Ontake-san (3063m), Nagano prefecture, Japan

Toyohashi Alpine Club
Mountaineering in Japan

Ontake-san (3063m)

Gifu, Nagano prefecture, Japan.
Tuesday 1st June, 1995
Report by Iain Williams
Party: Iain Williams and Malcolm Field

Ontake, a mountain that I haven't complimented in the past. I have seen it many times from the air travelling to and from the UK. It sits by itself about 20km to the west of the Chuo Alps and is a large and partially blown apart volcano with several crater lakes located on the top. It also has the misfortune of veing a skiing destination in the winter so it has its fair share of chair lifts. As a result it has never been a mtn that I have been super keen to do. Its advantages are that its our nearest big mtn and its a 3000er so with June 1st being a company holiday for us we agreed to add it to our list of successful ascents.

With it being so close we had time to do it in a day without having to bivy out the night before. My day started at 5am, as I got up to watch the BBC news and force down some breakfast. I then took the first train and headed off to Okazaki where I met Mal at 6:30. We then set off for Tajimi and on to the Chuo expressway for Nakatsugawa followed by the run up route 19. It was exactly the same drive as we did every time we went skiing at Kiso Koma, only this time we were doing it on a beautiful sunny morning instead of a cold winter's evening. We stopped to get some provisions once off the expressway and then enjoyed a very pleasant drive up the lush green valleys in the warm morning sunshine. Turning left off route 19 we drove onto the lower slopes of Ontake. On various bends in the road we were treated to fine views of the mtn. It looked quite impressive but had rather more snow on it than I'd been expecting. From our side there were two routes to choose from so I chose the slightly longer one. The last part of our drive in was blocked by a landslide on the road so we had to drive back down and take another road to our little car park. Having these hitches at the end of our drives seems to be becoming the norm. Eventually we reached our empty little car park.

We quickly sorted our gear and headed off into the trees at 10:45. The path was like none I'd seen before. It was covered with pieces of wood. At first I quite enjoyed walking on it but as Mal said you couldn't settle into a pace on it. The route headed up through the pine trees passing a couple of huts that had little shrines. I was feeling good and was realy enjoying the peaceful surroundings. Much to my surprise our wood covered path then turned into a snow covered path. The further up we went the deeper the snow became, surprise, surprise. This concerned me a little as we weren't very high and I had given Mal my solemn word that he wouldn't need his crampons. My big concern was descending. I still have very clear memories of coming down Gozaisho in the snow without crampons or ice pick. Perfect give yourself a good injury territory. I kept my thoughts to myself and on we went. After about an hour and a half the trees thinned and changed to birch trees. The slope started to round off and we trudges up across the snow to a locked up and deserted hut. We now had a good view of the route up to the top. Lots of snow but also wide rocky sections. The rather fast moving white clouds at the top indicated that a good wind was blowing up there. We didn't stop at the hut, which had many statues, gravestones, and a shrine outside, and moved on traversing a not too steep snow fiels which brought us to another small shrine.

Ontake has been a very holy mtn since ancient times. It is covered with gates and shrines. In the summer white robed monks ascend it on pilgrimages, hence the wood covered path. The shrine we now stood at was surrounded by many statues and memorial(?) stones. The statues were a little smaller than life size and some of them were made of dark stone and had gold dots painted on their eyes. Being someone who is easily spooked I didn't like the look of them. To be honest I never felt quite at home on the mtn. Something didn't feel right. I thought of Messner and his comment that he wouldn't do anything big if things weren't right like his pack smelling not normal. A comment I don't quite understand. We were also the only mortals on the mtn nd we didn't see anyone all day.

At the shrine we took some photos of our splendid surroundings. To our north we could see Norikura dake, another 3000m volcano standing on its own. It's a mtn that I haven't given a lot of thought but it looked quite impressive. Behind it we could see the lower slopes of the North Alps, the upper slopes being in cloud. The best view though was right behind us. Ontake fell away into a large wide green treefilled valley. It was a huge beautiful view. The other side of the valley was the long dark wall of the Central Alps with thin lines of snow descending. One had to look carefully to see Koma ga take, the highest point at just under 3000m. As we climbed higher the South Alps showed more of themselves rising up behind the Central Alps. We could see Kita Dake and Nottori Dake on whose summit wehad stood exactly one year ago to the day. Unfortunately there was too much cloud in the distance and we were not afforded a view of the upper slopes of Fuji.

After our short break we coninued our ascent up a sunken lava path in a field of creeping pine. I polar plodded up following Mal. I was feeling tired not, altitude tired, an allover lethargic feeling. Occassionally the path was filled with long snow patches. Once the creeping pine disappeared the rock changed from being dark ashey lava into a lighter more stoney rock. The worrying part now loomed ahead, the steep upper snow slopes. Mal was a little concerned and slowly attacked the steep slope in front of us. I was now feeling quite good and attacked it hard kicking in good steps and ascending like it was a long staircase. At the top was a rather precariously placed hut. Before not too long I was sitting beside it watching Mal come up and surveying the wonderful view. Mal soon topped out and expressed his concern about descending. My reply was 'no worries, the snow is soft.' From the hut we headed for the next hut which was very close. We scrambled across some deep snow and then got separated as we tried to find the route through the creeping pine, snow, rocks, rubbish, and some broken glass. Mal found the easiest way up to the left. I went to the right and ended up having to cross some very soft and deep snow around the back of the hut. Several times a leg would go through the surface and only stop sinking when I'd sunk up to my hip. I didn't enjoy it.

The hut was just below a crater ridge path and as we climbed up the wind got much stronger. Mal stopped in a sheltered spot to put on some extra clothing. I moved on past the high lava bank and took the full brunt of the wind. To my right was a huge snow filled crater with a smaller one attached. There was also a small frozen crater lake. It was a very barren, cold, cloudy, snowy, wind swept landscape. After about 30m I stopped and headed back to Mal. Dressed in shorts and t-shirt with a fleece top the wind was cutting right through me. I put on my waterproof jacket and balaclava. I hadn't brought my gloves so I put my spare pare of white socks on my hands. My attire combined with Mal's olf pair of sunnglasses made me a top contestand for the Mountain Plonker of the Year award. Looking up we could see a hut on the highest point. I strongly hoped that the summit wasn't too far behind it. Getting up there was a real summit push. The wind was very strong and a lot of cloud kept obscuring the view. After crossing the snow around the hut with my bare hands they were very cold and the wind went straight through my socks and kept them that way. I also regretted not putting on my waterproof trousers. We slowly trudged up occassionally getting some shelter when the lava banked up on our left. We could also smell sulphur just like the ridge at Tateyama.

At the hut we quickly looked rond and then headed for a large gate, walked under it and up a new set of steps up to the top. We walked very slowly up the steps lauging at our pathetic pace. The summit was not what I was expecting. It was flat with a small hut and a small shrine that was flanked by our welcome party of demon eyed statues. It wasn't the usual kind of summit that we've become accustommed to. The strong smell of sulphur was still there and also a loud roaring sound like that of water emerging under immense pressure.

I headed for the sheltered side of the hut and sat down to enjoy and savour my well earnt Mars bar. Looking down I saw where the noise and the smell were coming from. There was a large fumarole shooting out steam and sulphurous vapors surrounded by three smaller smoking ones. I was impressed but the strong smell didn't compliment the somewhat cold piece of chocolate perfection that I was consuming. I quickly ate my lunch, salmon maki sushi and muesli bars. I was cold. We then took some more summit photos, including a few with one of our demon friends holding a Mars. It was then time to beat a hastey retreat down to the lower hut. Back at the hut I took off my socks so as to keep them dry.

From the hut we picked a route waving our way through the rubbish and broken glass to the next hut. Not one of Japan's golden mtn spots! At the hut Mal very generously let me go first down our steep snow slope. As I'd expected descending was no problem as I dug my heels in deeply and moved down quickly. Mal followed a little more apprehensively. It was then back down the lava path to the large cluster of demons. 'Demon' has become a bit of an in word for us. Our drive to Daisen last year was done while Mal told me demon stories. I also called the fast driving truck that tailed and passed us on the way to Kita Dake 'the demon truck from hell,' a name that we often refer to. When we were skiing we called super fast skiers 'speed demons.' All the intense statues on Ontake made me think we should rename the mtn 'Demon Dake'.

The descent from the next hut took us back into the trees onto the snow covered path. This was the part that worried me. Small streams sometimes flowed under the snow and now and again we'd put a leg through. It turned out to be not as perilous as I was expecting and I rather enjoyed it. It was very peaceful and much warmer than it had been on top. However descending doesn't take long before it starts becoming a drag. Eventually we left the snow path and were back on the wood. My memory told me we didn't ascend for too long on the wood and therefore we would soon be back at the car. I was wrong and we descended for a while before reaching the car. Seeing Mal's car after a climb is always a most welcome sight and this time was no exception. It was 4:15. I was nice and warm and a little fatigued. We had beaten the demons and another 3000er had been conquered and I felt satisfied.

Again the drive back down to the expressway was very pleasant in the dying afternoon sunlight. I had a tough time staying awake though. Back in Toyota we did the usual and feasted at Denny's. For me it was then the slow train ride back home. I was tired but there was still a fair bit of adrenaline at work in me. Back home, after a shower I quickly fell asleep and had many fire dreams, whatever they mean.

Ontake had provided us with a fine day even though I was a little underequipped. It was good preparation fr our summer activities in Switzerland. More must be done though. I'm not sure what the next ascent will be. Chances are it'll be a 1000m job on a hot and humid summer's day, not the best preparation for being at 4000m in Switzerland!

Tateyama (3015m), North Alps, Japan

Toyohashi Alpine Club
Mountaineering in Japan

Tateyama (3015m)

The North Alps, Japan
Wednesday 3rd May, 1995
Report by Iain Williams
Party: Iain Williams, Malcolm Field

My original intention for this Golden Week was to go rock climbing in Korea but due to the excessively high air fares and the limited amount of time I had the plan had to be ditched. Plan B was to do Tateyama in the North Alps, located between the Yari Hodaka ridge and the north coast town of Toyama. Somewhat similar to Daisen. Tateyama was once volcanic but now basically forms a ridge and a rather high one. It is also a major tourist spot in all seasons because of the superb scenery and the impressive transport link going up and through the ridge which consists of a mountain railway followed by a bus followed by another bus which goes through a tunnel through the ridge to the cable car station on the other side which goes down to a large dam which is crossed on foot and finally a bus which takes you down to a train station. A good trip but an expensive one. Our plan was simply to climb up to the highest point on the ridge.

For me the trip started at 9:30 on Tuesday morning when I took the train up to Okazaki where I was supposed to meet Mal at 10. He was 30 mins late so we finally set off at 10:30. We went back up through Toyota and Tajimi heading for Route 41. The drive was to be very picturesque but also very long. Mal had booked us into the youth hostel in Tateyama village for the night and in order to get dinner we had to be there by 5pm, something which concerned Mal far more than me. We ploughed our way up the twisting route admiring the contrasting greens of the trees.

Personally, I much prefer the trees at this time of year compared to the autumnal colours. The weather was not the best though and low cloud and drizzle didn't fill us with joy. Some of the cloud was caught in the trees and gave one the impression we were in a tropical rainforest. The road followed the river, which due to all the rain was flowing fast and wild. At points it had small dams which were covered in mist as did some of the calmer parts of the river. It was a rather pretty drive.

After I don't know how long we stopped at a convenience store beside Gero, where I had once stayed with my Dad. We then continued on up to Takeyama. As the road climbed up, the trees lost their fresh young greens and went back to their drab winter colours and driving past the town we saw all the cherry blossoms which was nice as all of ours had long gone. Once past Takeyama we were entering new territory and the road continued to climb up. We went up over a pass and on the other side the river was now flowing in the opposite direction, not really that surprising but it seemed a little odd after we'd been staring at it for three hours going in the other direction. On the way down to Toyama we got to see some big snowy mtns which were probably ours and soon after we hit low cloud again and it started to rain and continued to for the rest of the day.

As we neared Toyama the navigating got a little serious and we turned off to the right and headed back into the mtns. We drove up and past our destination and had to double back driving down a very misty road in the fading light. At about 5:40 we finally pulled into Tateyama village and soon found the youth hostel. It was a rather lifeless little place with a few small hotels, shops, train stn and the mountain railway station. Dinner was also rather lifeless, as I'd expected, and an hour or so after it we were in need of further nourishment. Before retiring to bed we finalised our plans for the following day and checked them with the people who worked in the hostel. It all seemed okay. That night we shared our room with an American lad (big) who was traveling around Japan. After we switched off the light I and I think Mal lay awake thinking about the next day while our American friend fell asleep immediately and started snoring, much to my annoyance. My last words to Mal that night were, `Old MacDonald had a farm...'

The next morning Mal was up at 4 and staring out the window and informing me of all the people swarming around the mtn railway stn. I was still trying to rest. Our room had been very dusty and my chest had suffered. It felt very tight and I had quite a few squirts of ventolin that morning. I eventually got out of bed at about 5 and sorted my gear out and then went downstairs for our 5:30 breakfast, if that was the right word for it. As I forced my rice and fried egg down the oba san cook asked us if we'd bought our tickets for the railway. We gave her a strange look as we hadn't known we had to do this. When you bought your ticket you were given a departure time for the train. After seeing all the people outside it became very obvious that we weren't going to be on the first train at 6:10. I quickly finished my rice and then ran across the road to get our tickets, departure time: 7:20. We had an hour to kill so I went into the tv room and kept checking the weather forecast and watched a programme on learning Russian, just in case we met any lost hungry Russians on the mtn.

The stn was full of all sorts of people, skiers, climbers, tourists and the cream of the Toyohashi Alpine Club. Our jam packed train took us up the steep escarpment to the bus station. Once off the train the view behind was good. We looked back down across the cloud filled valley. This was followed by a lengthy wait while tour groups seemed to have priority to get on the buses. Our blood pressures were rapidly rising. We'd had far better starts. Eventually we got on a bus, sitting at the front, and made ourselves comfortable for the 55 minute journey. The road climbed steeply up through the trees and then came out onto a huge rising snow covered plateau. We got quite good views of the surrounding mtns and were truly gobsmacked by the amount of snow. The further we went the deeper the snow got and eventually the road narrowed into a single lane and the snow on either side rose into 18m walls. It was incredible. Keeping the road open like that in winter could be no mean feat. Once through the snow tunnel we came to the hotel/bus station at the end of the road.

Inside many people were milling around either getting ready to climb, ski or take another bus through the tunnel. We found a space and got our clothing sorted. I put on Darren's plastic boots and my fleece top and then headed upstairs and outside. On the snow again there were many people. We had good clear views all around us and our route didn't look too bad. We were standing in the bottom of a huge cirque much like a huge bowl of snow. Our altitude was a generous 2,400m so the climb wouldn't be too exhausting.

Our route was basically in two halves. The first being a walk across the snow followed by a fairly steep ascent up to a hut (Ichi-no-koshi). We set off following a narrow track that slowly ascended. I hadn't bothered putting on my crampons and was dressed in fleece trousers, thermal top and TAC T-shirt. Although the sun wasn't out there was still a strong glare from the snow. I had forgotten my sunglasses but fortunately Mal had an old spare pair in his pack. Mal slowly crept away from me as we followed the line of climbers and skiers heading for the hut. The snow was a little soft so with every footstep my feet sank in and slipped back when I moved forward. At first it was a bit frustrating but I soon settled into a pace. The pace would then be disrupted when I caught up with groups. Everyone moved in single file and as we were on a slope moving past people required a lot of energy as it involved scrambling up and around. Many people were carrying skis or more amazingly skiing up the slope, which must have been very hard work. The last section got quite steep and I was enjoying my little workout and I soon reached the hut. Most of the skiers stopped here and skied back down. I was very impressed with them as going through all that effort just to ski was something I wouldn't be too keen to do. Mal was sitting on some rocks beside the hut taking his crampons off. As I was well warmed up I didn't want to stop so told him I would continue and see him further up.

The hut sat in the middle of a col and the route up to our summit required a left turn and then a very steep ascent up a rocky bouldery path for about 300m to another hut. Soon after starting up the path the snow almost completely disappeared so I sat down and changed my boots. It was absolute luxury getting those boots off. Placky boots are so uncomfortable when it comes to walking. As I sat there Mal came up, took a photo and then headed on. I soon followed him with blood surging through my feet again. The ascent was hard work and towards the top it started becoming a bit of a Fuji deathmarch. Although I didn't feel the altitude I'm sure it must make things just that little bit harder up there. The next hut didn't take too long in coming and was located at the end of the ridge. On the top the wind was quite strong and cold but again there wasn't really any snow. I stopped and put on my black sweater and then quickly moved on. I soon came to a small shinto gate and passed under it and then climbed on up to a small summit with a little shrine on it. Mal was there waiting for me. We had reached the top of Oyama (3003m). We took a few photos and consulted the map. The real summit was about 15 mins to the north. We decided to leave the packs at Oyama and head off to the top with only a camera.

We climbed down off our rocky pinnacle and started scrambling across the now windy ridge. It felt great to be up there back in the 3000m zone. I was super keen to get to the top now. We met a group of students heading in the opposite direction and asked them if we could get to the top. They said no problem so again we moved on. I didn't have my hat on and my head was feeling rather cold. We then met another small group and one of the blokes said I couldn't go on without an ice pick. My reply was that I would continue and if necessary would double back. He looked the alpine type and was very adamant about what he was saying so eventually we did an about turn and headed back to Oyama. Back there I put on a hat and my waterproof top, picked up my pick, ate a Mars and then waited very impatiently for Mal to finish his before going back again.

The wind had now dropped a bit and we moved quickly. I was now super keen to get there. It was good fun scrambling across small pinnacles and patches of snow up there in the clouds. After about 15 mins I started to wonder where the top was. On seeing a high patch of ground I walked round the lower part and then headed back up and on to it. It was a large hump covered in snow. I scrambled up and across the snow. It was deep and soft and now and again a leg would sink in up o the hip, frustrating. On top were two other climbers. I asked them if this was the actual summit and they said yes. I called back to Mal and he followed me up. There was a rocky pinnacle with a small wooden board at the base saying 3015m. We sat on the pinnacle taking a few shots but I felt sure the snow was a little higher than the rock so we took some more snaps standing on the top of the snow. The snow was part of a cornice and about a couple of meters from the edge were cracks. Rather foolishly we stood at the edge to take the photos. It was then a quick scramble back down and another return to Oyama. As we walked back we moaned about the ice pick advice. We didn't need them and if anything they made the going more difficult as we climbed around the rocky pinnacles. This wasn't the first time I'd been given useless advice in Japan. I was hoping we'd meet the bloke at the bottom but we didn't.

On the top of Oyama again we met a group of climbers who took their photos and then turned round and went back down as did nearly everyone. Why did they all go up there and then not bother going to the summit? We collected our gear and then headed back down past the hut and then down the steep slope to Ichi-no-koshi. We descended leisurely through the cloud chatting and enjoying our surroundings. The hut soon appeared and so did the cold wind. We stopped beside the hut and took some clothing off. It had now started to rain a little and the wind was blowing strong and cold across the col. The harsh weather was giving me a real adrenaline rush as we got changed. It's much easier to enjoy such conditions when you know safety isn't far away. I decided not to put the placky boots back on but armed myself with my ice pick. We then started our descent down the steep snow slope. A few skiers passed us and we watched them jealously.

We half ran half walked down the slope. It was quite good fun bounding down but we were both a little tired so didn't attack it wholeheartedly. Once it got flat again it became a bit of a drag. The rain also started to fall properly and my fleece trousers were soon soaking wet. Just before we arrived back at the hotel complex we stopped so Mal could try and change his film. He couldn't so we quickly marched back into the warmth. It was just after 2pm when we got back. Often a quick stop inside we ventured back out to take some photos on the snowy plateau. We also tried to take some of the snow gorge road but this was difficult as we couldn't walk down it. Back in the building we had an ice cream, bought some post cards and then caught the bus out. On the bus my face felt a little sore. Once again it was sunburnt, although this time I was quite impressed as there hadn't been any sunshine. I'd learnt a little lesson.

The trip back down to the hostel went very smoothly and we soon arrived back in the little lobby informing them that we would eat elsewhere that evening. After quickly changing we drove down the valley to the nearest restaurant, this wasn't Denny's territory so I ended up with curry, cheese on toast and strawberry ice cream. Not bad. On leaving we asked the extremely friendly and helpful waitress if there was an onsen nearby. There was and we soon found it. Relaxing in the steaming hot water was magic. It's something I'm going to miss when I leave Japan. It's the perfect way to round off a climb.

Back at the hostel we drank Mal's bottle of Baileys as our room filled up with people. We had the window wide open, the dust hadn't gone. Mal warned me there would be trouble keeping the window open for the night. He was right but I told him I would fight our little war and win. We did but we didn't manage to keep it wide open. The others weren't happy, ha, ha.

The next morning my chest was in bad shape again. As everyone rose early so did we and headed off to Toyama in search of a McDonald's breakfast. Toyoma looked like a nice little city but it couldn't provide us with a McD's breakfast or a Denny's. We ended up in a McD's anyway. We had a long breakfast of coffee and filet of fishes. We then drove down the coast through Kanazawa and Fukui to Tsuruga. The atlas said there were some beautiful beaches in the area around a small peninsula. There were and we had a very pleasant drive even though the sun wasn't shining. We also found a nuclear power station so popped into the information centre for a quick look. It was small and quite well hidden but the location was far too good for such a facility. After our uninformative stop we drove on to the end of the cape where we found some stunning granite cliffs. Hopefully in the not too distant future they will provide us with some excellent climbing. The whole area was super and I'm very keen to return. Back on the expressway it was about a 2hr drive down to Okazaki and Denny's. Another trip was over.

Since I've been back I've seen several pictures of Tateyama's summit and none looked like ours. This has been annoying me a lot. There should have been a shrine on the summit. Mal's explanation is that it was under the snow. Very likely, however there is also a hut just past the summit. We didn't see that either but again that wasn't too surprising because of the cloud. My one piece of positive evidence was the board saying 3015m. Unfortunately it doesn't totally convince me. Despite this it was a good trip and a super area, well worth a visit any time of year. Next ascent: I'm not sure, it could be Ontake, a 3000er or a smaller 1000m solo job. I'm also quite keen to do Akaishi Dake in the South Alps as it was often visible from Toyosplash through the winter. Watch this space.