Snow in Japan?

[GoNative]

Originally Posted by steven

I've climbed it before... it wasn't as hard as I had expected, but the last stretch kind of sneaks up on you. It's almost like you have to crawl up some of it. Climbing Tateyama is not something you can expect to do in the winter though... I think that's more of a summer thing around here. Those ice walls might've lasted until May or June this year to give you an idea of what I mean. I climbed it in late August and there was still a bit of snow left over.

There is in fact a lot of skiing in Toyama. I've heard it really varies from place to place, but there is supposedly some decent skiing (I know it's pretty cheap). You can find places with virtually nobody there. You're gonna hate me for this, but I've never been skiing/snowboarding here. I always seem to be a little busy during that time of the year (hopefully I can go this year). I did make some old school bamboo skiis last year though. I managed to go down a hill without falling over, which was an accomplishment to say the least.

If you make it all the way to Toyama during the winter, you might want to check out Gokayama (I think it's also called Shirakawa). They have old style houses there that they "light up" during the winter. There's a lot of cool stuff to check out here during the winter.

I do a lot of backcountry skiing and know quite a few guys who have skied Tateyama in the Spring after access to Murodo is opened up.

Toyama is actually what got me interested in skiing in Japan in the very first place. My girlfriend prior to my wife had done a years exchange there when she was a student. Her stories of the huge amounts of snow on the nearby mountains got me planning a Japan ski trip.

I've been here almost 7 years and have seen so little of Japan. In all that time I've only been out of Hokkaido twice! I really want to see and ski more of the place!! It's just really hard for me to ever get much time off work...

[steven]

I know that in the mountains we get a lot of snow, but I've heard that we don't get nearly the amount that they used to get here. Just looking at older pictures that people have makes this pretty clear.

I'm sure Hokkaido has plenty of wild life (if not more than here), but sometimes there are some strange animals here. I think in the winter you'll be okay because the bigger animals won't come out. Just be aware that hawks are pretty ruthless here and will steal from you... my wife had a crepe taken right out of her hands by a hawk before! I'd say it was about a meter tall (3-4 feet). I get the feeling hawks would be more interested in the ocean during the winter, but if there are people (which meanas food and snacks) at a skiing place in the mountains I wouldn't be surprised to see hawks in the mountains too.

I heard they have a ferry from Toyama to Hokkaido. I'd like to ride it but I think it'd take a whole day to ride a ferry all the way there (and another day back).

[GoNative]

First snow on Mt Yotei this morning.

Here's a pic from near my house.

[chiuchimu]

^ Nice. you live in paradise.

[GoNative]

A bit more snow on Yotei last night. Getting quite cool here now and looking like we might get snow down to low levels next week. Winter is not far away in Hokkaido!

[steven]

Haha, it's not even close here. Last year we got our first snow on November 3rd in the surrounding mountains. For some reason I suspect that it will come later this year. The leaves are just starting to change colors. Actually, last year on November 3rd it was really beautiful because I got to see the fall colors in all their glory with powder sugar like snow sprinkled all over them.

I'm curious if it's that way in Hokkaido every year since you get snow so early.

[GoNative]

Views like the pic above are pretty normal for this time of year. They are forecasting snow down close to sea level next Wednesday which is a little early. We don't normally get snow to the base of the mountains until near the end of the first week of November. Although last year we had a bit of snow right at the base on 31 Oct.

Peak autumn colours here are usually during mid Oct at lower levels. By early Nov most of the trees will have lost their leaves completely. Depends a bit on where in Hokkaido you are of course. In the far north and upper central areas it starts earlier and right down south around Hakodate a bit later.

[GoNative]

Winter arrived today in Hokkaido with snow to sea level in places. Here in Niseko we had snow falling most of the day. It hasn't settled all that deeply at lower levels as it's pretty wet snow and the ground is still quite warm but it was great to see the first snow to low levels of the season.

[spicytuna]

GoNative,

Thanks for sharing pics.

I'm out of my hometown on business but my friends have already logged over a dozen back country ski days since late September.

Do you have any info regarding ice climbing in Hokkaido? I'm sure that there are hundreds, if not thousands of frozen waterfalls just begging to be climbed out there.

One day, I'll fly over in the middle of winter with a book on Hokkaido waterfalls and scout them out...

[GoNative]

Some pics from this morning

My little girl appears to be loving it!



Up in the ski village at about 250m above sea level







Out the back of my office





Spicytuna, I don't know too much about ice-climbing but you're right in that there'd be lots of places around Hokkaido to do it. The best place I know of is at Sounkyo up in central Hokkaido