Posted on Mar 9, 2023
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Posted on Mar 9, 2023
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12km

Distance

4 hours

Time

670m

Ascent

902m

Highest point

4/10
Difficulty
Snow Icon | Hokkaido Wilds
Feb

Best season

GPX

KML

TOPO

GSI

CAUTION: Komagatake is classed as an active volcano with 24hr monitoring in place. Entry restrictions apply to the upper portion of the route displayed. HokkaidoWilds.org does not encourage entry into keep-out areas.

Komagatake 駒ケ岳 (1131m) is an active volcano just north of Hakodate in the Onuma Quasi-national Park in the far south of Hokkaido. This enormous massif dwarfs all other scenery around it, as it juts from the sea. For the backcountry skier, the window of opportunity on Komagatake is relatively short. Snow cover is very scant in the area, and spring comes quickly to southern Hokkaido. That said, late February or early March can be a good time to tag this peak, and enjoy the views it offers. In this guide, we cover the most common route up the mountain, from the south.

We visited this route on Mar 05, 2023

Topomap

Route Map

Need to know details

Location

Komagatake sits about 30km north of central Hakodate City in far southern Hokkaido. It is part of the Onuma Quai-national Park, with Lake Onuma situated to the south of the mountain. This route up the mountain follows the only officially open-to-the-public hiking trail – the Akai-kawa Route 赤井川コース – on the south west side of the mountain.

General notes

“Looks uninteresting,” said no backcountry skier who has ever laid eyes on Komagatake in the winter. Huge open alpine slopes, surrounded by the sea, and craggy outcrops at the top, all add up to a somewhat enigmatic volcano at the terminus of the Oshima Peninsula. Add to this the fact this volcano is under 1200m in height – being so independent of any other peaks nearby, it looks massive.

The one thing that Komagatake does lack, however, is a reliable base of snow. The southeast tip of Oshima Peninsula in far south Hokkaido doesn’t get much snow at the best of times. Being a free-standing peak, Komagatake is further disadvantaged – much of the snow just gets stripped off it.

That said, don’t let this somewhat negative tone put off a visit to Komagatake. There is plenty to explore here, including alpine plateaus and rocky summits. And the views are really quite amazing.

  • When to visit: For ski touring, the window of opportunity can be relatively small. Too early in the season (January and most of February), and there won’t be enough snow to cover the rocks near the Uma-no-se 馬の背 ridge (around 902m) and on the plateau. Too late (mid-March onwards) and the spring melt will rapidly strip the slopes of skiable snow. Around mid-February to the beginning of March might be the best bet.
  • Ascent routes: By far the most popular route up the mountain in winter is via the official summer trail (the route we’ve marked). We’ve seen older reports online of other routes on other aspects, but they appear to all be densely wooded.
  • Where to ski: From afar, Komagatake appears to have beautifully open slopes around and above the treeline. The reality is that most slopes are dense with dwarf standing pines. If you want to link up more than a few turns on anything but the wide summer trail, be prepared to bush-bash a little. The summer trail is surprisingly wide in winter, and is a good fun downhill slope in its own right.
  • Access restrictions: Officially, hiking up Komagatake is 1) only permitted between the months of June and October, 2) only via the Akai-kawa Route, and 3) only to Uma-no-se (902m). See the details here. There are no fines imposed for ignoring these restrictions – they are in place to keep hikers safe in case of an eruption (small or large). Online, there are countless recent reports of climbers summiting the various peaks off the upper plateau.
  • Volcanic activity: Since 1998, volcanic activity on Komagtake has been extremely low. The volcanic alert level has sat at Level 1 (lowest level) since then.
Hut
None
Route details

From the small unofficial plowed car park, head northeast up the road past the gate. You’ll spend the next 2.5km or so skinning along the sad, decrepit remnants of unrealized dreams. That is, you’ll be skinning along the main road of what was once slated to be an expansive holiday home development area. Development only got so far as roading before the plug was pulled in the 1970’s. If you’re into haikyo 廃墟 exploring, this could be an interesting area (see details here). At around the 476m point, and after 3.7km of pleasant walking, you’ll arrive at the summer trailhead. From here, it’s only another 2km and 400m ascent to the Uma-no-se 馬の背 (literally: horseback) ridge – the official end-of-the-trail.

Beyond the Uma-no-se Ridge, the general public is asked not to proceed due to eruption danger. We will leave decisions to your own discretion. We hear most winter ascents to the summit proper are via a short but steep couloir, just north along the rocky summit ridge. See photos below.

Route Timing
Up | 2hrs
Down | 1hrs

The timing above is only to the Uma-no-se Ridge. We hear the final pitch to the summit proper can be technical (crampons and ice-axes required).

Transport

Public transport:

This route is not accessible by public transport.

By car:

There is a small unofficial cleared area to park cars just downhill from the end of the snow clearing/gate. This area can fit about four cars at a pinch. Do not park on the side of the road, nor in front of the gate.

Physical maps
Official Topo Map: Komagatake (駒ケ岳) – map no. NK-54-21-8-2

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 South. Therefore, keep an eye on the weather forecast a few days ahead of your trip to monitor wind, snow, and temperature. Unfortunately there are no avalanche information services for recreational backcountry users in this immediate area (but see the JAN reports and Furano Avalanche Center for sporadic observations eslewhere in Hokkaido).

Snow and
route safety

A simply up-and-back trip to the Uma-no-se Ridge is suitable even for the most beginner of ski tourers – there’s very little opportunity to get lost, as you’re on a road or hiking trail the whole way (but do carry maps and a GPS-equipped smartphone just in case). Being a free-standing mountain with very little in the way of trees for shelter, however, means that changes in weather will be felt very quickly – carry the appropriate layers. Also note that Komagatake is still classed as an active volcano. See live volcanic activity bulletins by the Japan Meteorological Agency here and here.

Komagatake Akaikawa Route Difficulty Rating

Category

Grade

Points

Strenuousness

Vertical Gain

B

35

Time ascending

D

0

Technicality

Altitude

B

6

Hazards

D

0

Navigation

D

0

Totals

41/100

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 Komagatake
Onsen nearby

If heading back north towards Sapporo, we highly recommend dropping in to Ginkon-yu Onsen 銀婚湯 (location, 800yen). Right next to the Otoshibe River, it is such a relaxing place, with quite unique hot spring water. See more details here.

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Route Trip Notes

I had to be in Hakodate for work on the Saturday, so Haidee and I decided to make a weekend out of it. We left Sapporo on Friday afternoon, and checked into the wonderfully gorgeous Ginkon-yu Ryokan for the night. The secluded private onsen they have scattered around their sprawling property, accessed via a swingbridge over the river, are breathtaking. 

Staying there for one night blew our entire budget for the weekend in one fell swoop, so on Saturday night we stayed in the van. It was comfy as usual. We parked up at the Shikabe Michi-no-eki. We were the only ones in the car park the entire night.

Sunday morning broke with crystal clear skies. Our objective for the day stood in contrast against the sky. Couldn’t have asked for better weather for our first climb up the iconic Komagatake.

Snow cover, at least from this vantage point far below the mountain, looked good.

We’d read on the internet that we weren’t allowed to park near the very end of the snow clearing on the trailhead access road. Sure enough, there was a small plowed parking area about 100m down from the gate. It was only 7:30am, but there was already a car parked there. Footprints went away from the car and up the road. We wouldn’t be the first hikers on the mountain today.

Mercifully, the air was very cold. This was a welcome change, as the previous few days had been warm. I was concerned that our hike up Komagatake might just be one great big slosh-fest. But things were looking good.

This was Haidee’s first ski tour after getting back from three weeks in New Zealand. 

As we climbed up the snowed-in road, the multiple relics of roads here and there were incongruous. Nature was clearly taking something back. We’d later find out that this was one of the locations of a large-scale holiday home development during the 1960’s and 70’s. Most of it never came to anything. If there’s anything left of it now, it’s derelict buildings, and a quiet old holiday home village with a few occupied cabins here and there.

Haidee was setting a cracking pace, and before long we’d made it to the summer trailhead. By this time, we’d taken a few breaks, each time being overtaken by a couple of other skiers and boarders. We’d then overtake them as they were taking breaks.

“This is my first time ever doing backcountry,” a solo woman climber said to us.

I complimented her on her choice of weather and objective. Such a relaxing climb on skis!

Here and there, the craggy outcrop of the summit proper would show itself above the now thinning trees.

Just as Haidee was starting to make noises along the lines of ‘are we there yet?’ we emerged on top of the Uma-no-se ridge. A stiff cold wind was blowing across the plateau. We wandered a bit further towards the summit proper across the plateau (in defiance of the sign) before making a retreat back to the ridge.

We weren’t nearly equipped enough for any sort of summit attempt, so we decided to call it a day and try to enjoy the descent before things warmed up too much.

The descent was…variable.

Skiing the wide summer trail was nice in the sense that there weren’t any trees. But there was a season’s worth of tracks to contend with.

Skiing in the low trees either side of the summer trail was good here and there for some untracked turns on chalky spring snow. But the trees would always end up tight again.

And here and there, sharks were lurking.

But the views were good, and the skiing good enough to keep smiles on faces.

From the summer trailhead we were back onto the snowed-in summer access road. But even this was fast enough. Here and there we needed to skate a little, but the snow was still cold enough to keep things quick.

On the way back to Sapporo, we stopped and I took some snaps of Komagatake’s northern side. Probably best to assume most of this is only a thin white paint of snow.

Overall though, despite this peak not being anything like a Niseko Range 14m+ snowfall peak, I do feel the urge to visit Komagatake again in the winter. There’s something about it that makes it such a special place! Almost feels like Honshu. Sort of.

Comments | Queries | Reports

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

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Komagatake Akaikawa Route Difficulty Rating

Category

Grade

Points

Strenuousness

Vertical Gain

B

35

Time ascending

D

0

Technicality

Altitude

B

6

Hazards

D

0

Navigation

D

0

Totals

41/100

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.