Day 4
The choice is Myoko, specifically Akakura Kanko, and a skin up to Maeyama for a better view of the crater, then ski down a BC route back to the road. The guide is none other than Bill Glude, avalanche expert and consultant from Alaska. There was no point in going to Shiga, as neither had fresh snow overnight. Starting point is Hakuba, departing at 6:15 for an 1-1/2 hour drive. End point for me is an inn at Myoko; Bill returns to Hakuba. This is a private guided tour. This is my third season BC'ing, and I don't get a lot of days doing it, so much experience to be developed. I've done AST-2 two seasons ago and, aside from tours as part of -1 and -2, I only have four BC tours under my belt. Much was learned this day: Nourishment; Eye protection from the sun and reflected light; Skin track etiquette; Slippery snow (not ice); Proper process for transitioning to ski mode; safe harnessed descent; glide cracks; route selection as a function of avy hazard and as a function of the condition of members the group (Bill to me). It was all first-hand experience, not Bill instructing me. Then, finally, much was learned from Bill's stories and explanations.
THE PLAN:
The morning began with a 6:15 departure, with breakfast and lunch boxes provided by the Ryokan. I'm packed and checked out because Bill will drop me off at an inn in Myoko at the end of the day. First issue that would affect the day, the breakfast box wasn't that appetizing; I didn't feel that hungry; I ate only half of it, including only half of the rice. Don't even remember what was in the breakfast box. Hour and a half later, we are at Akakura and Bill goes over some topo maps with me. We discuss what has been happening with regard to weather and what the weather will be like, all very mild both recent days and this day. We will take the gondola and chair lift up to the tope of Akakura Kanko, skin to the top of Maeyama, have a look at the crater and the other views, ski a BC route back to the road descending a less steep route, scope out the steeper route as we exit, and may go up again and do the steeper route. So, since we might do another lap, we buy a day-pass. With a discount coupon, applied to the senior rate, the cost is 3600 yen, about $32.50, including a lunch ticket !! Up we go.
THE SKIN UP:
At the top, we transition and begin skinning. It hasn't snowed in, what, 5-6 days now. The slope going up to Maeyama is well travelled, well tracked by skiers, split boarders, snowshoers, and boot packers. The way up is tough on account of that. Strong boot packers have gone pretty much straight up; less strong boot packers have walked up the gentler skin tracks. So, we have three choices. Skin up more moderate-grade skin tracks that have boot pack tracks and, hence, have less traction, go up steeper skin tracks, make our own (ahem, Bill makes) our own track. Our way up is a mix of all three choices all frustrating. The moderate tracks have less traction on account of the boot pack tracks. The steeper tracks, I have trouble with turning at the switchbacks, which are steep, packed down and slick, particularly right turns as I am still suffering from soft-tissue injury at my left hip. I simply cannot coordinate my kick and rotation. As for making new tracks, they invariably take us into shrubs or a tree. So, we cross the bowl and try the other less-travelled ridge. The soft snow keeps slipping out from under us; we traverse back to the other side. Lesson learned. Do not boot pack on skinning tracks.
So, for me, the way up is a grind, and my consuming only half of the breakfast box takes a toll. I suffer from low energy and hunger and have to stop. I have some of my lunch. The lunch box looks much more appetizing than the breakfast box
. Upon resuming the ascent, the freshly consumed food is taking a toll as well. I am sluggish, I am slow, I am digesting. Then, on top of that, I start getting a headache from the bright light. When I close my eyes, it subsides. I am wearing sunglasses that are not wrap-around. I do not have a cap with a brim. Have to stop again. Bill jury rigs side-shields with duct tape. Yup he's got duct tape, a little roll wrapped around his pole, for use in whatever occasion. I think of Matt Damon and the movie Mars, in which, stranded on Mars, duct tape solves the knottiest problems. And, he hands me his cap, showing me that his sunglasses provide sufficient eye protection. That solves the headache problem. But, now I am feeling chilled, perhaps because I am still digesting; or because the headache has been taking a toll; or all of the above and more. I don my shell; I am good now. Lessons learned: 1. Consume proper nourishment, regardless of how unappetizing the food is, regardless of whether or not one feels hungry. 2. Use sun glasses with side-shield, or use wrap-arounds, and use a brimmed cap.
A group catches up to us. A husband and wife from Alaska, as Bill is. Pretty much up the rest of the way, it is a lively chat about Alaska, as they stop once and a while to wait for me to catch up before heading off again. Feels like skiing with my teenage daughter. Anyway, we get to the top. View? What view? The weather has changed. Every view, including down in the crater is now obscured by cloud and fog.
No problem, it happens. The visibility is perfectly fine for skiing, our primary objective. Time to transition.
THE ADVENTURE:
As I am transitioning, I lose a ski. As mentioned above, I have little experience BC'ing. I have less experience with pin bindings; I have Kingpins here. When I did the AST classes, I rented skies with frame bindings and used my alpine boots. Back home, I have frame bindings and use my alpine boots. So, here I am taking my skins off at the edge of a crater, without having set the bindings to ski-mode. Consequence? The brakes are not down. Consequence, when I set my ski down and start folding my skins, "Runaway ski!" some one calls out. I look up. It's the husband from Alaska and he's pointing at the edge of the crater. Mikkel having lost a ski in Day 3, I am wondering, how can anyone lose a ski now. No one is skiing; there isn't any loose snow; a brake should work. I look at Bill and he says to me, in a very matter of fact way, "Gee, Karl, I don't think we will be able to retrieve that." I look down, and my ski is gone! OMG, it's my ski! Bill and I inch our way to the edge and look down. No ski. And, we aren't going to inch any closer to get a better look. I am resolved. I will have to ski down back to the top of the resort on one ski. No problem. Easy. The way down, the powder is not so deep, it's not very steep, sparse shrubs and trees. Easy compared to what Mikkel had to do the previous day, skiing down on one ski in mid-calf powder, on steeper terrain, through trees. Then, as the other group skis away along the ridge, the husband from Alaska calls out. The ski is just below the edge.
This is terrific news! A big loud Thank You! The day is saved! But is it? Bill and I can't see it. We walk up a bit and look in side-wise. There it is, lodged tip down amongst some trees and shrubs, trees and shrubs that are growing, not upwards, but sideways. Well, maybe at a 30 degree angle from horizontal. I.e., steep, with a nice convexity above, at the edge. Maybe I have to ski down on one ski after all. Then, Bill says he'll go down and get it. I tell him, no way. If anyone was going to do that, it would be me. He relents and says, if I am going to do it, he wants me harnessed. He has a harness? And, rope? Yup, he has a harness, a 20 meter rope, the whole set up. BTW, in November, I took an ice climbing course, I am all set and stoked. This will be so, so easy. It's not ice. It's not a cliff. I have shrubs and small trees to hold onto along the way. Piece of cake.
I am harnessed. The setup is just like we did in ice climbing, except that Bill is using some knot, whose name I don't recall, to do the belay. Will have to learn that one later. Down I go, feet first, facing the hill. Easy! We have chosen a descent that is not so steep, then I will traverse across to the ski, with shrubs and small trees to grab along the way. I descend to a level at which I am still above the ski, allowing for some descent as I traverse and I begin the traverse. Bill and the line have me and I am feeling pretty good, then, the snow under my left foot, as I make the step, falls out from under me. My right foot still has footing, but boy am I glad that line is there helping to hold me. I look down into a hole and I cannot see the bottom. From the terrain, I know it isn't some 50-foot (sorry, going back to British, no American, units) cliff. But, it is so dark down there, I don't see the bottom. I kick some snow in. I still don't see the bottom. I kick more in, thinking I'll fill the hole. No way. In the meantime, I've called up to Bill to let him know what happened, and he says, "It's a glide crack. Thought they'd be there" They? There are more? But, I'm not at the ski yet; I am now more apprehensive. With the assistance of the line, I make my way across the crack. Sure enough, there are more cracks. But, I make my way to the ski with 2 meters of line remaining.
Ski in hand, I now make my way back. Planting the ski above me and using it as a hand-hold makes it much easier. I figure out that planting it not so high, such that my upper arm is pointed down is way easier than if I plant it such that my arm is outstretched. Anyway, I gradually make my way back to Bill and the tree that I am tied off to. I hand Bill my end of the line. He disassembles the setup and packs it. We hike up to shallower slope to where our skis are (to where his skis are and to where my other ski is). I remove the harness; he packs that; I set my ski into ski-mode and place it on the snow. We complete our transition! Piece of cake
Oh, and Bill, having called in the situation, calls in with an update. I ask him how this will go down. A training exercise, right? He helping me practice the skills I learned in ice climbing; and he is logging training time.
Lesson learned: Put the skis in ski-mode before removing skins. And, I am going to that even when using frame bindings, to make a force of habit.
THE CHANGE OF PLANS:
In our skis, I am ready to continue. But, Bill has a change of plans. We're going to descend down the ridge, but then ski to the bowl to the right of it and end up at the top of the resort. We are not going to take the route down to the road. Why not? Bill's answer is that, his rule, if three things go wrong, he backs off from the plan. OK, but I'm thinking, only one thing went wrong, loss of my ski, and we now have it. I am good to go. I'm going through it like counting change. I get three, but I only count one. Then, I think again. My getting hungry, having consumed half my breakfast. My lunch partially consumed already. My headache. He doesn't know how I ski. It's adding up in his mind as being too risky to venture further. I'm good, and the descent is a learning experience anyway. Lesson learned: Be sensitive to the condition of all members of the group. Be conservative in decisions about length and difficulty of route. Be willing to back off from the plan if it is not very clear that the plan can be accomplished.
Bill isn't familiar with the route back to the resort. Folks don't skin and hike up to Maeyama to do that route. He shares with me that he is keeping an eye on a ridge to our right and a gulley to our left. Clearly, others have skied into the gulley. It is a terrain trap. Those educated know it. Yet, those educated can still make the more conservative decision or the less conservative decision. Bill is conservative. Yes, we can descend, but we need to keep sight of the ridgeline and clearly see a traverse to it. So, we do a few zig-zags, down towards the gulley, traverse towards the ridge line. At one point, he decides we go to the ridge and continue down that. It was all good. Mellow terrain, but lots of powder, since it is the less travelled route, fun. We end up in the woods at the top of the resort, at the resort boundary signs. We continue down the woods, avoiding the mogul run, and end up at the mid-mountain restaurant with 10 minutes to spare, before they close at 2:30, to use our lunch coupons. Lesson learned: Be conservative about terrain choices and route choices. Don't go just because others have. Make one's own decisions based on a conscious decision on what risk is acceptable; understand what the risks are. Keep close sight on what the exit routes are, to be sure they remain achievable. As we zig-zagged, Bill was watching the ridgeline like a hawk.
DEBRIEF AND REVIEW:
A warm lunch was most welcome. We spent time going over the topo map, reviewing what we did, what we did not do. We look at the gulley we were avoiding and the ridgeline we were keeping an eye on. We reviewed what the Alaskan couple likely did based on where they went with their group, a nice long ridgeline run to the road on a southern aspect. Bill wants to check that out on a powder day. He also points out another area whose bottom can be accessed by a road; looks like a big apron above which is a slope that gradually gets steeper, but no cliffs. He wants to check that out too. We also continue, as we did during our drive to Myoko and our ride up the lifts, talk about Bill's work and experiences.
THE BILL:
Bill is an industrial-scale avalanche consultant. His is engaged by utilities for power plants and transmission lines, by train companies, by mining companies. He helps to plan site locations and routes to minimize avalanche hazards and to plan and select avy mitigation systems. (look up exploders. they are not howitzers, nor hand-held explosive devices, nor line-dropped explosives.) He develops operational plans and trains teams to run them. He is in the business of protecting serious assets, not skiers and riders. Another little tidbit is that he prefers women on his teams. They make better decisions. They see and consider things men might not. That said, women can be tough to work with too. They can hard-headed and look down on men and not appreciate what they can contribute. Asked what that was, I didn't get a clear answer. Something about working as teams to get our of situations, helping each other. I got the feeling that he was thinking the situations shouldn't have been gotten into in the first place. Anyway, he very much appreciates having a woman on his teams.
THE IMPERFECT DAY:
It was a long day, but not by hours. We got to the Akakura Kanko parking lot at 8:45. We started our skinning at about 9:15. We made it up Maeyama, taking longer than expected, partly because of the poor up-conditions, but mostly on account of my being a slow climber. We had to retrieve a ski (ok, ok, I lost a ski). It was 2:30 by the time we got to a mid-resort restaurant, very early, not a dawn-to-dusk day. But, if a day is measured is learned, it was a long day, having learned far more than I would have on a perfect day. It was a perfect imperfect day.
DINNER:
Have to include this. I am staying at a Western owned and operated lodge. Not something I would ordinarily choose, but given the late-date decision to explore Myoko, and with so many online choices fully booked, I grabbed Bill's recommendation. A room first night, a dorm room second night, then departure. Normally, I would walk and explore the village and see what restaurants there are. Not today. Dinner is at the lodge. Roasted chicken. Roasted potatoes, and all sorts of Japanese yams. And, a vegetable that looked like bok-choy.
Thoughts for the next day, Sunday? Maybe a day off. I've got powder touring skis, no guide, resorts that are all packed powder (no powder) and bumped up. But, the real reason for a day off is, I am tired. And, it is forecasted to snow Sunday night.
SNOW FORECAST:
Speaking of snow forecasting, I like the aforementioned map at the Japanese weather-gpv.info, which Bill had referred me to the night before, far better than the map from the US Navy website. Selecting the right map, the resolution is far more detailed. One can clearly see the predicted precipitation by ski region - Hakuba, Myoko, Shiga...
Here is a screenshot of the Japanese map, for tonight, Sunday night, at 20:00,
Here is the Google Map with Hakuba, Akakura Myoko, and Shiga Yokoteyama pointed out. One can very clearly see where the snow is predicted to be.
I am going to assume that the Japanese weather model, for Japan, is going to be as good as that of the US Navy's. So, snowfall Sunday night around Myoko. Sunday is a good day to take some time off. Meeting up with a friend here on Monday. Should be a great day.
This entry is completed on Day 5, Sunday, at 11:45 AM. Good time to head into town, to explore and have lunch.
