There and back again

Adventures of Norbert

Skiing Genampoh (銀杏峰) and 志目木谷 in Fukui prefecture.

The first ski tour in the new year, we were blessed by wonderful weather. In the beginning it looked a bit bleak, rain falling, warm temperatures, not enough snow. So the five of us were wondering how it will turn out. After parking the car near the entrance of the route, we quickly finished the preparations and left at around 7:15.

The route immediately climbs some steep terrain, so without much warm up the kick turns had to start. Climbing a bit higher up the clouds more and more gave way to blue sky and the sun bathed the winter landscape with glittering light, what a spectacle.

We climbed the ridge up all the way to the Maeyama (前山) from which it is only a short traverse to the top of Genampoh. In the upper parts we had stunning views onto the flats of Fukui and the surrounding mountains.

We reached the top around 11am, greeted by strong wind, so we slided down the ridge a bit and held lunch break, before dipping down into the eastern valley (志目木谷), which provided in the upper parts very nice snow, although a bit on the heavy side. The lower parts, due to the low amount of snow, we had to be careful not to be trapped in one of the ravines, so we traversed on the leftern most face until we had the uppermost barrier (エンテ), from which it is more or less forest-road sliding down.

After arriving back at the road a short walk brought us back to the cars.