1+ day Ski Touring in Niseko Ski Resort in Hokkaido

memories for me. If I climb in Japan again, I will find him again.

get there (I was in Niseko).  It was fun to see a different part of Hokkaido in a unique way.  Takao-san was very good at instructing and climbing. I started ice climbing in Colorado and wanted to experience climbing in a different country.  If I had come during the summer I definitely would have rock climbed or taken a guided climbing trip. I have a fair amount of climbing experience, but nothing too in-depth.  Takao-san took that into consideration for the routes we did. The first day we did a short hike on snowshoes to the climbing, which was a bunch of shorter single pitch routes.  The weather was pretty good, but definitely on the warm side.  I think we climbed at the right time during the day, as there was starting to be quite a bit of debris melting and falling on the routes when we were leaving… The second day was a two pitch route next to the sea.  The exposure and area was very impressive.  Takao-san did a great job explaining what he wanted us to do and did a great job working with my level of experience or in-experience. Takao-san obviously has a lot of experience guiding and climbing and did an excellent job making me feel safe and sure about what we were doing.  His technical knowledge, as well as his knowledge of the area we were climbing in was definitely great in making the experience a success. I would recommend the program, but I might caution a beginner climber that the climbing was a bit more involved than I expected.  For example, I had the experience of lead belaying climbers, but I’m not sure if someone who did not have the experience would be able to have climbed where we did.  I found it interesting that nobody asked me (that I recall) what my level of experience was before the trip.  I did like how Takao-san met the climbing to what he thought my abilities are. Yes, I definitely would like to do it again.

get there (I was in Niseko).  It was fun to see a different part of Hokkaido in a unique way.  Takao-san was very good at instructing and climbing. I started ice climbing in Colorado and wanted to experience climbing in a different country.  If I had come during the summer I definitely would have rock climbed or taken a guided climbing trip. I have a fair amount of climbing experience, but nothing too in-depth.  Takao-san took that into consideration for the routes we did. The first day we did a short hike on snowshoes to the climbing, which was a bunch of shorter single pitch routes.  The weather was pretty good, but definitely on the warm side.  I think we climbed at the right time during the day, as there was starting to be quite a bit of debris melting and falling on the routes when we were leaving… The second day was a two pitch route next to the sea.  The exposure and area was very impressive.  Takao-san did a great job explaining what he wanted us to do and did a great job working with my level of experience or in-experience. Takao-san obviously has a lot of experience guiding and climbing and did an excellent job making me feel safe and sure about what we were doing.  His technical knowledge, as well as his knowledge of the area we were climbing in was definitely great in making the experience a success. I would recommend the program, but I might caution a beginner climber that the climbing was a bit more involved than I expected.  For example, I had the experience of lead belaying climbers, but I’m not sure if someone who did not have the experience would be able to have climbed where we did.  I found it interesting that nobody asked me (that I recall) what my level of experience was before the trip.  I did like how Takao-san met the climbing to what he thought my abilities are. Yes, I definitely would like to do it again.

with our schedules. The climbing itself was amazing and challenging. Beautiful scenery and the walk in to the waterfalls were interesting.

the Japanese who are polite, organized, professional and have some of the best food in the world 🙂 Takao-san was very friendly, gentle, patient and genuine. We enjoyed his company throughout. Of course, we slowly learned that he is one of the most experienced mountaineers and guides around in Japan. In any case, we always felt safe with him. He also spoke well enough in English such that we could have simple conversations and understood the instructions. We would recommend him to others should they need a guide 🙂 Sounkyo is interesting. The two waterfalls are beautiful and it’s a privilege to be able to climb them. It seems we are there a bit early so the town was really quiet. Kin Shi waterfall was also great, first pitch was spectacular.  It’s our first time in Hokkaido, we are surprised how cold it is. It seems there must be endless reliable ice climbing routes here and the season is much longer than the alps. When we were in Champagny en Vanoise in end Jan last season, we were climbing on really thin ice. Routes are manageable, not too difficult. The first 30m pitch of Kin Shi was probably my favorite. Takao said that there are routes by the sea. That would be really interesting to try out when we next come back to Hokkaido. If there is a downside, I’m not sure the value compares well to the alps. When we were in Champagny, the cost was about 350 euro a day for a local guide incl. all equipment rentals. We climbed routes that were 7-8 pitches long that took 4-5 hours. With Takao, the first day Ginga we did single pitch practices (it was a bone freezing -20 to -25 so just as well we didn’t do the multi pitch), the second day Kin Shi was a 4 pitch climb we finished around 1230 back at the car park. I understand that the cost may be due to the limited number of guides, high cost in Japan, and transportation, but if the tour was about 20 percent cheaper that could be more attractive.  I think it’s a great job what Explore & Share is doing to develop the Japanese climbing scene and open the opportunities for foreign climbers like myself. Overall I’m optimistic that there is much potential and I look forward to coming back. 

Japan for skiing. Our guide was the experienced Takao Miyashita. Takao is a wonderful mountain guide born on Hokkaido with a lot of know-how in Himalaya, European Alps and, of course, Japan.  The program was perfect and Takao have adapted it following our strengths, weakness, weather and desires. Security and training ships were perfect. Even in bad weather conditions, we were very secure and everything was suitable for what we want. The snow was great in comparison with Europe and the landscape was very beautiful. Organisation, transport, food and accommodation were also superb. A wonderful trip ! I highly recommend Takao Miyashita !