backcountry japan

2010.5.1 Harinoki 13.6 km / 7:38 hours / 1,363m I stood alone atop Harinoki, imagining a line down the mountain. A few friends – Fukazu-san, Hasegawa-san – had the knack to see beyond the fall-line.

2010.4.24 Yarisawa 24 km / 15:46 hours / 1,521m I stared at the GPS tracks and tallied up the numbers: Day 1: 11.6 km to Yoko campsite Day 2: 11.7 km to Obamidake, descent, 6.3 km from Yarisawa-lodge to Yoko campsite Day 3: 11.6 km back to trailhead Total: 3 days and 41 km to …

2010.3.19 Bunodake, Hinokimata Valley  16.1 km / 10:12 hours / 1,537m “Joji, ii ne!”  Fukazu-san pointed to the couloir across the way. There were several. Izumi and I asked him twice to make sure we were talking about the same route. In Fukazu-speak, more often than not, good meant steep. It was one of several …

2010.2.21 Nishizen 19.1 km / 9:12 hours / 1,053m She slipped and stuttered and into the water – do-bon. An echo hung in the air.

2010.3.12 Ii-sawa via Tairappyo  18.6km / 13:50 hours / 1,160m I shouted into the darkness. I wasn’t sure if she heard me over the howling wind, the oni-kaze stirring from Tairappyo’s valleys below.

2009.12.25 East-face 9.5 km / 6:14 hours / 1,029m Bits of ice and snow pelted my Gore-Tex shell from above. I raised my gloved hand to brush my knit cap clean, and saw the glint from Izumi’s crampons as she kick-stepped her way up, dropping more bits of ice and snow.

2010.1.27 Nishizen  21.7 km / 12:27 hours / 1,838m Izumi and I zigzagged up a steep ridge that arced towards the peak of Nippaku-san. The snow lost its earlier luster.

2010.02.17 / 14.6 km / 10:34 hours / 1,421 meters 600 meters / 4:55:41 Mid-February Yuzawa. We agree to a 5am start, which means getting up two hours earlier for breakfast and a short drive – one of the luxuries of living in a snow town. After 20 minutes along dark empty roads, we pull …