Ski touring in Hakkoda Mountains

The Hakkōda mountains in Aomori catch some of the heaviest snowfall anywhere on earth, and one strange consequence is the juhyō — the 'snow monsters', fir trees so encased in wind-driven rime that they stand across the slopes like a silent crowd of white figures in the fog. You tour between them, and in cloud the effect is genuinely eerie.

A guide here is not a luxury but standard practice, because the terrain turns featureless in a whiteout and navigation becomes the real hazard. This is the range where an army unit of nearly two hundred men died in a blizzard in 1902, and the mountain has not softened since. The reward for the seriousness is deep, cold powder and, at the end of the day, the famously sulphurous baths of Sukayu Onsen.

Go in the depth of winter, January to March. Carry avalanche gear, keep a guide close, and let the whiteout — not your legs — decide how far the day goes.

Some of the heaviest snowfall on earth, and one strange consequence: the juhyō, or 'snow monsters' — fir trees so encased in wind-driven rime that they stand across the slopes like a silent crowd of white figures in the fog.

You tour between them in deep, cold powder, and in cloud the effect is genuinely eerie. The real hazard is not the pitch but the visibility: the terrain turns featureless in a whiteout and navigation becomes the whole challenge.

This is the range where nearly two hundred soldiers died in a blizzard in 1902, and it has not softened since. Days end in the famously sulphurous baths of Sukayu Onsen.

Go in the depth of winter, January to March, and hire a guide — here that is standard practice, not a luxury, because a whiteout can erase every reference point and make navigation the real danger. A ropeway gives access to the touring terrain.

Carry a full avalanche kit — transceiver, shovel, probe — and know how to use it. Base near Sukayu Onsen or in Aomori. Come with solid off-piste and touring experience; this is advanced-to-expert ground.

Let the weather, not your legs, decide how far each day goes, and build spare days in, since storms can shut the mountain entirely.