Mt Shirouma (白馬岳)

Mt Shirouma (or Mt Hakuba, there are two readings of the same kanji) is located in the Hakuba area, which is well known for the ski resorts. It is also the location of one the longest snow valley in Japan. Simply known as 大雪渓(the great snow valley), this offers a shortcut up to Mt Hakuba during winter and spring. Calling it a shortcut is a bit of a misnomer. It is still a long 10~12 hours hike. However, it reduces what is usually a 2-day trip to a single day trip.

The long hike was make longer this year due to the road between the Futamata gate (二股ゲート) and Sarukura (猿倉). Originally planned to be open ahead of golden week, it remained closed. Vehicles had to park an hour’s walk away from the trailhead.

There was about 15 spots available at the car park depending how cars are parked. It was mostly fully by the time I arrived and I took one of the last 2 spots. Some people were putting together their bicycles to ride up the closed road ahead to Sarukura.

Along the way to Sarukura, I spotted a helicopter loading up supplies to be carried to the mountain hut. It would make a number of trips back and forth that morning.

The path from Sarukura was rough and overgrown. Many trees were once covered by the snow but now they where breaking through and stuck out in weird angles. There was a particularly iffy spot where it seemed like I had to cross a swelling river, but the snow bridges around it were either gone or thinned out so much that it didn’t look safe.

After beating through all the vegetation and not falling into any rivers, the view opens up to a large expanse of snow flanked by various peaks on both sides. There it was, the great snow valley.

Being late in season, the snow here is crunchy and strewn full of debris carried down by melting snow. Throughout the later half of the day, I could hear the sound of mini avalanches as the melting ice cause pieces of rock to break off from the cliffs around the side the valley.

As the gradient of the slope got steeper, I swapped out my trekking poles for an ice axe. It was pretty tiring going straight so I started to zigzag my way up. Even so, I got tired enough and at some point I was stopping after every few steps.

At long last, I reached the Hakuba Hut (白馬山荘), which is just minutes from the peak. Here, the snow vanished. I confirmed with the staff at the hut that there was no snow further ahead. Then, I took off my crampons and left my backpack behind in the hut for a short walk to the peak.

Returning from the peak back down to the hut, I was greeted with the majestic sight of Mt Tsurugi and Mt Tateyama, two other of the hundred famous mountains. I took in the view as I ate my lunch, and feeling my energy coming back, headed back down.

Getting there

Date hiked: 2025/06/08

Stayed the night before at Kurobe Sun Valley Hotel. It’s a really nice place and I was sad that I didn’t get to enjoy it much since I arrived late and had to leave before the break of dawn. From the hotel, it was a 40 minutes drive to the trailhead.

For the trailhead and car park, I set the navigation to 中部電力二股水力発電所.

YAMAP track: https://yamap.com/activities/40641207