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Date: Sun 7th Feb 2010
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Attended: Paul W, Kevin, Arita-san, Miyazaki-san (Small but tough!), Aditya
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Start: Odawara Station
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Finish: Lake Ashinoko, CP3
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GPS track: (to be uploaded)
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Route: Odawara Station - Shiroyama Track and Field (Trailwalker Start) – CP1 – CP2 – CP3
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Distance: 24km
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Max elevation: 870m
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Total ascent: approx 1300 m
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Time taken: 7.5 hours
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Weather: Beautiful alpine conditions from start to finish - Sunny, cool and clear.
New gear reviews
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Paul W: Mont Bell trekking poles – Paid JPY11,600 for these at the weekend – you can pay more if you get Leki or black diamond, but i was impressed with the quality and rigidity of these on the trail. You can get lighter ones if you pay more. having never hiked with poles, I became an instant convert this weekend – great for keeping balance on slippery snow, increasing speed, confidence and sure-footedness on the downhill sections, pole-vaulting across streams and keeping tight-rope style balance on logs.
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Arita-san: Tights – First outng for the 150 USD super-tights! he claims they helped him, but that could just be embarassment at having spent 150US on a pair of tights. He at least maintained his dignity by wearing trousers over the top.
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Aditya: Merril hiking shoes – Aditya proved yet again that Merril make the best hiking footwear available on the street by not crippling himself after walking 20km in a brand new pair of Merrils he had not broken in properly.
Photos
Kevin goes for a bit of stamina training halfway up the first climb.
The long haul up-hill - we started to hit the snowline at about 600m
Beautiful alpine conditions at around 800m, although the novelty of walking on packed snow wore off after about 20 seconds
High-point for the day : 870m and a quick break in the snow
After dropping off Kevin and Aditya at CP2, the remaining three of us made it to the finish at CP3 just before sunset and were treated to a magnificent Fuji view, and an express bus to Hakone-Yumoto for an onsen.
Great report and pictures. I’m finding it hard to believe that is the same course as we did two years ago. Looks very different under the snow. Will attempt the same this Thursday, weather looks … interesting.
be careful – dont be scared to turn back if you approach white-out!
don’t be jealous of my super tights please. you can buy the same one if you want to. i’ll walk by my legs rather than leaning on poles!