A quick wrap up of my season here in Japan with the summit of Karamatsu dake, the top of the ridgeline from Happo one resort, Hakuba. I skied the main obvious couloir from the summit. Really good skiing with powder at the top and nice slush skiing as I lowered in altitude. Temps were really warm but with a slight freeze last night meant qood skiing, especially on the northern aspects.
On returning to Happo ski resort, I decided to skin up the small ridge and discovered a colony of snow monkeys who, numbered in at least a hundred, all descended from the trees and very slowly walked away from me. It felt like I was herding the monkeys. Very strange experience. #planetoftheapes.
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The next day I drove to Myoko Kogan and decided to climb to the summit. Starting at Akakura Kanko ski resort, due the other ski resorts on the mountain being closed for the season already, I caught a single ride up the Sky Gondola, with all the other chairs being closed already for the season, I started to ascend up towards the summit. Making the summit just before the clouds closed in and a storm rolled in.
I decscended through the main northern drainage down towards Tsubame Onsen village, encountering a cool natural onsen that would provide a great winter trip on skis.
The rest is an easy return back to Akakura ski resort through a summer road tunnel.
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