Mostly Japanese Mountains: Climbing beautiful Mt. Norikuradake in springtime snow. Sledding down!

. . . about Mt. Norikura

Although this mountain is over 3,000 meters, thanks to the highest bus stop in the country (at 2,700 meters), climbers can find this beautiful mountain easily accessible during the summer months.

Norikura is in the southern portion of the Northern Alps and borders Nagano and Gifu Prefectures. Due to the large amount of snow at the high elevation, you can ski there all year. That is, if you don't mind skiing up before you ski down. All of the ski slopes with lifts are down lower and are barren of snow during the summer.

Mt. Norikura (乗鞍岳 in kanji) is one of the 100 Mountains on Mr. Fukada's list and offers a great panorama. The view of Ontake is especially impressive.

Area:

Location:

Map: ***If you want a link to the latest Yama to Kogen map, comment and I'll get you a link. This link is to a printable topo map

Starting and stopping point:

Sanbontaki Falls Parking Lot at Sanbontaki Resthouse

Peaks bagged: Asahidake (朝日岳) ~ Kodama (蚕玉岳) ~ Kengamine/Norikura (剣ヶ峰/乗鞍岳)

(First-time) peaks # 1,020~1,022

100 Famous Mountain #49

Getting there/getting around: There is parking at the Sanbontaki Resthouse. There is also bus service to and from there.

The Japan Alps website has information for public transportation to the Norikura Tatamidaira Trailhead, which is quite close to the top. Contemplating the time, money, and aggravation of changing from train to bus to camel to the back of a sherpa just makes my head hurt.

Japan-guide also has information about public transportation.

I parked at the Sanbontaki Resthouse because that's as far as private vehicles are allowed. I could have taken a bus from there but I was happier to walk. For one thing, I go to the mountains to get away from people and schedules. For another, I'm a cheapskate. And lastly, I go to the mountains because I like to walk. Why pay someone for the privilege of doing less of what I enjoy?

FWIW, if I went there by public transportation, it would take over 7 hours. To get there via public transportation from Shinjuku would take just about the same time. I was able to drive there in 3. Gas and tolls were less than trains and buses would have been.

Helpful Info

Weather Information: Norikura Weather mountain-forecast dot com report (English)

Time and distance

Total Time: 7:55 Break time: :31 Distance: 23.6 km

Elevation: Lowest: 1,755 m Highest: 3,026 Total Ascent: 1,476 m Total Descent: 1,476 m

Technical considerations/difficulty:

Hiking from where I started makes for a fairly long hike with a large change in elevation. That said, roughly the lower half of my hike was on pavement. Even after that, when I was walking on the trails, it was still a steady ascent with no boulder fields, no ropes, no chains, and no ladders to speak of.

Much of the hike is above the treeline so it would be very hard to get lost, I think. It was easy to see long distances because snow covered everything. When the snow is all gone, I'm no sure the effect on visibility. Even so, there is a bus road that winds high up into these mountains so that would make it hard to get lost.

There is a hiking trail on the lower half of my route but it is closed due to snow during winter.

Facilities:

There are porta-potties here and there. Near the top of Norikura, there is an emergency hut. There are lots of streams and rivers so water shouldn't be a problem.

Here and there, there are mountain huts. There is also an observatory for cosmic ray research run by Tokyo University.

Thoughts/observations/recommendations:

This was a special mountain. They all are, but some days are better than others. I'm really happy with how the plan came together. I was able to play in the snow but, except for about 5 minutes on the top, spent the day just in my t-shirt. (I had pants on, too. Get your minds out of the gutter.) I felt so good and the conditions were so amenable that I was able to cover about 15 miles in a day and didn't feel like I broke a sweat.

I'm glad I remembered my sunscreen and sunglasses. It's very easy to forget these in winter. Snow can give you a worse burn than a day at the beach. Blinding light reflected off the sun is no fun, either.

I should have paid more attention to my feet. I went in three-season boots because I didn't anticipate much cold. It turned out to be fine, but my feet did get wet from walking in soft, slushy snow. If I broke a leg or something and had to spend the night on the mountain, I could have been in danger of frostbite with wet feet after the temps dropped. I think I will wear winter/water-proof boots next time in the snow. A spare pair of socks would be a good idea, too.

Speaking of wet feet, I am so glad I made the extra little trek to see the Sanbontaki (Three Falls)! That was cool! Indeed, my feet did get wet because I wanted to get some pictures that I wouldn't have been able to take without walking in the water.

Last thought: If you can get to a mountain like this on a weekday or in the off-season, I highly recommend it. Since it was a weekday and I stayed away from the bus crowd, I had the trail to myself almost all day. When I got to the onsen, there was only one other guy there. As I was leaving the onsen, the bus showed up and I scooted home.😉

Here are some pictures:

This is the starting point, the Sanbotaki Resthouse.

I started out with an eye to using a variation route that would begin above the ski trails. Above the lifts, though, the brush was very thick and the snow-covered streams made me re-think that plan. I decided to descend a bit and hike up the road instead.

I love running water. This is a great season for me.

The trail from the Sanbotaki is closed due to snow. I stayed on the pavement until getting past the Kuraigara Sanso.

After a few hours, I hit the Kuraigahara Sanso and then entered the trail just beyond it.

You can stay there, by the way. You can take a bus there, too.

Norikura Kuraigahara Sansou

They have some nice merch.

This is the beginning of the trail. I encountered other people here. They were either putting on crampons or putting on their skis.

What a great morning it had been so far.

Behind me are the rest of the southern Kita Alps.

I didn't sink into the snow too often on this day but when I did, it was up to my thighs.

I couldn't understand all the people wearing goretex and balaclavas. I was quite warm enough in a t-shirt.

This torii is at the top.

The marker

These days I've been eating a lot of satsumaimo (sweet potato). Bake one of these suckers in tin foil for about an hour and you've got a great, sweet snack.