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!
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!
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