Posted on Jan 8, 2017
164 0
NE
Posted on Jan 8, 2017
164 0
NE
18km

Distance

7.5 hours

Time

920m

Ascent

1251m

Highest point

8/10
Difficulty
Snow Icon | Hokkaido Wilds
Jan-Apr

Best season

The approach to Mt. Soranuma-dake (空沼岳 – 1,251m) is a convoluted mess of topography which doesn’t lend well for great downhill skiing. Don’t let that put you off though. The old forester’s outpost Bankei Hut (万計山荘) is worth the effort, and the national park landscape is magical. We did the overnight trip to the hut and peak in early January, making the most of a short two-day window of great weather.

Last updated Apr 2, 2021

Route Map

Need to know details

Location

Mt. Soranuma is at the southwestern end of Sapporo’s outskirts, and is usually accessed from the Tokiwa area of southwestern Sapporo. The trailhead is around here in winter.

General notes

Mt. Soranuma in summer is somewhat of a mainstay for Sapporo City dwellers who love the outdoors. Part of the appeal is the amazing Bankei Sanso Hut, part way up the trail, right next to the Bankei Tarn. In winter, the route is beautiful, but the topography is somewhat varied, and does not lend itself greatly to downhill skiing. For that reason, it is worth approaching this route as an overnight relaxation trip, enjoying the area for its natural beauty.

Hut
Bankei Sanso Hut (full details here)

The Bankei Sanso Hut was built in 1965 as a forest workers’ hut, and is currently managed and maintained by the Bankei-sanso Hut Volunteer Society. The spacious two-story hut sleeps approximately 100 people. It is located about 3 hours up the Mt. Soranuma summer trail.

Route details

There are sporadic signs and tape tied to trees. The route is also quite well-defined in places. However, the route overall is not particularly well marked. Best to assume you’ll be navigating on your own.

Route Timing
Up | 5hrs
Down | 2.5hrs

This is a very long trip overall, so if doing this as a daytrip, it will require a very early start – i.e., before dawn. Considering how beautiful the hut is, it would be a crying shame not to split the trip up into a two-day overnighter.

Transport

Public transport:

Take the Hokkaido Chuo Bus No. 101 from Makomanai subway station (Bus stop No. 7) to Soranuma Futamata (空沼二股) bus stop (here) – the end of the line on the Soranuma-line (空沼線), around 22 minutes on the bus. From the bus stop it is a 2km walk/skin to the trailhead. As of Jan 2017, the earliest bus from Makomanai Station was at 7:18am on weekdays and 7:15am on weekends and holidays, then about once an hour. Last bus from Makomanai station was 8:33pm on weekdays, 7pm on weekends. Return buses from Soranuma-futama were 6:54am till 9pm on weekdays and 6:58am till 7:40pm on weekends, with around 8 buses in between. See this PDF for the timetable.

By car:

The carpark at the entrance of the quarry is here: https://goo.gl/maps/LBCg9uBqDaL2. Depending on snow conditions, it may also be possible to park closer to the trailhead here: https://goo.gl/maps/zKtGK94w1M72.

Physical maps
Official Topo Map: Soranumadake (空沼岳) – map no. NK-54-14-11-4

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 Northeast. 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 Shiribeshi area, consider looking at the Japan Avalanche Network avalanche bulletins (updated Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays at 8am) or the daily Niseko Avalanche Information website. These may give extra insight into avalanche conditions in the greater area around the route.

Snow and
route safety

Note the known avalanche risk slopes to the direct south of the route just after the snow bridge crossing at around 815m. Also on the northeastern lee slope below Mt. Soranuma’s summit – large cornices form on this side of the summit ridge, and the slope is known for avalanches in high risk conditions. Best to play it safe and access the summit ridge via the saddle as per the GPX route here, and err towards staying in the trees on the southwest aspect.

  • Notify the police of your backcountry plans online using Compass – instructions here.

Soranuma-dake Overnight Ski Touring Difficulty Rating

Category

Grade

Points

Strenuousness

Vertical Gain

A

40

Time ascending

B

6

Technicality

Altitude

B

6

Hazards

C

6

Navigation

A

20

Totals

78/100

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 Soranuma-dake
Onsen nearby

The closest natural onsen would be Kogane-yu Onsen (here), about 30 mins by car from the quarry/trailhead.

Extra Resources

See the write-up (in Japanese) on p. 154 of the Yuki-yama Guide (ISBN: 978-4894538047). Also see a previous trip, guided by Leon Roode, in Spring 2012 on snowshoes (photo album here).

Guide Options

If you’d like to ski this route and/or explore other hills around Sapporo together with a local certified guide, get in touch with either Wataru Nara or Yasuko Kikuchi. They’re both Hokkaido born-and-bred Sapporo-based JMGA-certified guides. They both cut their teeth on peaks including those around Sapporo City and have taken part in major international expeditions. In addition, 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

Reminiscent of last year’s Mt. Okuteine overnight trip with the boys from France (here), we had some new acquaintances join us for this overnight trip to Mt. Soranuma-dake. Ziggy and Joel from Australia had finished a Germany to Australia bike ride a few years ago, and contacted me via Warmshowers.org to see if we would host them and their girlfriends (Tash and Rachel) for a night. They were going to be in Hokkaido for a couple of weeks, trying to do as much backcountry skiing as possible. I said sure why not, and also proposed that they come with us on the overnighter, since it was scheduled for when they’d be here. After some last-minute re-scheduling of accommodation, they managed to come with us.

From a 35 degree C Australian summer to a below-freezing Hokkaido winter, it must have been a shock to the system.

The trail up to Bankei Hut in winter follows the summer trail marked on maps. Starting from a large quarry at the foot of the valley, the route meanders along a flat approach before crossing the river and heading up steeply beside the Bankei Stream.

The route is not particularly well marked beyond a few signposts, but for the most part it follows deep troughs – only after particularly heavy snowfall would you lose grasp of where the trail heads. The sign in front of one massive Hokkaido pine reads:

  • Height: 25m
  • Diameter: 90cm
  • Volume: 6.67m³
  • Estimated age: 250 years
  • From this one tree…
    • How many sheets of newspaper?
    • How many 55m rolls of toilet paper?
    • How many boxes of tissue paper? (with 200 tissues in each)
  • Answers on the back of the sign!

The only technical bit for us at this time of the year was the bridge crossing at around 810m. Later in the season, and this would have been a wide, well formed snow-bridge. For us, it was a hairy balance across the foot-wide bridge, most of us opting to carry skis over.

While we had started out just the four of us, Rick and Jeff caught us up on snowshoes, and headed past us to the hut. By the time we arrived, they had sussed out the fireplace, and were making arrangements for a fire to be started. As mentioned in the Bankei Hut Essential Information above, the hut runs on a donation and cooperation system, whereby people drop a donation into a box inside the hut. Copious amounts of firewood is supplied inside the hut, and should be topped up upon leaving from the stores under the hut. The massive fireplace, once going, pumps out a lot of heat. On the second floor of the hut is one large sleeping area.

On our menu for the night was one of my specialties for an overnighter with a group – Japanese hotpot nabe. I got the idea from the legendary Leon “Hokkaido Bush Pig” Roode, who was and will always be the master of the hut nabe. Essentially it is a large soup with a mass of veges, tofu, and thinly sliced pork. The sesame and citrus (ponzu) dipping sauces are essential.

Surprisingly, we were the only ones in the hut that night. Both Rick and I were expecting half of Sapporo to be up at the hut, considering the amazing weather forecast and the fact that this was a long weekend. Ziggy and Joel took advantage of the space and opted to sleep downstairs next to the stove.

The next morning, we were up early at 4:45am. The plan was to see a sunrise of some sort on the way up to the summit of Mt. Soranuma-dake. The early start would prove to be a blessing in disguise as the way up to the summit was slow going – we were breaking trail in soft snow the entire way. While I had a GPS track on my smartphone, Rick guided us on the due south bearing from the hut to towards the summit. The winter route to the summit does not usually go via Misu-numa Lake, and rather goes more direct.

As the sun rose, it became clear we would not be getting the sunrise we had hoped for. A thin, eerie mist surrounded us as we climbed.

It also became more and more apparent that we would not be spending a whole lot of time ripping downhill on the way down. The topography between the hut and the summit is convoluted. Ups and downs which make it tempting to leave skins on for the downhill. I was feeling increasingly sorry for the boys from Australia – so much for their hoped of endless days of deep downhill powder in Hokkaido. They seemed happy enough though!

Approaching the summit, we were thrust into an icy wonderland. Everything was cased in frost. Unfortunately the weather did not clear enough for a big view, but we were all happy to be at the top.

Of course, as Murphy’s Law would dictate, as soon as we started descending off the summit, the weather started to clear in a dramatic fashion. By the time we had returned to the hut, it was a perfect sunny day. Perfect for a long brunch in the sun, cleaning the hut, and re-supplying the interior firewood stack.

The way down from the hut generally mirrors that of the way up. Be prepared for either racing down the skin track, or weaving your way between trees. It was a trial by fire for Haidee for her first time skiing down a narrow track – it is a skill all unto itself!

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Soranuma-dake Overnight Ski Touring Difficulty Rating

Category

Grade

Points

Strenuousness

Vertical Gain

A

40

Time ascending

B

6

Technicality

Altitude

B

6

Hazards

C

6

Navigation

A

20

Totals

78/100

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.