Central Hokkaido Ski Touring
Continuing the drive from Sapporo to Asahikawa we left the toll road and continued on the snowy and run down local roads to south of Fukigawa to ski on Otoe-Yama.
Access was easy on a logging road and we heard forestry machinery nearby.
Stopping to wax the climbing skins to prevent the globs
Ascending the ridge to the summit. There did appear to be much of a prominent cornice on the ridge but to our west the view was completely unobstructed over the town which suggests the presence of wind slabs on the lee slope. With careful routefinding I was confident we could manage this risk...I was wrong
Summit of Otoe-Yama
When skiing back down I veered a little too far off our ascent tracks and released this slab avalanche right on the rollover/transition point. It definitely caught me off guard and shook me up a little bit. AB saw the crack as it propagated further along the ridge. Good thing she was in a good position on the ridge and I was fortunate also to just tumble over on my side. The terrain was simple and does not appear to be reactive but cornices/rollovers are always touchy and unpredictable. I suppose my skis hit it right in the stop of failure.
One of my skis (surprisingly, the one still attached to my boot broke above the binding and my outside ski ejected and also fortunately did not slide with the rest of the snow (we would have had a really hard time probing around to find it). The ski splint did not work as well as I had hoped but due to the simple terrain, skiing out on the predominantly 1 leg was not an issue. I chatted with many of my snow nerds about this one and got some good feedback. As I suggested, it comes down to human error of myself skiing too close to the cornice/rollover. If I or AB would have been lower or beneath the fracture, this could have been bad with the potential of a burial or swept into steeper terrain lower down. There weren't many terrain traps in this zone but if this same incident happened elsewhere that would be consequential. Overall a learning experience but not something I ever want to go through again. Any comment or questions regarding this do let me know.
The next day in Asahikawa we found a local ski shop and I retired my G3 Seekr skis and purchased the black diamond helio carbon skis. I consider them an upgrade and although I was not stoked to spend an unforeseen large purchase on a new set of skis, it did save myself from having to rent gear to continue skiing this trip and they were able to mount my current bindings the same day which was awesome.
This budget local hill is called Santa Present Park. I think our 1 time lift ticket ride was less than $4 CAD. A great spot to test the new gear!
The drive here was long and an experience in itself with a slow gradual uphill to a high elevation lodge. It felt like we were the only car on the road until arriving at the trailhead and it being fairly busy. Also had a tactical team of the local police with skis and harness gear, likely training for a rescue or recovery operation. This lodge has an onsen which is superb to relax and get clean before driving home and it would be incredible basecamp to stay for a few days, next time!
After leaving the sparse trees near the road, visibility was terrible and we didn't see much on our ascent.
There are a few options and lines for where to go from this basecamp. Our objective was Sandam-Yama.
The summit of Mt Sandam is at elevation 1748 and we made it to 1490 before I wanted to turn around because it was near impossible to see anything at times.
Another party likely following our skin track that we were putting in over someone elses old track. They had the same idea to transition there and probably stick to the trees.
The snow here was incredible and better suited for skis because of some bumps and flat sections. We did a run down slope then tried to traverse across and start another up track on the other side of a valley. See GPS
AB's flow
Emergency shelter on route up to the volcano. There isn't really anything inside except a wooden porch but the hut was very well made. Upon leaving this year, vis cleared a tiny bit and was replaced with a sulphur scent from the nearby volcano.
Maetokachi Taisho Crater
This zone falls within Daisetsuzan National Park and there is an abundant of routes here for both summer and winter. I picked up a recreation map of the area from the tourist center at another ski day and access point further north. You have to take a completely different road network to get there.
The mellow ridge is simple terrain that leads to some more challenging ski lines down the eastern aspect. The saddle ridge was broad and stable with skiers able to drop in anywhere, This spot would be a great place to lap with a designated skin track. The micro terrain gets a little more challenging the deeper you go with some glide cracks as one of the hazards.
The summit of Fuyuji-yama at 625m elevation
Glide cracks all over the place with this one being one of the larger ones
Skiing down the east aspect
We descended down a different route further north on a little exploratory mission then linked up with the logging road to get back to the car
Eventually you will hit these rice plantations and note how much snow there is with this creek flowing through the property. This part of Hokkaido also gets the coldest temperatures on the island with records around -40. It was warm for our day but the base was firm and crusty allowing you to skate ski on the flat sections which is never something I would think to see for February.
The Hokkaido wilds crew did an overnight trip from here and stayed at a wild onsen (red line while our ski day is purple). Apparently in April this route was ice in the morning hours. We had slightly better conditions for the up track but still too firm for full confidence without any crampons.
Back to Daisetsuzan National Park but another one of the many access points. The Asahidake Ropeway takes you to just below 1600 for a cheap one way fee. Then from there you have what looked like unlimited options for ski routes from there but turned out to be less than expected.
The terrain on the way up. People have descended through the backcountry to get back to their car but apparently route finding can be really tough to avoid being stuck the steep terrain. We opted for the plowed route which stuck to mellow stuff like this.
Steam vents
Many climbers were boot packing directly up the ridge to Mt Asahi-dake and our route parallel that of the climbers but stuck to the sidehill. Lower down the snow was less wind affected and easier to follow but higher up it became much more icy and the consequence of a fall could result in a slide or loss of a ski so we decided to try boot packing up the ridge.
This didn't work well and the weather was getting more intense. Some extreme parties on skis scooted aorund the backside of the summit and clipped in for a descent into the valley above the steam vents. We debated descending down into the valley from our ridge but it was too steep and our gear without crampons or any ice axe was insufficient for the climbing higher up.
The ski down the south west aspect of the volcano from our high point at 2020m was superb with a long run on soft snow
This also gave us easy access to skin next to the more remote steam vents
Back in the AirBNB and this meal I cooked up this meal
#AnotherBestDay
Kitami Pass
Met a cool Japanese couple (1 skier / 1 snowshoer party) at the trailhead who were leaving when we arrived
Kitami Pass is unique as you can immediately start skiing downhill from the parking lot if you choose but the normal route to Chitokaniushi-yama sticks to a bench feature. The descent would be better if you descend into the drainage instead of trying to save elevation on the way back. I came up with that idea unfortunately too late!
Looking back to somewhere along the highway where we parked
First run on the sheltered side from beneath the summit. The trees were well spaced for stability and snow coverage.
The summit where we made it at the end of our day. There is an obvious ski line on photo right from the summit that would take you all the way to the bottom of the drainage for potentially an easy exit and great loop option but there were serious stability concerns for us this day. Descending down off the windy ridge was our route and the right choice.
Peering at glide cracks to the northwest from our high point beneath the summit
What looks like a calm nice day in the photos... wind was guessing around 60km at the summit
WAHOO! That marks the end to the ski touring on central Hokkaido. An amazing place to explore on skis and particularly because of the ski culture associated with it.
Single chair lift (lol) at Dynasty Ski Hill on the way back to the airport. Tons of ski school kids and even the Japanese military was practicing on telemark skis.