Hakuba Oike / Partly Cloudy2022.Jul.03
An unprecedented heat wave affected areas all across the country this week, with Tokyo recording its longest ever streak of extreme temperatures; a whopping 9 consecutive days where the high rose above 35℃. Despite this, the eastern face of Mt. Hakuba still has plenty of snow remaining, as evidenced by the photograph. In fact, it took me around 45 minutes with crampons and trekking poles to scale the large snowfield that measured roughly 600-meters in length with around 150 meters of elevation gain.
[Trailhead leading to Hakuba Oike・Eastern Face of Mt. Hakuba Norikura]
The snow was mostly gone around where the terrain began to level off, but there were 2 spots remaining between the summit of Mt. Hakuba Norikura (2,469m) and the Hakuba Oike mountain hut with traverses across snow (one pictured here). In addition, there were 3 other patches of lingering snow located between the trailhead adjacent to the Tsugaike Nature Park Visitor’s Center and Tenguhara, though none of those 5 areas required crampons since the slopes are low angle and the paths through the snow are well cut.
[Hakuba Oike]
I noticed quite a few alpine flowers beginning to bloom in the area surrounding the Hakuba Oike Sanso mountain hut, primarily Hakusan Ichige (pictured) and Hakusan Kozakura. Elsewhere, Kibana Shakunage could be seen in the rocky areas to the south of Hakuba Oike, while Miyama Kinbai and Kumoma Sumire were flowering at the summit of Mt. Hakuba Norikura. The Tenguhara marsh was filled with Chinguruma, Iwa-icho, and Watasuge.
[Hakuba Oike]
I spoke with a group of 4 from Kanagawa Prefecture (pictured) who told me, “This is our first time climbing up to Hakuba Oike! We didn’t bring crampons or anything like that with us, so we’re a little worried about the steep snowfield going down.” The clear skies of early morning started to slowly cloud over to the west at around 9:00, and by 11:00 the sky was nearly covered in clouds before the sun once again began to shine through around 12:00.
[Hakuba Oike]
[Tsugaike Nature Park Opening Information]
＊Business Period … 6/11 (Sat.) 〜 10/23/2022 (Sun.)
＊Business Hours …8:00 〜 16:40 (Early morning operation will commence on 7/9)
＊Fees … Round trip use of the Panorama Way (gondola & ropeway) + Nature Park entrance / Adults ¥3,700, Children ¥2,100 → Advance Discount Tickets Adults ¥3,300, Children ¥1,850! (Advance Discount Tickets are usable as-is! Proceed directly to the gondola for immediate boarding.)
[Hakuba Tsugaike WOW! Opening Information]
＊Business Period … 6/11 (Sat.) 〜 10/23/2022 (Sun.)
＊Business Hours …9:00 〜 16:00 (Registration closes at 15:00, facilities are only open on Saturdays and Sundays during June, with only Tobidasu and Kabedasu operational.)
＊Fees … Tobidasu Adults・Children ¥1,000 / Fumidasu Adults・Children ¥800 / Kabedasu Adults・Children ¥500 / Kogidasu Round trip Adults・Children ¥2,000 / Pochadasu Adults ¥2,800・Children ¥2,500
*To Visitors Requesting Original Data of Our Photographs
*Tsugaike Nature Park & WOW! will be reported 1－2 times a week
