谷川岳東尾根右俣

2020年06月26日(金) [日帰り]

• GPS: 16:29
• 距離: 13.4km
• 登り: 1,727m
• 下り: 1,721m

コースタイム

日帰り

• 山行: 12:28
• 休憩: 4:01
• 合計: 16:29

距離 13.4km 登り 1,727m 下り 1,739m

5:26 白毛門登山口駐車場
5:42 5:47 谷川岳山岳資料館
5:48 5:52 西黒尾根登山口
5:52 谷川岳山岳資料館
6:10 6:11 巌剛新道登山口
10:00 12:39 シンセンのコル
17:00 17:58 谷川岳
18:10 谷川岳
18:15 谷川岳・肩の小屋
18:27 天神ザンゲ岩
18:53 18:58 天狗の留まり場
19:24 19:25 熊穴沢避難小屋
19:49 19:50 天神平・天神峠分岐点
19:57 20:00 天神尾根・田尻尾根分岐点
20:38 20:42 天神平
21:28 田尻尾根登山口
21:53 新道入口１
21:55 ゴール地点

天候

好天気

アクセス

利用交通機関：

自家用車

写真

6/27 8:19

大滝の手前

6/27 9:26

二俣

6/27 11:08

シンセンコルの直下

6/27 11:16

シンセンコルに出るまでも大変

6/27 12:06

草付の斜面にピッケルが結構役に立つ

6/27 12:07

第二岩峰

6/27 12:42

第二岩峰のトップにある微妙な支点

6/27 12:49

第二岩峰から天神平が見えます

6/27 16:08

第一岩峰の上にも信用出来る支点が無い

6/27 16:16

第一岩峰を登攀

6/27 17:16

最終の支点

6/27 17:22

最後の壁

6/27 17:53

頂上！

撮影機器：

SAMSUNG-SM-G891A samsung

装備

個人装備

アイゼン ピッケル 飲料 ヘッドランプ 保険証 携帯 時計 ハーネス ヘルメット ロックカラビナ カラビナ クイックドロー

共同装備

行動食 GPS ファーストエイドキット ナイフ ロープ スリング ストッパー カム

感想

zer0

事件2週間前メールで登山届を送ってメモ一つもない許可が届きました。そしてガイドブックの説明書は「優しいバリエーション入門ルート」と。ネットで数個の報告を読んで出発。結局ガイドブークの4-6時間の代わり、オキの耳まで12時間かかりました。

5:25　駐車場から出発。26日の土曜日は雨の金と日の間に本当に好天気でした。

7:10　第一見晴台。急な滑りやすい斜面を雪渓まで下ります。とりあえずアイゼン無しだけど、アンゲリーナはバイルを使いました。

7:30　大滝。8時までブランチの休憩。こちらはもう以前からのピトンが残っています。とりあえず使用せず。

9:30　二俣。今回初めてなので、優しい方の右俣です。尾根に出る地点のシンセンのコルは良く見えるけど、この間の斜面が急で草付しか何も無い様です。アイゼンが無いと絶対無理と思います。バイルも結構役に立ちました。真中ぐらいで昔い支点を見つけて、アンゲリーナをビレイ出来ました。

11:00　シンセンのコルの少し上で休憩。

12:30　第二岩峰。ガイドブックの通り左の凹角で越えました。手がかりが良くて、プロテクションは残置ピトンとカムの使える場所がありました。上から西黒尾根の向こうの天神平が見えました。

プロテクションと言えば、このルートはピトンを持っていないとなかなか信用できるプロテクションがありません。僕らは今回ナッツとカムしか無くて困りました。

15:20　観倉台とナイフリッジ。

15:35　第一岩峰。カムを使って支点を作って正面の凹角を登ったが上部までプロテクションがなかったです。トップでも狭い棚で良いビレイはなかなか出来ない様でした。右手であった木を使用しました。

16:10　二人共第一岩峰の上に。山麓キャンプ場の受付は17時までと考えたら面白かった。ロープウェイの営業も17時まででした。しかしもうオキの耳が見えたので少し盛り上がれました。

17:00　山頂の壁の真下。またピトンしかプロテクションが出来なくてこちらは残置ピトンでもありませんでした。正面を半分ぐらいを登って一つのカムを入れられる場所がありました。その次は頂上！

17:30 二人共頂上に。まずキャンプ場に謝り電話。

今度は左俣。ピトンをゲットしなければ行けませんけど。

---- 英語版 ----

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥 ℝ𝕚𝕕𝕘𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕋𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕒𝕨𝕒-𝕕𝕒𝕜𝕖

Finally, after a long while of itching for it, we have gone for our first proper alpine climb in Japan. I guess formally it’s the second one after the North ridge of Amida-dake last December, but much more interesting.

Tanigawa is a really beautiful and easily accessible mountain that has, including a few hiking ones, an impressive number of ascent routes, among which there’s an “easy” one (although with two variations) — of the first category in the local alpine route difficulty grading system.

I applied for the permit 2 weeks in advance as required by the local regulations and we amazingly lucked out with the weather. Although it was partly cloudy, the whole day was dry, between rainy Friday and Sunday. I had also finally completed my sets of cams and chokes for protection.

I really should have read more detailed ascent reports, because the one I had read left me underestimating the actual difficulty of the route. Literally the first report I read after we came back was much closer to our experience in both time and impressions.

The guide book description, being technically correct, is very short and deals only with navigation, noting nothing about protection. I had cams and chokes, but 90% of actual protection I ended up using on the route were in situ pitons of very questionable reliability. The guide also says the route takes 4-6h. It took us 12 to reach the top of the mountain.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵

5:25 We left the parking lot. It was a beautiful morning, my backpack was feeling heavier than I’m used to. There were other people heading up the mountain as well, but nobody went with us past the turn up the Nishiguro ridge, and we spent the rest of the day with no people around. The jungle trail following Machigasawa is surrounded by thick greenery that prevents air flow and traps humidity, but at that time I was just anticipating that sweating wouldn’t be the biggest manifestation of discomfort that day.

7:10 We reached 第一見晴台, where the hiking trail continues up the Nishiguro ridge, and our route splits right and down descending quite steeply onto the glacier snow that still covers Machigasawa. Looking back, this would have been a good place to put on crampons, possibly with harnesses and some hardware. The trail was wet and slippery, and Angelina made a good use of the ice axe for security on the slope. Other than that, we proceeded unprotected, which was still really OK, the snow was soft enough.

7:30 Walking on snow, we got to the big rock at the right side of a waterfall, crossed the bergschrund and took a brunch break until about 8. The rock itself was the first climbing obstacle and had a few in situ pitons. The path then continues up along the creek until its merger point with a smaller Shinsenzawa. We turned along to the right and proceeded on its dry riverbed.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲

9:30 The fork point in front of a wet wall at which the route splits into two variations. Our chosen variation turns right up a rather steep mixed slope of rock and grass towards the Shinsen col on Tanigawa’s East ridge. This is where we should have put on all our gear, but I was under an impression we wouldn’t need it until up on the ridge. It right away became obvious though that some misconception was going on: the slope was way too steep, slippery and, being covered in tall grass, also devoid of any visible solid protection — to be considered safe. Angelina again made a smart move to pull out the ice axe, while I continued bare-handedly learning which kinds of grass grew strong in the soil and which didn’t.

Navigation was really not an issue at this point: the Shinsen col was clearly visible. The slope though was getting scarier. At some point we managed to put on crampons, which certainly added security. A bit later I found an old anchor point and rigged a belay for Angelina.

11:00 With a bit of struggle we made it to the col and took a short lunch break. The ridge path was also covered in grass and low shrubs, although it wasn’t wet or slippery anymore. Every once in a while we’d pull out the rope for a quick belay in questionable locations, but overall continued untied.

12:30 The “2nd rock barrier”. The route description clearly said it was easily climbable up its corner and also avoidable by traversing on its right (as seems to be the case with pretty much all obstacles on the route). In situ pitons provided anchor points for a belay as well as for running protection, and I think I may have found a place for one or two cams. Overall it was easy climbing for ~15 meters with really good holds and another rusty anchor at the top, from where you could start to see Tenjindaira over the Nishiguro ridge.

The ridge then continues alternating a narrow path with grassy slopes and rock formations. For the most part walkable or easily climbable, but with amazing exposure at every point. I realized what we were doing was pretty much “weed climbing”, and after a couple of times taking the rope out and putting it back we decided we’d just tie in and go on simultaneously using whatever protection possible.

Speaking again about protection, it was around that point when it became clear that however pretty my new cams and nuts were on the harness, they were for the most part quite useless, unlike how pitons would’ve been. And I had none. Next time I go I will still take the cams, but I will want to have a good set of pitons for sure.

15:20 We weed-climbed to the top of 観倉台, a hill from which in a better weather we would’ve had a nice view of Ichinokura-dake, but we were just lucky not to be covered in clouds. Tanigawa’s Tomanomimi (the lower peak) was visible, as were people traversing to the main Okinomimi, which itself was still hidden behind the “1st rock barrier”.

The route then presents its narrowest section, quite literally a knife edge slanted to the left with its flat wide rocky surface. I grabbed the edge and walked on the left using the boot sole friction, and Angelina, who ended up wearing crampons until the very top, said there also was a small shelf on the right that she used to kind of walk on both sides of the edge.

15:35 I knew the “1st rock barrier” was avoidable by traversing to the right but couldn’t help wanting to try and climb it face-on. Instead of an anchor, there was one rusty piton, but also a decent crack for camming, so we made ourselves safe, and I climbed on. It started with a couple overhanging rocks forming a corner and a wet shelf above. I didn’t find any place for a runner but the shelf presented a decent hand hold to pull up. The upper section of the barrier is a steep grassy slope. I’m pretty sure there was one usable crack for a cam too. Nothing secure at the top narrow shelf, so I used the trees further to the right of it for belaying Angelina.

16:10 or so, we cleaned up the shelf and went on. It was funny to think that the check-in deadline in the campsite at the foot of the mountain was 17:00, which coincidentally also was the closing time of the ropeway at Tenjindaira. We could now see the top though, and I’m pretty sure I saw figures of people watching us from above.

The two sections left were a weed-climbable grassy slope and a layered rocky wall to the top which looked OK. The slope was slippery and had crumbling rocks, so against my will I had to look for directions with more grass. By that time I’d already lost all hope for decent protection, and the slope provided none whatsoever.

17:00 We gathered together at the bottom of the last rock formation. It was again full of thin cracks where pitons would’ve been a really safe option, but this time there weren’t even any left in situ. I think I climbed the first part and found a rare place suitable for a cam. That cam kept me thinking about its function, because there was no belay point at the bottom, but of course in case of a fall it would’ve been better to stay hanging on the mountain than…not. When I topped out right behind the peak, the last person had already left, and the top was left to the two of us.

17:30 We could both exhale at the top and start calling the campsite with apologies.

Of course we gave up on my original plan to descend via the Nishiguro ridge: it is beautiful and fun, but quite technical and therefore unsuitable for how exhausted we were, carrying all the gear, and the sun setting soon. The campsite host told me she’d stay and wait as long as needed (!)

20:15 Almost completely worn-out and moving on Angelina’s anecdotes about frogs and penguins, we got out to Tenjindaira and made ourselves cup noodles with hot water Angelina had been carrying in her thermos the whole way. Originally we planned to have the noodles at the top of Tanigawa, but conscious of onsetting darkness we decided to try to make it to safer ground first. That break was great!

21:53 Back at the parking lot. Quickly drove up to the mountain guidance center to file in the descent report and headed to the campsite.

Next time I’d like to try the left variation of this same route, which apparently involves a crack climb of ~40m before getting out on the ridge behind the 2nd rock barrier, thus avoiding it together with the slippery slope that we had to pretend enjoying this time.