It was late December. Too early to really enjoy the sorts of snow that Mt. Mokoto offers later in the season. We were in eastern Hokkaido though, so we decided to head up in the hopes of getting a good view of Lake Kussharo. The promise of a cosy night in the new hut also appealed.

It quickly became clear that we wouldn’t be able to summit on the first day. All of Hokkaido was being buffeted by strong winds caused by a large, slow-moving low-pressure system. So instead of going up the summit ridge, we opted for the more sheltered valley, starting at the campground. We ascended up the valley and cut north towards the hut across the head of the valley, over the northeastern ridge at around 900m (as per the route map below).

In good weather, it would be better to climb up from the pass, along the eastern ridge (as indicated in the route map above). This summit ridge provides epic views all the way to the top of Mt. Mokoto.