Mt. Makihata, Backcountry ski in Japan

fujita yuji · Mar 30, 2013

Hi, guys. It's been a while since I've posted last time.
I'll do this post to share what's like backcountry skiing in Japan.

As you can see above, it is in the middle of Spring around my home
and which is the best season for back country ski.

Mt. Makihata is quite popular among backcountry ski fans in Japan.
It is located near Mt. Tanigawa, an infamous mountain for so many climbing accidents.
The location says most of it's charactor, which is a LOTS of snow.

We've spent a night in a car and set out for climbing. The climbing fur is in use from the beginning.

As you can see the slope has lots of snow

I don't know how many of you have seen this bug.

We just call it "snow bug". It's scientific name is Eocapnia nivalis, according to Wikipedia(ja).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capniidae
They are so well-adopted to low temperature. Simply amazing creature.

This is the peak, about 6300ft. of height and we gained 4300ft. of altitude in four and a half hours.

The right most one is me. Sorry the exposure doesn't meet the figure.

This is the slope. Absolutely gorgeous field.

Climb up for four hours and down in half an hour. That's ski.

Beverage bottle crushed by the pressure difference from the peak.

Thanks for reading.
Finally, I've took a short movie. Please see if you like.
[video=youtube_share;WtTV9aqnAuw]http://youtu.be/WtTV9aqnAuw[/video]

RWT · Mar 31, 2013

Nice it is 80 degrees here

Ultraman · Mar 31, 2013

Thanks again for another nice post. What's the knife in the first picture? Thanks!

fujita yuji · Mar 31, 2013

RWT said:
Nice it is 80 degrees here

That is warm and nice.

It was not so cold, well above the freezing level.

Ultraman said:
Thanks again for another nice post. What's the knife in the first picture? Thanks!

Happy to see you enjoyed, Ultraman. The knife is my homemade.

Brisket · Mar 31, 2013

Nice knife and photos! Thanks for sharing.

What steel did you make your knife out of?

Rockywolf · Mar 31, 2013

Always a pleasure to see your pics. The knife is still gorgeous!

fujita yuji · Apr 1, 2013

Brisket said:
Nice knife and photos! Thanks for sharing.

What steel did you make your knife out of?

Thanks Brisket. It's salt-pot hardened M2.

Rockywolf said:
Always a pleasure to see your pics. The knife is still gorgeous!

Thanks, Rockywolf. I'll start next one before it gets too hot to work.

pinnah · Apr 3, 2013

Great stuff!!! Just love it.

Sharing some of the ski love, here are a few shots of ski touring in the northeast US.

Beaver ponds offer views.

Lunch stop by Pinnah, on Flickr

Our winter bugs are called snow fleas. I use klister in the spring, which turns the skis into "fly paper", or flea paper.

Flea Paper by Pinnah, on Flickr

I was skiing Italian Tuas that day but still have some Japanese Kazamas in the ski rack.

Great thread

fujita yuji · Apr 3, 2013

I've never heard of Klister and did some google on it. it sounds interesting.
The ski you have is a nice classical Telemark pair. It looks great.

That is enormous number of Snow fleas you have!!

Your other photos are also very nice to see. thanks for sharing awesome tour!

WILLIAM.M · Apr 4, 2013

I always admire your photos

Thanks again for posting!!!

fujita yuji · Apr 4, 2013

Thanks for your kind words, William.

The one on the top with my knife and flowers has a story.
The flowers, cherry blossoms similar to those you find on Washington D.C. riverside, have not fell off naturally.
When they fell off by themselves, only the flower petal comes off and the centre of flower remains on tree.

These were cut down by the birds who seek for the nectar.
The bird is tree sparrow, whose mandibles are too thick to probe the flower.
Yet another story of pollinator and flower.

Woodrow F Call · Apr 4, 2013

Very cool.