Mt Karamatsu to Mt Goryu traverse

The trip was amazing! Hirofumi-san was the best guide ever….so friendly, knowledgeable, kind, and accommodating. He was not just a guide, he became a friend. The trip was magical! The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful. We would highly recommend this trip!!!

This was a truly spectacular hike. Challenging, but absolutely worth it. Hirofumi is a pleasant man and he chatted about nature with us on the route. He rented safety equipment for us (helmet and crampons), which you should have to ascend the Daisekkei, gave us some tips on walking in crampons, and lead us on the trail over the two days. In that respect he fulfilled the basic function of a guide. However, I felt he did not have our comfort at heart or attention to his duty of care. Day 1 is mostly steep ascent up a big snowy valley - the Daisekkei. On the steepest part he climbed far ahead, going out of sight, and I had to shout for him to wait for us. At this point he said it was dangerous to rest where I was because of potential rockfall. This is something he should have explained before we started climbing that section, absolutely not halfway through. I told him I wasn’t happy he went so far ahead on the most difficult parts and that he should wait for us in future. Towards the end of the day, in the last ~150m of ascent to the hut, I had slowed down significantly as I was feeling slightly unwell. I could not tell Hirofumi this as again, he had continued out of sight. On Day 2 the hike went through wonderful mixed terrain - ridge walks, a couple of rocky scrambles, smaller snow fields, scree and boulder fields, and mixed bog and forest. Hirofumi mostly led us across the smaller snowfields without crampons. Some of these had fairly steep slopes leading to steep drops. I was not very comfortable walking on them without crampons. At one crossing I said to him I was nervous of the crossing and would put on crampons. He laughed at this and made to walk on. I had to shout to tell him to wait for me. There was another snowfield crossing without crampons that, had anyone slipped and fallen, they would have slid directly into an icy lake at over 2000m - this was a completely unnecessary risk. Hirofumi is clearly experienced and comfortable in this type of terrain in early spring. I am an experienced three season hiker, but not at high altitude (>2000m), not with snow. The whole reason I hired a guide was to make sure we could deal with those aspects safely. I feel at every point I needed support - the steep snowy parts - Hirofumi was far ahead and not looking back. It is telling that not once during a total of around 14 hours hiking did he ask if we were ok, if we were happy. I loved the hike itself. I would highly recommend it. A beautiful beautiful route and an incredible experience. You’ll be tired at the end but have accomplished something awesome. I will never forget standing at the peak of Mt Shirouma at dawn. Early June is also a nice time to go as there are few other people there. I would not recommend Hirofumi as a guide.

Nishiura was an excellent guide; knowledgeable and with very good English. The walk was very interesting from the Edo-era villages of Magome, Nagiso and Narai to the lovely wooded paths of Day 2 and over the Torii Pass on Day 3. A great variety of walking, together with great places to stay organised by the guide; a resort hotel with onsen the first night, and an authentic guest house the second. I would highly recommend this trip, and particularly the benefit of a guided as opposed to self-guided trip at a very reasonable cost.

Hirofumi was a fantastic guide! Initially, I booked the Mount Shirouma hike for two in September 2023. Hirofumi made sure we were prepared by providing additional gear like helmets and crampons. He has excellent knowledge of the area and helped us better understand our hiking conditions. One week prior to the hike, Hirofumi notified me about the Hakuba Daisekkei not having enough snow for the hike. He was quick to provide an alternative and it did not disappoint. We hiked the Mt Karamatsu to Mount Goryu traverse instead. We were able to hike this course in two days, the same amount of time we scheduled for the Mt Shirouma hike. The hike was an experience I will never forget. The terrain varied from hiking on top of beautiful mountain ridges to trekking thought lush forests. Between the first and second day, we stayed at the Goryu-sanso hut, sitting right beneath Mt Goryu at an elevation of 2,490 meters. It was all a memorable experience. Hirofumi was always there to answer our questions and provided a great first time experience hiking in Hakuba. We will be back to enjoy the additional hikes he has to offer.

Hirofumi was excellent. We were a group of two from the UK. Our trip was in August 2023. He organised everything, including supplying poles/crampons/helmets so we didn't have to carry them all round Japan. He gave good insights into the mountains and environment. He very responsive on WhatsApp before the trip. Everything was smooth and easy. We would highly recommend hiking with him. The hike itself was also excellent with two days along ridges at 2700-3000m and incredible views!