Yatsugatake - December 2011

This is being written more than a month after I got back, but never mind! Just thought it'd be nice to put up a little bit about my last trip before the next one rolls around...


Between December 26th and 30th I took a trip up to famous Japanese winter climbing destination Yatsugatake, in the south/central Japan Alps (map below). I went with Ed from IceClimbingJapan (who I would highly recommend to anyone looking for guiding in Japan).

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 We spent 4 nights camped outside the Akadake Kosen lodge. The idea was to hit a natural ice route in the morning and then return to the lodge and refine technique on their 'Ice Candy' wall in the afternoons. For the most part this worked out just right.

Packed up and ready to go - somehow everything went in (or on) a supposed 30 litre pack!

Day 1 started off on a bad foot due to train delays. I can only assume this was due to the heavy snow falling across much of the country (even in Kyoto as I left!). Being an hour or so late, we elected to catch a taxi to the trailhead to make up time. The walk in took 2-3 hours and we were at the hut sometime after noon.


After pitching our tent and getting something to eat (the first of many, many instant rice packets, naturally) we had a play on Ice Candy and then called it early when they closed the wall for maintenance.

Akadake Kosen lodge and the Ice Candy artificial ice wall

Relatively cosy inside the tent despite it being perhaps -15 Celcius outside

Day 2 began early. After breakfast we soon headed on up to the base of Ura Do Shin, perhaps WI4-, which goes up into the mountains behind the hut. The weather was pretty glorious and we were climbing in baselayers - something that presided for most of trip!


The climbing was really nice and was only marred slightly by some very deep snow at the top-out, which made it sweaty going traversing across to the descent ridge. Nonetheless, after a rather knee-jarring descent we were soon back at the lodge in good time to have some hot food and have a mess with ice screw placements on the wall before it got dark.

Ed starting off on the first section of Ura Do Shin, WI4-

Looking up the route towards Daidoushin (the big rocky mass) 

Day 3 was another early-ish start, of course. This time we headed down slightly, to the Mine No Matsume falls we spied on the way up to the hut. They looked in good condition with little snow barring access (a major problem later in the season, leading to them being relatively unpopular).

Today we hit Mine No Matsume Migizawa, probably WI4- again. Great conditions prevailed again and we got some really awesome climbing done. One of the later sections had a particularly memorable section of bridging with a tricky exit - certainly the route crux - which provided good sport.

We climbed the route in a few hours, allowing for time taken to play around with gear and technique, and abbed back down it. Hot lunch in the tent and another go on the ice wall, then a chat in the 'warmth' of the lodge and off to bed.

Ed on belay 

Coming up one of the early steeper sections

Before topping out on a steep step

One particularly confidence-inspiring abseil anchor

Bridging the section on the far left gave good sport - the crux of the route

Day 4 saw us return to climb the neighbouring route to yesterday's - Mine No Matsume Hidari Taki, yet again probably WI4- although it felt easier going than the previous route.

Again, superb climbing was had. Conditions were mainly good but the wind began to pick up a little later on. We finished just in time - looking up at the higher peaks as we abbed down and walked back to the hut, it was clear that some bad weather was coming in and today would have been a bad day to be on the higher routes!

We got a lot of snow that night and it was quite windy, so we were right.

Gorgeous, plastic ice

Topping out on Mine No Matsume Hidari Taki, WI4-

A final glance across towards Akadake before the weather rolled in

Another lovely abseil anchor...

And here comes the weather - glad we were out of there!

Day 5 involved a slightly later start and a good play on Ice Candy before leaving, trying some much harder lines. The ice was fresh and really fragile - lots of chandeliers and icicles needing to be smashed away, making climbing quite tiring. Ed guessed that the line we were on probably went at around WI5+.

While lowering him off after getting pumped, my belay position gave way and I was rather spectacularly lifted into the air, swinging a good 30ft sideways and slamming into the ice wall, then swinging back the other way, smashing through every possible icicle with my shoulder and thigh as I went. All this in perfect semi-sitting, fall-catching position - Ed claims he didn't move an inch! Belaying 101: never let go of the rope!

Anyway, I was hurtin' after that little incident so we decided to call it a day - your luck only goes so far! We packed up the tent and headed out, just in time to pass by the crazy New Year rush coming the other way. The place is absolutely packed over the holiday - no time to be there, in my opinion!

It's not yours until you've bled on it

All in all the trip was a pretty fantastic experience. A great first taste of Japanese ice and a good leader into what's to come...

Thanks again to Ed for a superb 5 days guiding. I can't wait to get back there sometime and take on some of the lines I didn't get to try this time (Daidoushin Ootaki, I'm looking at you!).

Next stop, Kaikomagatake...