nanryo until you reach the rockface.

From here traverse rightwards and cross back into No3 gully, and ascend up to the foot of the P3 gully on the Nanryo.

Climb the P3 gully up to the Nanryo, and then continue up the Nanryo to the 2805m summit of Amidadake. The views up there on a clear day in winter are outrageously beautiful!

Descent:

Take the trail to the west off the summit. A short walk along a narrow ridge brings you to some rocks, with a ladder and chains. Climb over these rocks and down the other side to a signpost.

From here you can see your descent down the Okoya ridge (御小屋尾根) stretching out below, and the top section has a fixed rope in place down the first 100m. Pick your way carefully down it, and after around an hour you’ll come to a sign for a water source off to the left (不動清水) at about 2206m. Keep going down the ridge and after another 1h10mins of map-time you will arrive at a fork in the trail just after the 2137m summit of Mt Okoya (御小屋山).

The right fork goes to Minotoguchi bus stop, and the left fork will take you back to Funayama crossroads. The car park at Funayama crossroads is another 1h20mins of map-time down the ridge.

Overall:

A first-class winter alpine route to a major summit in the Yatsugatake massif. Bring 5-6 ice screws, a selection of nuts and quickdraws, and expect to be alone for most of the day.

Yatsugatake (八ヶ岳) ice-climbing - Sanjahou couloir (三叉峰ルンゼ)

Route name: Sanjahou runze (三叉峰ルンゼ)

Mountain: Yokodake (横岳) in the Yatsugatake (八ヶ岳) massif

Map sheet: 33 [Yama-to-kougen-chizu (山と高原地図) series]

Length: approx. 400m

Time: 6 hours to summit ridge

Grade: WI3-4 / overall grade 3 winter alpine route

Getting there:

If traveling by train, take a Super Azusa limited express train from Shinjuku (新宿) to Chino (茅野 approx. 3 hours). Outside the JR station at Chino take a bus to Minotoguchi (美濃戸口 approx. 1 hour). This is the gateway to the Akadake-kōsen side of Yatsugatake.

From the car park start hiking up the trail that is signposted to Akadake. The walk-in takes around 3 hours by map time. It is split into 3 stages. The first hour brings you past a series of buildings and on a little further to the Minoto-sansō (美濃戸山荘) hut. The next hour follows the rindou (forest road) until it finishes at a bridge across the sawa (stream). From the other side the path narrows and meanders alongside the sawa for another hour or so until you reach the hut at Akadake-kōsen. This hut serves as basecamp for all the routes in the area.

Description:

From the hut you need to follow the hiking trail in the direction of the pass at the start of the Nakayama ridge (中山尾根). After about 15 minutes you will reach a small bridge. Leave the trail and turn left right after this bridge.

Keep heading up for around an hour, taking the right fork at a couple of junctions. With the Sekison ridge (石尊稜) on your right, you will eventually arrive at the start of the Sanjahou couloir.

In early December the first icefall is at its tallest, around 12m of vertical before it eases off a bit. It could also be rather thin. By January it is usually a bit shorter due to snow accumulation at the bottom.

After the icefall, continue up the gully on steep snow with occasional old pitons and bushes in the left wall for protection or anchor building to finish the pitch.

The route now continues up frozen waterfalls of varying lengths up to 10m in height separated by stretches of steep snow inside the gully. Protection throughout these first few hundred metres is ice screws in the waterfalls. It can be simul-climbed if you're confident, but 3-4 pitches should suffice to reach the end of this section.

Eventually a large open ledge is reached, which marks the end of the narrowest section of the gully. From here there are two possible directions, heading up a frozen waterfall left or right. Take the right fork and climb the icefall and then a 6-7m rock chimney above, and belay at the top on two Petzl bolts on the left wall.

From here the angle eases off a little and the route continues up onto the upper face alongside the Sekison ridge on climber’s right. The face opens up gradually, and the rock gendarmes of the Daidoushin (大同心) and Shodoushin (小同心) can be seen off to the left.

When you reach the headwall, you need to move up to the right and around a corner to a peg belay on the upper section of the Sekison arête. From here you have two options to finish. The easiest option would be to traverse a full length to the right, and then climb easy slopes to gain the summit ridge hiking trail.

The more interesting option is to climb the final two pitches of the Sekison arête. The first pitch takes the initial groove at grade III, then continues up steeply and sharply on the arête, before heading round to the right and up to belay on a rock spike. Protection is rather sparse, but the pitch is well featured.

Next, continue up and into a broad gully on steep snow, which leads to the top after around 70m.

Once on the main hiking trail, head left up the ridge to the summit of Yokodake (横岳), or right towards Akadake (赤岳). After about an hour of moving along the ridgeline towards Akadake things level off a little, eventually reaching a junction marked by a stone Buddhist statue of Jizo. The statue marks the entry point to the Jizo ridge on the right, and this is the quickest descent back to the Akadake-kōsen hut. This path is steep but straightforward. An hour of descent will bring you down to the Gyouja-goya hut.

Overall:

A superb gully route up the face to the left of Sekison arête, with a stunning and airy finish to gain the summit ridge. One of the classic winter gully routes in the area, although ice conditions can be fickle some years. Take about 6 ice screws, a couple of smaller cams, and a selection of slings and quickdraws for protection.

Yatsugatake (八ヶ岳) ice-climbing - The left fork of Hirogawara-sawa (広河原沢左俣)

Route Name:  Hirogawara-sawa (広河原沢) left fork (hidari-mata 左俣)

Mountain:   Amidadake (2805m 阿弥陀岳)

Map sheet:  33 [Yama-to-kougen-chizu (山と高原地図) series]

Time:  1 day round trip

Grade:  WI4 / Overall grade 3 alpine route

FA:  廣川健太郎、梅野弘（JECC)、 坂梨利明（山雀グループ）(1995.3.19)

While the crowds head to the Akadake-kousen area of west Yatsugatake for early winter ice-climbing, the longer and more varied routes in the Hirogawara-sawa valley provide a much quieter and more immersive experience. The left fork is the longest and most technical of the frozen sawa routes on this side. With several hours of WI2-3 slab ice and a couple of crux pitches at WI4, it is both a first-class training day and a grand outing in itself.

With the option to summit 2805m Amidadake with stunning winter views all around, and then a huge descent down the endless Okoya ridge, expect a tough but satisfying day.

Getting there:

There is no public transport to the trailhead for this route. As a pre-dawn start is required, it is therefore necessary to travel by car.

If travelling by car from Tokyo (東京) take the Chuō Expressway as far as the Kobuchizawa (小淵沢) interchange. After passing through the ETC barriers, turn right and drive uphill on route 11 for around 5 minutes to a set of traffic lights. Turn left and continue until route 11 changes into route 484. Stay on route 484 for around 10 minutes, and then turn right onto a narrow road uphill in the direction of Funayama-jūjiro (船山十字路). There is space for around 15-20 cars to park here.

Description:

From the carpark at Funayama-jūjiro walk up the road for several minutes and pass through the gate. Continue up the forestry road in the direction of Hirogawara-sawa. Eventually the road becomes less defined as it narrows into a valley path.

After about an hour of hiking the path crosses to the right bank of Hirogawara-sawa. Another 20 minutes will bring you to the Futamata junction (二俣), the point where the left and right forks of the river part ways.

Cross back over to the left bank and then continue hiking up the left fork. The angle increases slightly as you pick your way up the snow-filled streambed, and gradually you will meet more and more frozen sections and short 1-2m steps. After around half an hour you should reach a pool with a narrow cleft at the far end. This is the start of the more technical climbing. Some years this is frozen and you can go straight up it, but if it is still running water here, it can be bypassed up on the cliff on the left side, with a fixed rope at the far end to get back down into the streambed.

Now you are into the more technical ice-climbing, and as you progress up the sawa you will meet several ice steps of around WI2-3 up to about 15m in height. They can all be soloed in good conditions if you have the confidence, but be prepared to pitch them if necessary.

As you gain height you will eventually come to the mixed crux of the route, involving a traverse across a steep slope followed by a climb up a bulging chimney in two sections. If you want to rope up for this, there is a good tree anchor at the top.

After some more slab ice and one slightly longer 3-step icefall, you will come to the first of the ice cruxes, the 15m WI4 Ōtaki icefall (大滝). This pitch is off vertical for its first half, but then steepens to vertical in its upper half, with a solid tree to belay from at the top.

Once over the Ōtaki, continue up the sawa and climb several more WI3 sections of steep exposed slab ice.

Eventually you will reach the technical ice crux of the route, the final WI4/4+ ice pillar. Conditions on this pillar differ year to year, and it can be fat solid ice or rather intimidating, but it usually touches down on the ground and can be climbed by mid to late December. There is a solid anchor some metres back from the top.

Ice pillar in different years:

You have now finished the technical ice-climbing, and have a couple of options available. If you want to go to the summit of Amidadake, continue up the sawa on more moderate terrain until you break out onto the upper slopes and hit the hiking trail near the top. If you are not planning to go to the summit, then just climb the steep slopes on your left until you hit the hiking trail on the Okoya ridge (御小屋尾根), effectively the west ridge of Amidadake.

Descent:

There is usually a great trace all the way down the Okoya ridge. Pick your way carefully down it, and after around an hour you’ll come to a sign for a water source off to the left (不動清水) at about 2206m. Keep going down the ridge and after another 1h10mins of map-time you will arrive at a fork in the trail just after the 2137m summit of Mt Okoya (御小屋山).

The right fork goes to Minotoguchi bus stop, and the left fork will take you back to Funayama crossroads. The car park at Funayama crossroads is another 1h20mins of map-time down the ridge.

Overall:

A classic winter ice/mixed alpine route in the Yatsugatake region, favoured for its length and sequence of frozen waterfalls and ice pitches up to WI4. Take a 50m rope and around 8 ice screws, and be prepared for a big day out.