2024/2/17-18 An ice climbing course was held at Yonago Fudo and Kimyotaki Falls.
With the cooperation of Mountain Works, we welcomed Kenji Narita as the instructor, and Taichi Kagami, a sculptor and alpine climber, as support.
There were 11 participants. From Beta, Junko-sensei (Junko Sasagawa), also known as Junko Sensei, who is an ice climbing World Cup finalist and an instructor for Beta’s dry touring courses, and Ozawa accompanied us.
The ice and the weather were both great! We were able to climb the private wall to our heart’s content!
Thank you to the first-time ice climbers, the tough climbers who had previously climbed Yonago, the young people aiming to climb the alpine, and the fun ladies who participated again last year for a fun time!
We will hold this event again next year!
The last ice-skating event of the season will be held on March 22-23 in Yatsugatake, with Mr. Kentaro Hirokawa as the instructor!
Day1 February 15th
The car group will leave Beta at 3:00, and those who are traveling by train will take the Shinkansen at 6:00.
We will meet at Nagano Station at 8:00 and share a taxi from there, then travel by car for about 30 minutes, and meet up with the guide at the day-trip hot spring facility “Yukkulando”.
We will change cars and go to just before the forest road, and then take a snowmobile to the trailhead. We will arrive at the trailhead parking lot just before 10:00.
The approach, which would take more than two hours on foot, will be shortened to 30 minutes by snowmobile. Thank you.
After walking along the mountain trail for about an hour, we headed to our lodgings for the night, Nekodake Sanso. On the way, we visited the sacred Fudotaki waterfall and prayed at Yonago Takiyama Fudoson Okunoin, which has been used as a training ground for asceticism since the Edo period.
After a light lunch at the mountain lodge and a walk to the area next to Fudotaki, we headed to our destination, Kimyotaki waterfall.
On the way, we were impressed by the panoramic view of the frozen waterfalls in the Yonago area from the observation deck at the former sulfur mine.
It was 13:00 and we arrived at the waterfall in about 40 minutes.
The guide’s team had prepared a top rope, and we started climbing after a brief opening speech.
On the way, Narita guide, who is well known for his careful and accurate lectures, gave us a basic lesson.
We climbed a total of four routes that day and left around 5pm.
For dinner we had meat miso hotpot. We warmed up with udon noodles.
After dinner we had time for self-introductions and chat. Everyone has a history, and everyone enjoys various adventures, and we had fun stories to share. We also had a great time learning how to use Mercari from Narita, our guide.
The sleeping rooms were separated into large rooms for men and women. We prepared sleeping bags on the futons provided and went to sleep.
Day2 February 16th
We ate at 6am and departed at 6:30. We ate bread rolls, leftovers from the hot pot, and mushroom soup.
We used the top rope we had left over from yesterday and started climbing in the morning. On the way, Junko-sensei gave a lecture for women, teaching us how to climb without relying on muscle strength alone.
We finished in order of getting on the snowcat and returned to the hut.
We returned to the hut, had a light lunch, and then headed down the mountain. We took the group to Suzaka Station and disbanded around 4pm.
Park the car on the forest road and get on the snowmobile
Comfortable snowmobile ride to the trailhead
Walk to the hut in just under an hour
On the way, we visited Fudo Falls from below.
Heading from the hut to Kimyonotaki Falls
View the icefalls of the Yonago area from the observation deck at the former sulfur mine
Basic course by Narita guide
There is always someone climbing each route
It’s quite a long climb, so it’s very challenging
For those new to ice climbing
Belayers are also in full swing
Narita Guide and Mr. Kagami
Teacher Junko
Fun ladies
Miso meat hotpot
Evening conversation
