Mt. Karamats (唐松岳)
Mt. Karamatsu (Karamatsu-dake in Japanese) is in the Japanese Alps, and 2,696m high at its peak located in Nagano Prefecture. You can access to the mountain via Happo-one snow resort, which is one of the famous snow resort in Hakuba village.


https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%94%90%E6%9D%BE%E5%B2%B3

Hakuba Happo-one
Hakuba Alpine Resort

Hiking information
http://www.yamakei-online.com/yk_map/?latlon=36.69142661176844,137.78474669603756&zoom=14 

Trail is still covered by a few meters of snow, so you certainly need to prepare the trekking gears for winter season such as axes and climbing irons. Climbing is started from the top of the Hakuba Happo-one snow resort. At this time, we didn't reach to the top of Mt. Karamatsu, because of the time shortage.

Japan Meteorological Agency have announced that the El Niño event, which had persisted since boreal summer 2014, is likely to have ended in spring 2016. 2015-2016 winter season in Japan have been affected a lot by this El Niño event.

Shorter snow season, less snow overall, late opening and early closing at Ski resorts... But sometimes a contradiction happens such like strong snowstorms. It seems more difficult to predict and avoid an avalanche for skiers, snowboarders, and mountain climbers.


Many of the ski areas in Niigata Pref. still open in April with a dozen feet of snow on the ground in a usual season and have a snow-park with huge size of kickers and jib items, but not in this season. There remains a few ski resorts that still open in this condition, Kagura was one of them. Kagura ski resort is one of the largest combined ski resort in Niigata Pref.

They have brought in the gate system for the backcountry skiers and snowboarders from the beginning of 2015-2016 season. The users must show a document written down everything about their plans and routes to the patrol. Then you have to check your avalanche beacon functioning well.

After checking everything was OK, well prepared, then you can come into the gate, and start hiking.

Also, you need to have a phone call to the patrol office after you get back safely to the base. It seems pretty much for an expert, however, it is very good for a beginner to prepare their stuff well.

Kagura Mitsumata Ski Resrort
Address:  Mitsumata, Yuzawa, Minamiuonuma District, Niigata Prefecture, 949-6211, Japan
http://www.princehotels.com/en/ski/mtnaeba/index.html
http://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/niigata/yuzawa/kagura
Open Until: End of May in usual

Yuzawa Town
http://www.e-yuzawa.gr.jp/english/

 Snow report on 2th March, 2016 from Okutadami-Maruyama Snow Resort,  Niigata Japan. The resort is closed during midwinter and re-opend in the middle of March.

 This 32.4km-long-drippy-rock-surface-tunnel leading to Okutadami-Maruyama snow resort is called "Silver Line". The Okutadami dam is a hydroelectric power generation purpose dam and was built in 1960s. The 32.4 km-long tunnel was for the purpose of construction work. The snow resort is located in the upper part of the dam.

 The resort takes advantages of large amount of snowfall, it usually has a big half-pipe and over 10m kickers. Due to record-breaking warm winter, there are no half-pipe in this spring season.

 The depth of snow is only 3m though it is over 5m on an average year.

Okutadami-Maruyama: http://www.okutadami.co.jp/ski/
Snow forecast: http://ja.snow-forecast.com/resorts/OkutadamiMaruyama/6day/mid
Snow info: http://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/niigata/uonuma/okutadami-maruyama

Snow report on 18th February, 2016 from Kagura-Mitsumata Snow Resort, Niigata, Japan. Kagura is a three-in-one ski resort that incorporates the areas of Kagura, Mitsumata and Tashiro, lying next to the Naeba Snow Resort. These joint resorts provide a wide variety of ski courses, from easy family slopes to challenging advanced-level.

Mt. Naeba (in English)
Kagura Snow Resort (in Japanese)

No clouds and clearly fine this morning. Mt.Tanigawa, on the border of Gunma Pref. and Niigata Pref., can be seen from Kan-etsu Express Way. Great beauty!

Yuzawa area had fairly deep fresh snow during the night. The road condition was icy.

No clouds, amazing clear blue sky!

30 cm over fresh snow covered over backcountry area. Only 30 min hike from the Kagura Gate, introduced from 2014-2015 season at the top of the 5 romance lift, got to the top of Nakaone (中尾根). South face received strong sunlight and made sun crusts in a short time.

 

Kagura area used to be much quieter than Naeba, before the powder hunting became very popular in Japan. Now, Kagura is the gold standard of "sidecountry", "backcountry", and the powder hunting. After a long interval, we visited Kagura to test our new gears. Kagura area impound massive snow in usual season, but 2-3 meter lower in this season. Uncommon clear view from the restaurant at the top of the Kagura gondola.

The El Niño Southern Oscillation is quite strong in this winter. It causes very warm atmosphere around Japan. North Japan is also no exception. Shiny this morning with a few cm of fresh snow on the ground from yesterday. Light winds and the temperature is sitting at -5 degrees. East side slope face of Nishidaiten （西大巓） was good condition with snow monsters!

View detailed snow forecast for Grandeko Ski Resort at:
snow-forecast.com

Tengendai Kogen (Official in Japanese)
Tengendai Kogen (Snow forecast)

Less snow than usual but it was light powder snow!

Snow depth is 1m lower than that of the other year's usual. Unusually warm winter.

There is still partially closed course.

View detailed snow forecast for Tengendai Kogen at:
snow-forecast.com

Mt. Adatara (安達太良山 Adatara-yama) is a strato-volcano in Fukushima Prefecture, and is famous for ski resort in snow season and mountain trekking in green season. Adarata-yama Ropeway takes you to 1,350m in ten minutes.

Sunrise from adjacent parking lot.

It is recommended to start walking before sunrise to avoid congestion of tourists. Then you can enjoy quiet forest walking filled with colorful autumn leaves. 

Japanese poet Kotaro Takamura (高村 光太郎 1883 – 1956) married with the woman whose name is Chieko. He is famous for his poems collection Chiekoshō (智恵子抄 in English titled Chieko's sky). Chieko was born in the Adatara area and she really loved where she was born in. At the time Kotaro and Chieko live in Tokyo, Chieko said "There is no sky in Tokyo. The real sky is the vista of blue sky over Mt. Adarata". Following monumental inscription represents Chieko's word.「この上がほんとの空です．（Kono ue ga honntono sora desu）」

The mountain peak sign of Mt. Adatara at 1728 m.

Mt. Adatara has a crater at the summit surrounded by a sulfur smell.

Kurogane-goya, a mountain lodge.

Fukushima is not a radiation suffered place any more. We can live, work, enjoy mountain trekking!