2015-05-03 槍穂 2/4 横尾尾根-槍ヶ岳-横尾

Day 2:

I woke up during the night for a few pictures. The moonlight was too strong for crisp view of the stars but the setting moon around 2:30 AM when we rose was a beautiful sight.

After an easy slope we got to Yokoo no Ha the technical rocky stretch  of the ridge. The use the rope and set protections using slings. I-san led an I removed the protections going last.

A second pitch required a lot of time for one of us and only  after that and a steep downhill were we back on snowy surfaces. We could see the whole ridge all the way up the pass connecting the Yari's south ridge. Vertically 400m to go up this relatively steep snow ridge, exposed on both sides, with warm temps causing the snow to be soft (poor axe purchase and risk of slip of a foot) yet the absence of wind eased our task.

A group of skiers ascended the West side and skied down back as we met a pair of climbers going down the yokoo ridge. Walking in their stair-like tracks made it easier for the last few minutes to gain the pass.

The weather was getting cloudy and 45 minutes later whenn reaching Nakadake our first 3000m peak, we were in the clouds. The weather forecast had just been released: rainy and windy weather on 5/4 from the middle of the night and sunny & windy on 5/5. This prompted a change on plan for the rest on the adventure. We would go to Yari but gave up the dai kiretto and go back down to Yokoo.

On the way North towards Yari I saw 2 raicho and that was the last ingredient missing for the day: a bit of fauna.

As we closed in on Yari, the trail was free of snow. We removed crampons and ice axe and reached the hut just below the peak. Dozens and dozens of climbers were on the mountain face.

30 minutes is the standard map time from hut to summit. A steep rock with chains and ladders, just a couple of icy stretches easily avoided by walking on their side, it took me 12 minutes to reach the top and I waited 15 more for the last of our group. Surrounded by clouds we took a group picture and went back to the hut.

I geared up to prepare my slide down the snow slope along the yari sawa trail.
The top was just the right slope and I followed the tracks from a precious climber. In a matter of a few seconds I slid my way a couple of hundred meters and fell asleep lying on the snow while waiting for the others for what seemed an infinity. After walking a few minutes the slope got suitable for another slide, longer slide on a clear track, not too seep so I didn't have to break.

Then the trail became almost flat and progressively the snow level decreased and below 2000m if was a melting slosh and finally we had more dirt than snow and we got to Yokoo in the dark at 19:30, 15 hours after our morning departure.

700 yen per head, to spend the night but water available (and no need to melt snow).

Overall:  another great eventful day with wonderful landscapes to animate my dreams for many nights to come.

More pictures here:
https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0B8dPS_LBwxeLfksyZk5kTGNBOFBDcnBQWFJvcjdFS1BkTzRHa3ZYMHE1V0pLajc5a2hYS0k/edit