本白根山 Snow Walk - Mt. Motoshirane

冬の白根山歩きは草津国際スキー場と隣接しているおかげで、山のエキスパートでなくても壮観な白銀のパノラマ風景を手軽に堪能できる貴重なコースだ。

まずは天狗山に行ってスノーシューをレンタルする。そこからシャトルバスでロープウェイ駅まで行き、ロープウェイに乗り継げは何事もなく標高2000mの山頂駅に至る。白根山は横手山方向の草津白根山と南に本白根山があり、どちらも2170m程度の山なので雪山登山と言っても獲得高度は200mにも満たないスノートレッキングということになる。

前回登った草津白根山は今回は立入禁止になっていて、代わりに本白根山はOKと言われた。風景はこちらの方が楽しめると思う。本白根山からは下方に万座も見えるし、静可山まで歩くルートもあるようで、調べればいろんな楽しみ方ができそうだ。

The ropeway

See a group of few people in the middle!

アクションカム動画はこちら。A short movie clip:
http://youtu.be/QtOdiC2fzQ8

Thanks to Kusatsu International Ski Resort, Mt. Shirane is a precious treasure to enjoy a snowy panoramic view in the winter for those who are not expert climber.

First thing you do is to go to Tenguyama in the bottom of the ski resort to rent a pair of snow shoes. Then you pick a free-of-charge shuttle bus to the ropeway station where you take a lift to hoist yourself effortlessly to the altitude of 2000m. Actually, there are two Mt. Shiranes here. One is Kusatsu-Shirane in the direction of Mt. Yokote, and the other is Moto-Shirane in the south. Both are about 2170m high, thus it will be gaining only less than 200m altitude when it comes to climbing. A least exacting snow trekking so to speak!

When I visited here a few years ago, we climbed Kusatsu-Shirane, but this time the entry was prohibited and instead Moto-Shirane was available. I tend to think the views are more gorgeous from Moto-Shirane, and there seem to be several routes to try from here for example down to Shizukayama, or Manza is visible fairly close. To go further, we will need to examine more details and risks to enjoy.