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Trekking in Hakuba, Japan

Trekking in Hakuba, Japan
Kaerazuno Ken from Happo
Mt Karamatsu sunset
Tengu Yari Shakusi Shirouma
view from Mt Karamatsu to kaerazuno ken

Embark on an exhilarating 3-day trek with local guide Hirofumi. Trek through Hakuba's iconic mountains, including Mt. Shirouma, Mt. Shaku, and Mt. Shirouma Yari. Starting in Sarukura and venturing through the challenging Daisekkei, one of Japan's most majestic snow valleys.

Private

Hida Mountains

3 Days

All year

High

Advanced


Highlights

  • Embark on an exciting trek tour around the Hakuba area
  • Trek across three of its most famous mountains including Mt. Shirouma
  • Pass through Daisekkei, one of the largest snow valleys in Japan

Description

Challenge yourself on this exciting trek tour around the Hakuba area!

Trek across three of its most famous mountains: Mt. Shirouma (2932m), Mt. Shaku (2812m), and Mt. Shirouma Yari (2903m). You will also cross three of Japan's biggest gaps in a mountain ridge, including Kaerazu no Ken.

This 3-day traverse starts in Sarukura and passes through Daisekkei, one of the largest snow valleys in Japan.

Daisekkei is one of the biggest snow valleys in Japan and one of the three biggest gaps in a mountain ridge. Hiking in Daisekkei can be challenging, but the rewards are worth the effort as the scenery is simply breathtaking.

This course is more suitable for experienced hikers or those with some climbing experience. Be sure to come prepared with the proper gear and be aware of the weather conditions before setting out.

If you are looking for a challenging hike with stunning scenery, Daisekkei is a great option. Be sure to come prepared and enjoy the experience!

Price includes

  • Guiding fee
  • Mountain guide expenses

Price details

  • Excluded client accommodation (1 night and 2 meals ) and client transport fee.

Itinerary

Day 1: Journey to Mt. Shirouma hut

We will leave Happo Busterminal at 7:30 AM and take a bus to Sarukura Hut. We will arrive at Sarukura Hut at 8:00 AM and then hike to Hakubajiri Hut. We will arrive at Hakubajiri Hut at 9:30 AM. At 10:00 AM, we will hike to Hakuba Daisekkei. We will arrive at Hakuba Daisekkei at 10:00 AM and then hike to Chojo hut.

We will arrive at Chojo hut at 14:30 PM. At 15:00 PM, we will hike to Mt. Shirouma hut. We will arrive at Mt. Shirouma hut at 15:00 PM and stay overnight. The total hiking time is approximately 7 hours.

Day 2: Summit Mt. Shaku

We will start trekking at 6:00 AM. At 7:15 AM, we will reach the summit of Mt. Shaku (2812m). At 8:15 AM, we will reach the summit of Mt. Shirouma Yari (2903m). At 9:15 AM, we will arrive at Teng hut. At 11:15 AM, we will arrive at Kaerazu no Ken. At 14:30 PM, we will reach the summit of Mt. Karamatsu (2696m). At 15:00 PM, we will arrive at Mt. Karamatsu hut (2620m) and stay overnight. The total hiking time is approximately 8.5 hours.

Day 3: Trek to Happo Ike

We will start trekking at 8:00 AM. We expect to reach Happo Ike (2,060m) by 10:00 AM and Happo Ike hut (1,850m) by 11:30 AM. The total hiking time is approximately 3.5 hours.

 

Equipment you will need to bring

Equipment rent on site

For this trip you'll need: * Helmet * Crampons * Backpack * Water bottle * Goggles * Poles


FAQs

Will I need to bring any technical equipment of my own? Is it possible to rent equipment, and if so, what would be the approximate cost of that?

You must have a helmet and crampons. I can rent them. 1 item costs ¥500 for 1 day. The price for 3 days is¥1500.

How will accommodation and meals be handled on the mountain?

We stay in a mountain hut. The price is ¥15000 for one night, and it includes 2 meals.

Are there shower facilities in mountain hut?

Most mountain huts don't have shower facilities.

Until which date is the mountain hut open?

We can stay at the mountain hut until October 13th 2024.

Is there a possibility to change the route from Daisekkei, in case the snow conditions are not good enough?

Yes, if there's not enough snow condition, or bad condition of snow valley, we can change to other route, Hakuna sanso.

Should I stay in Hakuba the day before the first day? Can I leave my extra luggage there?

Yes. On the first day, we take the bus at around 8:30 at the bus station. That's why, you should stay in Hakuba the day before the first day and the day after the last day. If you stay like this, you can leave your luggage in the same hotel.

About the guide

Guide profile image

Hirofumi

3.7

(11)

Mountain Guide

I'm a JMGA certified hiking guide as well as one of Nagano Prefecture's Official Mountain Guides for North Japan Alps.

My love for mountains and skiing brought me to live in countries like New Zealand, Canada and Europe (including Chamonix) as a ski instructor and as a tour coordinator for over 10 years.
In Chamonix I was inspired by the IFMGA mountain guides, who were my mentors and who had a lot of compassions, and I started to aspire to become a guide myself.
Currently, I live in the village of Hakuba and guiding mainly in the mountains of North Japan Alps.

My motto is to "have fun safely" and I value the communications I have with clients whilst guiding.

If you want to feel glad you came at the end of the day, then join me to enjoy the Japanese mountains together!

Languages

Japanese | English

Certificates

NPOMG | JMGA

Request more information

What people are saying about Hirofumi

Angela

We had a fantastic time with Hirofumi - it was a wonderful experience exploring the Japanese Alps.

Valerie

I have been trekking some of the Philippine's Mountain & everytime id get a guide. A guide who wil "guide" U & even use their legs or foot for me to step into if no where else to set my foot. A guide who will walk behind you and make sure u're on the right trail & safe & not leave u behind. A guide who will be willing to help u document the journey without asking. Hirofumi is the exact opposite of what a true mountain guide is. Nakasendo trail is actually a trail that doest need a guide. I only got because it'l be my first time and i thought id go alone. He would walk ahead &leave us. Sometimes you wont even see him anymore. I would call him all the time to wait for us. And at our last day i told him to stay behind my friend who was first timer and tired and very slow because its mostly uphill and the warnings of a bear scares me and my friend. He knows we were non pros. I would always ask him to take us photos or videos and i felt that he didnt like it. He didnt help make the most out of the experience. Try booking any guide in the Philippines especially Kawasan Falls in Cebu for less than a hundred US dollars for 4 hours and they'll treat you with so much care even lifting you if needed and documenting every step every move every beautiful spot. This is a total waste of money. I suggest u make sure the guide that you get here are well trained not just someone who can walk. He said it was his 4th times? Only? Also when we checked in our first hotel which he booked himself, he expected us two ladies to share the room with us. And we were totally shocked. He didnt mention this in our inquiries so i cam object and ask him to get his own room. Fortunately there was available room for us to separate. The 2nd hotel that he got was ok. We tried very much to be friendly to Hirofumi but i have to really be honest here.

Caroline

We did the 3-day Mount Yari hike from Kamikochi with Hirofumi Nishiura. We have some concerns about our trek/guide and I wanted to bring them to your attention. We had originally inquired about a different hike but the guide had concerns about hiking with kids. We then inquired about the Mountain Yari hike and he said that we could do that one. Throughout the communication there was never specific details about how long we would be hiking each day, the altitude or really anything to prepare us. While we have done a lot of hiking with our kids, this hike was quite an undertaking for the short amount of time and maybe we would have chosen something different had we had more information. When hiking with the guide, he was always far ahead of us which was a concern for both safety and it was also supposed to be a guided hike. There was no sharing of information of the area, the flora and fauna of the area, and very few details of the days’ hike. It was a guided hike but besides taking care of details with the huts there was no guiding being done. When asked how long etc.. it was an estimate of time based on his pace not ours which was frustrating. We actually did our own research while hiking to gather real time data so we could better understand what was ahead of us. Our older two had some altitude issues on the third day and he never inquired even after they left breakfast early. In fact, our health was never a concern for him. He was also impatient with our children which was frustrating. We made it clear that we were traveling with 4 teenagers. When our children attempted to engage with him, he seemed annoyed. He also tried to offer parenting advice which was completely uncalled for and inappropriate. I am not sure if this was cultural thing or maybe Hiro has never guided families but the whole experience was not what we hoped for. We have done a number of guided hikes before and we have always enjoyed our time on the hike and with the guide. This was not the case. While, the scenery was beautiful and we appreciated the challenge of terrain, the experience with the guide left us unimpressed. I did not want to leave this as a review and reached out privately but I got no response. In fact, the only thing I got was numerous emails asking for a review. So, I guess I will leave a review as a warning to future trekkers to get as much info prior to your trek and to make sure you advocate for yourself.

William

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!!!

Kirsty

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.


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