Mt Kaikomagatake (甲斐駒ケ岳) – Ōren-dani left fork (黄蓮谷左俣)

Route Name:   Ōren-dani left fork (黄蓮谷左俣)

Mountain:         Kaikomagatake (2967m, 甲斐駒ケ岳)

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

Time:                2-3 days

Grade:              Grade 4+ alpine route (WI4+)

The massive northeast aspect of Mt Kaikoma might be the biggest draw in the area for winter alpinists. Visible for miles around, the Ōren-dani valley is remote and serious, and I’ll wager that anyone who has been climbing Japan’s mountains in the coldest season for a decent length of time has either done it or is dreaming of doing it.

If you have already climbed the magnificent right fork of Mt Kaikoma’s Ōren-dani and are keen to ramp up the technical difficulties, then it may be time to consider the left fork, or hidari-mata (左俣). While the left fork is shorter than its neighbour, topping out at the 8th station of the Kuroto ridge rather than the summit, it makes up for this in steepness and technical difficulty. To climb it you will need to spend several hours in the no-fall zone on WI3 slab ice, and overcome several large icefalls in the WI4-5 range.

Where the right fork is long and adventurous, the left fork is one for the more serious ice-climbers. Retreat would be both awkward and protracted, so once committed you really want to be able to climb it all the way. And if you can do that, you’ll have earned a prize worth winning!

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 Hakushukankōjiro camping ground (白洲観光尾白キャンプ場). The car park here is the end of the road and the access point for the Kuroto ridge of Mt Kaikoma and all climbing routes on the east side of the mountain.

Description:

THE APPROACH

From the car park, walk past the barrier and continue along the rough road for about 5-10 minutes until you reach the Chiku-Komagatake shrine (竹宇駒ケ岳神社), an ancient holy site for shugendō religious practice. From the shrine, cross the suspension bridge over the river and follow the path upwards through the initial zigzags.

After about 30mins the path will veer to the left and contour up and round onto the crest of the ridge. Keep going, and after about 2 hours of map time you will reach a junction where your trail is joined by another approach trail that came up from Yokote-Komagatake shrine. You are now on the Kuroto ridge proper. Keep following the path up through the forest, with red paint markers on the trees to show you the right way.

After about 1.5 hours the ridge will begin to narrow until you reach an airy knife-edge section with chains. Cross this with care, and after another 15-20 minutes you will reach a small shrine at 2049m. From here on you will begin to encounter ladders fixed on the steep sections.

Keep going for another hour or so and the trail will descend for about 100m to a col. This is the 5th station on the ridge. In the past there was an emergency hut here, the Gogōme-goya (五合目小屋), but this hut no longer exists. There is space here for a number of tents if you are planning to camp, and there is a descent trail down into the Ōren-dani from here, which will get you to the bottom of the Bouzu-no-taki (坊主ノ滝) icefall.

If you are not planning to camp, then you will need to continue up the ridge for another hour or so to the Shichijoudaiichi-goya hut (七丈第一小屋). The trail to the hut goes up and down very steeply, with a lot of ladders and chains to negotiate, some of them quite exposed indeed. Eventually you will round a corner at about 2400m and arrive at the hut. A night here currently costs about ¥12000 per person, including dinner, breakfast and 2 litres of cold water.

THE CLIMB

After an early pre-dawn start from the 7^th station hut, retrace the trail back down the Kuroto ridge to the 6^th station until you reach a distinctive stone marker. This marks the drop-in point for the more recently established descent trail down rokujou-no-sawa (六丈ノ沢).

If there is enough snow cover in the sawa itself, you can walk steeply down rokujou-no-sawa, but without snow cover you will likely need to pick your way down the ridge on your right (occasional markers on the trees). After 1-1.5 hours of careful descent, you should arrive at the bottom of rokujou-no-sawa, where it meets the Ōren-dani. Be very careful here as the terrain is very steep and exposed, with Bouzu-no-taki directly under you. If you wish to bypass Bouzu-no-taki, you may need to perform a diagonal rappel leftwards across the ice of rokujou-no-sawa from a solid tree on the right bank, which will get you down into the Ōren-dani in around 30-40m.

Once established in the Ōren-dani itself, start walking up the frozen stream bed and you will soon reach the 15m Futamata (二俣) icefall.

Soon after this you will see the Futamata junction where the left and right forks part ways.

The left fork begins steeply as it means to continue, with a beautiful series of stepped icefalls, around 50m in height and WI3, named the San-dan icefall (three steps, 三段).

Once over these, continue upwards until you reach the first more serious objective, the 30m Chimney icefall (チムニー滝). In good conditions this should be around WI3+, with good ice to anchor in beyond the top.

After the Chimney icefall, continue up for around an hour over a series of WI3 steps, gaining height rapidly, and enjoying the views across to the Yatsugatake massif in the distance behind. Eventually the main event, the 60m WI4+ Ōtaki icefall (大滝) will rear into view up ahead.

Although slightly off vertical in its lower half, the Ōtaki soon rears up to vertical and is sustained for a full 60m rope length. It can be cut into two pitches if you prefer. Once over this one, you have surmounted most of the difficulties.

From the top of the Ōtaki, continue up for around 20 minutes to the final major obstacle, the 30m Saigo-no-taki icefall (最後の滝). Although much shorter than the Ōtaki, this icefall is also steep and is often quite thin and tenuous, making it something of a sting in the tail. If it is not fully formed, or you don’t fancy taking it on, it can be bypassed off to the left.

From the top of this last icefall, you will likely be on snow slopes to the top. Depending on the condition of any trace in the snow, this section can be very physical and seems to last forever. But eventually you will exit the shade into the sunlight on the Kuroto ridge, just below the 8th station.

Most parties simply turn left from here and descend back to the hut, but if you have enough energy left, it seems a pity to miss out on summitting the mountain, with all the magnificent winter views that go with it!

Once finished with the climbing for the day, all that remains is the endless punishment of descending 2200m of the Kuroto ridge with a heavy pack in winter boots back to the car!

Overall:

A fantastic and memorable route for the well-prepared winter climber, both long and technical. Bring a full set of around 12 ice screws and at least a 60m rope, preferably doubles. This is the stuff dreams are made of!