Yatsugatake (八ヶ岳) ice-climbing - Minenomatsume-sawa (峰の松目沢)

Route name: Minenomatsume-sawa (峰の松目沢)

Mountain:  Yatsugatake (八ヶ岳)

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

Time:  3-4 hours

Difficulty:  Grade 3+ alpine route / WI 4

The majority of the ice-climbing in the Akadake-kōsen area sits up around the west face of Yokodake (横岳) and neighbouring Iodake (硫黄岳); and with the excellent hut and campground providing a good basecamp, routes like the Uradoushin gully, Jogosawa and the Sanjahou gully are rightly popular. If you’re looking for something a bit quieter, however, the south facing Minenomatsume-sawa is a great alternative.

With 8 distinct icefalls, it is both longer and more technical than the Uradoushin. It is also extremely photogenic, and consequently something of a classic of the area. In recent years it is becoming more popular, so expect to find other parties in there on days when conditions are good, although nothing like the queues one often finds in the super-popular Jogosawa.

Getting there:

If travelling from Tokyo, take a Super Azusa Limited Express train from Shinjuku to Chino (approx. 2.5 hours). Outside the JR station at Chino take a bus to Minotoguchi (美濃戸口, approx. 45 minutes). This is the gateway to the Akadake-kōsen side of Yatsugatake. From the carpark start hiking up the trail that is signposted to Akadake (赤岳). The walk-in takes up to 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 a hut with a water source, which makes a good resting point for 5 minutes. The trail splits here, with the right fork going up Minami-sawa (南沢) to the Gyouja-goya hut (行者小屋). You need to take the left fork up Kita-sawa (北沢).

The next hour follows the rough dirt road until it finishes at a bridge across the sawa just before a concrete dam. 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 and its campground serve as basecamp for all the routes in the area. The entrance to Minenomatsume-sawa lies about 20 minutes before the Akadake-kōsen hut on the north side of the river just after a wooden bridge with fantastic views of the Daidoushin pinnacle up on the west face of Yokodake.

Entrance:

Description:

If you’re starting your day at the Kōsen hut, walk back down the trail for around 20 minutes to reach the bridge near the entrance to Minenomatsume-sawa. Cross the bridge and walk down around 30-40m to access the wide bottom of the sawa. Walk up the sawa for around 15 minutes, sticking to the right at an obvious fork, and you will reach a long and gentle section of frozen ice slab. Continue up this for around 80m to reach the first icefall, or F1.

F1 is a pretty straightforward warm-up, nice climbing at a gentle angle until the top.

F1:

From the top of F1, continue up a short way to the bottom of F2.

There are several ways up F2, with the easiest line being on the left, and harder lines on the right side.

From the top of F2, continue up the sawa with frozen icefalls connected by sections of frozen riverbed, steepening the higher you go.

F3:

F4:

F5:

Looking down F5:

F6:

F7:

Eventually you will reach the crux of the sawa, the ice curtain of F8. This vertical curtain is about 5m high before the angle relents and it becomes more stepped, but it is not uncommon for it to be thin in early season conditions.

Descent:

From the top of F8 you have a couple of options:

1. Continue up the final slopes to the top of Minenomatsume peak, then head to climber’s right along the ridge top to gain the hiking trail below the summit of Iodake. From there you can hike back down to the Kōsen hut in around half an hour.

2. Far more common is to simply rappel the route on the in-situ cord anchors on trees above each icefall. One or two of the rappels require double ropes, most notably F5.

Summary:

A fine outing up a truly beautiful frozen sawa, with straightforward access and descent; a great choice as an early season tune-up or as a place for relative newcomers to the sport to gain experience.

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