Mio eats the incredibly good porridge that we cooked for breakfast whilst I take down the tent. This was the first chance Mio and I had to go on an overnight trip in our new home, that made it a significant trip into the mountains for both of us.

On day one of the trip we were headed for Norikura Dake (2450m) since Mio had not yet had a chance to tour all the way to the summit, an important first step into the wide alpine touring arena behind Tsugaike.  On the way up we saw a snowboarder trigger an avalanche (details here).  And so decided to forget that area and focus on something more stable.

That day there was a rare inversion, or at least a low cloud deck.  It was fun touring up out of the clouds, but our lower altitude safer route of north facing powder took us directly back into the gloom, which made riding quiet difficult.  After our descent we skinned back up the same line and back into sunshine.

Tengubara was empty by the time we returned, it was peaceful.  We rode down the typical bowl towards Tsugaike and then put our skins back on and went to our tent cache buried in the snow.  The evening was very calm and clear with excellent stars.

Mio stomps out a tent site with our home-line in the background.

On the second day we set out for the Korenge ridge (2600m) and came very close to making the objective, but had to stop our ascent since neither of us had ski or boot crampons.

Setting out from the tent site.

Mio half way up, pushing on.

The Korenge ridge gives access to a  huge face of snow and good quality gullies and couloirs.  We rode from just below teh highest point on the right, over the undulating terrain with multiple steep dips and down to the lake near the patch of pine trees at the botom of the shot.

The lake and plains at the bottom of the Korenge face, and above the Sarakura area, is probably one of the most beautiful, quiet and empty areas in the Hakuba region.  It is a such a pretty place.  So we enjoyed lunch and the view. There is no chairlift in the world tha can give the freedom of the backcountry.