Ski touring in Tateyama

The Tateyama plateau holds some of the deepest snow anywhere on the planet, and in April there is an extraordinary way to reach it. A bus climbs the Alpine Route up through the 'snow corridor' — a road ploughed between walls of snow that can stand twenty metres high, taller than a house on either side — and drops you at Murodō, around 2,450 metres, with a week of untracked spring touring above.

What you get is high-alpine ski touring with none of the usual approach: you sleep in a hut in the middle of a vast snowfield, mountains on every side, and skin straight out of the door each morning. The sheer scale of the snow up here has to be seen to be believed.

The Alpine Route opens around mid-April, when the corridor is at its deepest, and all the transport up is booked and weather-dependent. This is genuine alpine terrain — carry avalanche gear and the knowledge to read the spring snowpack.

The Tateyama plateau holds some of the deepest snow on the planet, and it is reached in an extraordinary way.

In April a bus climbs the Alpine Route through the 'snow corridor', a road ploughed between walls of snow up to twenty metres high — taller than a house on either side. It drops you at Murodō, around 2,450 metres, with a week of untracked spring touring above.

You get high-alpine skiing with none of the usual approach: sleep in a hut in the middle of a vast snowfield, mountains on every side, and skin straight out the door each morning. The sheer scale of the snow up here has to be seen to be believed.

Time your trip to the Alpine Route's opening, around mid-April, when the corridor is at its deepest; the season runs into May. All the transport up — cable car, bus and trolleybus — is booked and weather-dependent, so reserve ahead and keep some flexibility.

Stay in the Murodō huts to tour straight from the door. This is genuine alpine terrain: carry avalanche gear and the knowledge to read a spring snowpack, and come with solid off-piste experience. No guide is mandatory, but one adds a lot on unfamiliar, crevassed ground.

Bring layers for cold mornings at altitude.