Naeba-san And Plan Two

After a cosy and relaxed night at the Eite residence in Omiya, hosted by the expecting (but still hard-working and hospitable) Yumi, the lads were refreshed and raring to go on Sunday morning. A 6am alarm, followed by 10 mins teeth-brushing and bag-packing then saw Mark and Ads heading out for their first hike of the 2003-2004 season.

We were on the shinkansen by 6:30am, in Echigo Yuzawa a little over an hour later and strapping on snowshoes at the top of the Kagura area resort just before 10am. The weather was typically stunning, Mt. Naeba glistening in the distance with a sweet covering of Christmas cake icing (actually it was snow but made Ads wish he'd remembered the portion of fruit cake he left in his kitchen back in Blighty).

Sunday 1st Feb. seemed to be a popular day as lines of kitted-out snow fans headed up the trail. The blue sky was superb and remained clear all day, broken only with streaks of light cloud.

After marvelling at the stunning Naeba-san in the not-too-distant distance, we decided to head off to the south and a peak previously not ventured. It stood at 2010m and seemed reachable with the weather agreeable and two or three people ahead of us. One isolated track down that had been ridden moments earlier also encouraged us to get to the top and enjoy the fresh snow.

Nevertheless, we decided to take advantage of the favourable conditions, some new equipment and Mark's recent avalanche course by spending some time on a snow test. An hour or so later, snow layers analysed and energy refuelled, we hit the last stretch of the hike to the peak. By this time, approaching 4pm, the wind had picked up somewhat and it was time to start considering a route down.

The ride was fast and fresh. Short but fun. It wasn't long before we were in the valley that was to be our path back home, a fragmented trip, switching snowshoes for boards at least once or twice. Some time was spent swimming through the dump of snow that had settled on Saturday, untouched, save for the lone skier who had braved the same trek back before us. But as the sun set and darkness settled we eventually emerged from the trees back onto the slopes and headed down. A pleasant and deserted ride was briefly interrupted by the ski patrol for a quick disciplining about our late return to their slopes.

And that was that. Tired but satisfied, we left the beautiful countryside, and bused and trained it back to the mad metropolis.

PA