Nakahara San - First Attempt on Shibutsu
Paul Adamson and I set out from Omiya at 05.15 on Monday April 22nd with the intention of trying to
climb Shibutsu-san, one of Japan's Hyaku Mei San (One Hundred Famous
Peaks). We borrowed Yumi's car and the drive up took just under 3-hours
allowing for a couple of convenience store stops.
 Arriving
in Oze we had no idea of what to expect. Shibutsu had been recommended by a
Japanese friend working at Burton Japan and we'd done some
research online and bought a map but that was as far as we knew about the
mountain. The weather hadn't been great recently, with much rain down in
the Kanto Plains on Sunday afternoon and evening but the forecast was ok and
we were planning to get out of the city and if possible give it a go.
We drove up as far as Oze Tokura for the left turn up to the ??. Pass. A
kilometer up the road our way was blocked and we found that our route was
still closed for a long finished winter. (The road was due to open on April
26th at 10.00 - just four days later). We returned back into Tokura to ask
some snowboarders that we'd passed where they were planning to go but found
that they'd signed with a guide to do Shibutsu and that their group had a
key to the barrier. Unable to follow them we determined to find some other
areas to slide.
The road to the ??? Pass was 10km from where it was blocked so we soon
forgot about walking that. Instead we checked our map and drove up past the
now closed Oze Tokura Snow Resort (basically two half pipes and not much
else) and along the narrow continuation for a further 5 kms up the valley.
At the trail head there was a small car park an abandoned snow mobile and
not much else. We checked our map again and decided to hike with the boards
and to head towards the Shibutsu-San trail.
Another hiker turned up while we were unpacking and suggested that
Shibutsu-San was an 8 hour hike away but we didn't really have any other
plan and decided to just go for a hike and see if we could manage a few
turns. There were some snow patches around where we parked but it was mostly
wet and compacted and the track was an extension of the road so we decided
to leave the snow shoes in the car.
We headed up the winding forest path gradually getting into snow country.
Along the way we passed two more abandoned snow-mobiles. As we progressed
and the snow patches became larger and finally blanketing we grew more
confident that we'd find some decent (for the spring conditions) riding.
The weather was also holding nicely with the clouds remaining above 1750m.
Our first target was the mountain hut Fujimi Toge (pass) According to our map this
was a 2 hrs 20 min summer hike from where we'd left the car. The snow
itself wasn't too soft and we made good progress so we set this as a lunch
target. The hut was just below 1900m and we'd started at 1320m.
Along the way we passed frozen marshes, melting gullies and avalanche slides
as we got higher. We began to realize that Shibutsu would be too far off for
today (our hike up to the Fujimi Koya (hut) was comparable in distance and change
in elevation as the hike up Shibutsu from the ??? car park) and instead
set the peak of Nakahara San (1969m) as our target.
We eventually reached the Fujimi Koya at 11.30 (2 hrs 30 min) after setting
off. It was There was still a good 2 metres of snow around the hut burying
any entrance. We stopped here for lunch (ham and garlic cheese baguette,
apple and milky way, and choco -pie; all washed down with Dakara), now just
in the lower clouds.
After half an hours' food and rest we were beginning to feel the cold and
decided to head up the last 100m/30 mins to the top. The clouds were
thickening but we resolved to follow the edge at a "safe distance" which
should bring us to the summit. A few red/pink ribbons tied to branches
reassured us that we were on track, but there were no footprints nor path to
follow.
We improvised a trail through the snow with our ski poles in case we had to
retrace our steps and plodded on.
The top itself was almost flat and no doubt more marsh in summer. There was
no cairn or monument in sight (perhaps these were covered) but we stopped
when we were satisfied we were at the highest point before the path began to
descend.
A few photos later we began to search for the best way down from the clouds.
We wanted to head down before the avalanche debris that we'd seen but also
needed to make sure that we were the left side of the shoulder so as not to
end up in the wrong valley. Both satisfied that we'd chosen the least risk
route we strapped in and rode down together. The snow didn't move and
although hardly perfect powder we began to enjoy some late season riding. We
stuck to the shoulders rather than the gullies and managed a good few turns
before coming out on the track we'd hiked up - almost below the avalanche
debris that we'd seen.
From then on we strapped in and got out of our boards about four times
managing to ride more than half the distance where the trail was steep
enough to allow it.
It took us 1 hr 30 min in total to get back down to the car.
From then on we strapped in and got out of our boards about four times
managing to ride more than half the distance where the trail was steep
enough to allow it.
We visited the Sumo Ryokan with it's dohyou shaped rotemburo in ???.
Onsen to soak away the day's exertions.
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