Posted on Mar 5, 2025
0
NES
Posted on Mar 5, 2025
0 0
NES
8km

Distance

4 hours

Time

400m

Ascent

791m

Highest point

4/10
Difficulty
Snow Icon | Hokkaido Wilds
Feb-Mar

Best season

TOPO
Bozu-yama in Hobetsu 穂別坊主山 (791m) is a diminutive peak surrounded by beautiful snowfields, at the far southern end of the Yubari Range 夕張山地. The terrain is very mellow, and as such, is a perfect spot for beginner backcountry skiers to get some experience navigating and travelling in the backcountry. The views are stellar. Pacific Ocean, Yubari-dake 夕張岳 (1668m), and the Hidaka Range. For the intrepid, there's the option of overnighting in the pokey little Yamagoya Bozu Hut 山小屋坊主, but you'll need to haul your own wood up for the stove. Bozu means 'skinhead' in Japanese, and refers to the lack of large trees near the summit - just vast sasa bamboo grass fields.

We visited this route on Feb 23, 2025

Skiers: Haidee, Sean, Grisha, Anton

Topomap

Route Map

Need to know details

Location

Bozu-yama lies at the very far south end of the Yubari Range 夕張山地. So far south, in fact, that it could almost be mistaken for being at the far northwest of the Hidaka Range 日高山脈. In summer, the trailhead is at the south-southwest side of the mountain. In winter, however, it’s possible to approach from the north, from National Highway 274, at the eastern entrance to Inasato Tunnel 稲里トンネル, here. Snowmobilers often approach from the southwest, at the gate on Route 610, around here.

General notes

Take a look at Bozu-yama’s peak on Google Satellite, and you’ll understand why it’s called Bozu-yama, literally ‘crew-cut peak’. The peak is surrounded by large expanses of sasa bamboo grass fields, and from afar, the peak does indeed look neatly trimmed of large trees. This creates some beautiful, picturesque snow fields in the winter. The approach is straight forward – just a quick 2hr skin along a nicely-steep forestry road and then through some old-growth forest, and finally the short but steep climb to the summit proper. Downhill skiing in the area is a bit limited, but if you’re happy to lap slopes, some fun can be had.

  • When to visit: This area isn’t known for its copious snowfall – it’s just on the outer edge of the Yubari Range’s heavy snowfall zone. Therefore, it’s best to visit in late Feb and March.
  • Snow conditions: Related to the above, consider yourself very lucky if you get deep powder conditions on Bozu-yama.
  • Purchasing firewood: If you’re dead-set on hauling wood up to the hut, the closest place for buying firewood (if approaching from Sapporo) is the Nicot in Yubari City (location). Expect to pay about 900yen for 5kg. They don’t always stock it during winter, so it’s best to stock up in a larger city beforehand (at any large home center such as DCM).
  • Pulling a pulk: The entire approach to the summit plateau is suitable for pulling a pulk, but make sure to keep weight manageable. Our sleds were about 20kg each, and we were able to pull them just fine along the forestry road, and then with some effort up the final ridge. The descent along the ridge was more challenging, with the pulks wanting to run away on us. We strongly recommend planning on having an empty (or close to empty) pulk on the return to the trailhead.
Hut
Yamagoya Bozu (full details here)

Yamagoya Bozu Hut 山小屋坊主 is an almost comically cute little hut. It’s perched in the middle of an impossibly beautiful sasa bamboo grass field high up in the southern foothills of the Yubari Range 夕張山地. In winter, the sasa fields transform into vast snowfields, stretching out 360-degrees from the Bozu-yama 坊主山 (791m) summit. The hut itself is at 745m, so the views from the hut area stellar. You can see the Pacific Ocean, Yubari-dake 夕張岳 (1,668m), and Komagatake 駒ケ岳 (1,131m). At night, you’ll see the lights of Tomakomai and the glow of Sapporo City. It’s also a great place to star-gaze. The hut has a wood stove, but it’s BYO wood.

Route details

From the cleared area at the entrance to Inasato Tunnel, head south along the forestry road along Ororoppusawa-gawa River. The forestry road continues for about 2.8km, gaining altitude the entire way (the road’s incline is perfect for a quick exit on the downhill). At the terminus of the forestry road, as marked on the map, it appears the road keeps continuing steeply to the left. Don’t follow the road, and instead drop to the right, down to the creek. Find a suitable snow bridge to cross, and continue another 200m along the looker’s right side of the creek. At around the 200m mark, there’s a small gully to the right. About 50m up the gully is a convenient road-like cutting that will allow you to gain the moderately-steep ridge that will lead you up to the summit plateau.

You’ll pass by the cute little Yamagoya Bozu once on the plateau, just before the final climb up the free-standing summit ridge. This final climb can be icy, but by wrapping around the summit, it’s unlikely you’ll need to boot-pack.

From the summit, you’ll have great views of the Pacific Ocean, Yubari-dake, and the Hidaka mountains. It’s possible to ski from the summit, and we found the best slopes to be to the east of the summit. There are several mellow lines that can be lapped. Note that especially on the weekends, you may find you’re competing with local snowmobile clubs for fresh lines. Southern aspects also looked good to us, but with a week of preceding warm weather, the steep southern slopes were a mess of full-depth slides and glide cracks.

For the return to the trailhead, follow your up-tracks.

Route Timing
Up | 2hrs
Down | 0.5hrs

If you’re making a quick peak-hunt up to the summit and back, you’d be unlikely to spend more than three hours on this route. However, given the mellow lapping potential of the upper area, plus the existence of Yamagoya Bozu Hut, it’d be a pity not to spend a bit longer, even overnight. The gradient of the approach forestry road is quite steep, so even snowboarders will find the return to the trailhead very quick.

Transport

Public transport:

There is no public transport to this route.

By car:

The trailhead is on National Highway 274, a major trunk line cutting across Hokkaido. The start of the forestry road is at the eastern entrance to Inasato Tunnel 稲里トンネル. Here, there is a large snow-ploughed area, large enough to park about 10 vehicles. That said, after heavy snowfall, parking too many vehicles here will disrupt snowclearing work, so do try to carpool where possible, to reduce parking pressure. If staying overnight in the hut, we recommend leaving a note on the dashboard, informing highway crews when you plan to return.

Physical maps
Official Topo Map: Inasato (稲里) – map no. NK-54-8-15-2

NOTE: The official 1/25000 topo map(s) above can be purchased for 350yen from Kinokuniya bookstore next to Sapporo Station or online (in Japanese).

Aspect
The main aspect skiers are exposed to on the descent and/or ascent is North. Other aspects that may also be encountered while following the route outlined on this page include: East, South. Therefore, keep an eye on the weather forecast a few days ahead of your trip to monitor wind, snow, and temperature. Also, since this route is in the general vicinity of the Furano area, consider looking at the Furano Avalanche Center (on Facebook). They issue sporadic observations throughout the season which may give extra insight into avalanche conditions.

Snow and
route safety

There are many open snow fields around the Bozu-yama summit—in low-visibility conditions, navigation would be difficult. High winds would also make travel difficult on the summit plateau. Note also the area is popular among snowmobilers – take care, particularly on weekends, when local clubs may be active.

Hobetsu Bozu-yama Difficulty Rating

Category

Grade

Points

Strenuousness

Vertical Gain

C

30

Time ascending

D

0

Technicality

Altitude

C

3

Hazards

D

0

Navigation

C

6

Totals

39/100

GRADES range from A (very difficult) to D (easy).  More details here. Rating rubric adapted from Hokkaido Yukiyama Guidebook 北海道雪山ガイド.

Weather forecast

Windy.com weather forecast for Bozu-yama
Onsen nearby

The obvious choice for a post-ski onsen soak would be the Jukai-onsen Hakua 樹海温泉はくあ (location, 520yen), only 9 mins drive west of the trailhead. However, they’re closed during Jan, Feb and March. Other options are further away, but still worth while. For example Biratori Onsen Yukari びらとり温泉ゆから to the south (location, 500yen, 2,700yen for private baths), or Yuni Onsen ユンニの湯 (location, 800yen) to the west. Both options have attached restaurants and outdoor baths.

Extra Resources
No extra English resources that we know of. If you know of any, please let us know in the comments.

Guide Options

If you’d like to ski this route and/or explore other peaks in the Hidaka Range together with a local certified guide, get in touch with Yasuko Kikuchi. Born and raised in Hokkaido, she’s a JMGA-certified guide now based in Sapporo. Her outdoor experience is broad and worldwide, having worked as a Canadian Ski Patrol member, and has sumitted a number of 6,000m+ peaks around the world. She speaks good English, and can arrange transport to and from the Hidaka area. In addition to Yasuko, also see a full list of English-speaking Hokkaido Mountain Guides Association (HMGA) guides on the HMGA website here

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Show Full Route Notes Close Route Notes

Route Trip Notes

We’d passed up the opportunity to do this Bozu-yama trip last year, because the snow was just too good elsewhere (we ended up skiing near Kiroro instead). This year, however, we committed to it, and we were glad we did. The snow was better than expected (but expectations were low anyway), and the hut was a lovely oasis surrounded by snow fields.

Our original planned group was going to be eight people. In the end, a few dropped out due to having colds, so it was a troupe of five – me, Haidee, Grisha, Anton, and Sean.

Those five included Sean, from HutTripper.com. We’d been in contact for a while, and it was great to finally meet. Also in the line-up was Anton from Sakhalin – good to catch up with him since meeting six years ago in Tokyo.

The plan was for Haidee, Sean and me to stay two nights. Grisha and Anton would only stay for one.

The trip started with everyone arriving at the trailhead and getting the sleds packed up. We had about 20kg of firewood split across two sleds, plus far too much food.

It was about 9:30am by the time we got away from the trailhead. It was a beautiful sunny day, but the snow was still cold. The sleds were gliding well.

This was the first time we’d skied this route. As usual, there were some unknowns. One unknown that was high on my mind was how flat, or not, the forestry road was going to be. The worst-case scenario was that the road would be mostly flat until we hit a steep climb up the approach ridge. The better-case scenario would be the road would climb at a decent gradient all the way, facilitating a quick exit on the descent. 

In the end, it turned out to be the latter. We were happy to be pulling the sleds up a good incline all the way to the end of the forestry road – a solid 2.8km.

From the end of the forestry road, we dropped down to the creek, hoping for an easy snow-bridge crossing. Anton chose a good snow-bridge, and crossed the stream with ease. I didn’t, and my sled dropped down into the shallow creek. Sean came to my aid, and we got it up onto the snow again. 

Across the creek, it wasn’t long before we had to pull the sleds up the steeper ridge, up to the summit plateau where we would find the hut. The ridge was just mellow enough to make it practical for the sleds.

Once we had finished the short steeper section, we finally had views of the mountains around us. The large plateau-like western face of Yubari-dake was staring us in the face.

As we were getting close to where the hut ought to be, we came across two other skiers, descending the way we’d come. I explained we were planning to stay in the hut.

“The hut’s locked tight!” one of the skiers said.

This was shocking news. I’d been told a year ago by the Mukawa Town Council that the hut was open for use all year round. “Just make sure you bring your own wood,” they said.

Perhaps something had changed over the last year. Perhaps the hut was locked now.

The skier went on. “I tried the front door and front window, but they were both locked securely. I didn’t try the rear window, but I think you might find that one locked too,” he said.

I thanked him for the information, and we carried on, now very concerned that we’d hauled up 20kg of firewood for nothing.

We rounded to the front of the hut, and tried the door. Sure enough, it was locked tight. 

It was then that a year-old memory stirred in my brain. Vaguely, my mind told me that I’d been told by the Mukawa Town Council representative a year ago about getting into the hut in winter.

“You need to climb into the hut in winter using the rear window – there’s a ladder for the purpose.”

I peered through the front window at the window at the back of the hut. Sure enough, the window latches were oriented downwards. The locked front window had the latches oriented upwards.

“The back window is open!” I called out. 

We rushed to the back of the hut, and sure enough, were able to open the back window easily.

It was sweet relief to have access to the hut. We dropped our gear and got ready to take a walk to the summit of Bozu-yama.

It was sweet relief to have access to the hut. We dropped our gear and got ready to take a walk to the summit of Bozu-yama.

The snow was better than expected. But I’d expected mega-breakable-crust, so anything was going to be better than that. Indeed, the chalky old snow was better than breakable crust.

We decided to try to find some better snow by skiing back down the way we’d hauled the sleds up earlier in the day, on the northern aspects. The snow was passable, but the terrain was messy. We very soon found ourselves in a mess of deep gullies and small spurs. We gave up and headed back to the hut.

The evening was spent eating way too much cheese and crackers, and then copious shabu-nabe.

The hut was cosy with five people, and the wood stove was amazingly efficient. Our 20kg of firewood we’d hauled up was going to last just fine.

The warmth of the hut didn’t last long once the stove went out. When we woke in the morning, everyone was wrapped up tight in their sleeping bags. It was about -10°C in the hut, maybe even colder.

Grisha was the first up, having headed out to try to watch the sunrise from the summit at around 4:30am. He reported back an average sort of sunrise, but the companionship of a curious fox.

First order of business for the day was for Grisha and Anton to get packed up and away. They had to catch a flight to Sakhalin later that day.

A few hours after Grisha and Anton left, Simon and Alex arrived at the hut. Since they live only 30 mins drive away from the trailhead, Haidee had contacted them last-minute to see if they wanted to join in on the hut trip. They decided to come up for a day trip.

After they arrived, we all headed out again to the summit of Bozu-yama. Once again, the weather was stellar.

The downhill terrain for skiing around Bozu-yama is almost really good. It’s mellow from the summit, and there are some short steep-ish sections. Once off the summit plateau, however, the terrain tends to deteriorate into miniature spines, gullies, and bluffs. 

We did one decent downhil run, and were skinning our way back up when the snowmobilers arrived. Cue two-stroke noise and fumes.

I can see why this is a popular place for the sledders. It would be a great place to practice skills on various terrain.

After this first run, Alex and Simon decided to head back to the trailhead. They reported it only took about 20 minutes along the forestry road. “Super quick exit,” Simon reported.

Sean, Haidee, and I carried on scouting the downhill ski options around the summit. 

Snow conditions were chalky at best. On the southern aspects, the modest snowpack had given away completely, leaving large patches of exposed sasa bamboo grass. In the right conditions, all aspects of Bozu-yama would provide some reasonable downhill terrain, but today, we were limited to northerly aspects.

Our final run for the day was west of the hut. This provided some OK snow.

Despite the smooth-looking contour lines on the map, however, the lower sections were a mess of steep gullies and bluffs. 

We cut our losses and called it a day. It was almost 4pm and we had plenty of food and firewood in the hut.

The rest of the day was spent trying to get through the copious amounts of food I’d over-bought for the trip.

The mission to consume the food continued the following morning for breakfast. Sean and I made a gallant effort before we packed up the hut and sled for the return to the trailhead.

The lack of photos of the return to the trailhead should provide evidence of two things:

  1. It was fast
  2. It was chaotic

My makeshift sled design needs refinement to prevent it from running away from the skier when skiing downhill or side-hilling. The sled did a lot of those things while descending the short steep forest section just below the hut. It would get snagged on trees. It would careen past the skier. It would have a mind of its own.

Once on the forestry road, however, it was smooth sailing, apart from one flip.

Overall, a super fun hut trip, and great to have been able to share it with another bonafide hut geek, Sean.

Comments | Queries | Reports

Done this route to Bozu-yama, or others nearby? Thinking of doing it? Please post any feedback, reports, or queries here. Thanks!

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Hobetsu Bozu-yama Difficulty Rating

Category

Grade

Points

Strenuousness

Vertical Gain

C

30

Time ascending

D

0

Technicality

Altitude

C

3

Hazards

D

0

Navigation

C

6

Totals

39/100

GRADES range from A (very difficult) to D (easy). Hazards include exposure to avalanche and fall risk. More details here. Rating rubric adapted from Hokkaido Yukiyama Guidebook 北海道雪山ガイド.