Winter Adventure in Akan,
Hidden Lakes and Volcanoes

You will meet a guide at Kushiro Airport, the regional airport that connects to Tokyo Haneda Airport or other airports with considerable number of daily flights. An hour drive with a private van will take you to Lake Akan, one of the principal Onsen Resorts in Akan Mashu National Park. In the afternoon, you will be guided to one of Ainu cultural facilities such as Lake Akan Ainu Kotan, Ainu Tradition Creation Center and Ainu Life Memorial Hall, it takes about two hours.

After breakfast, we drive to southern foot of Mt. O-Akan and start climbing from the point at 450m in elevation. Using skinned-skis we steady gain the elevation on the ridge with mixed conifer and broadleaf forests. You may hear the screaming of Kumagera (Black Woodpecker), or you may witness them as well.

When the ridge is getting steeper, we are already above the tree line at altitude 1,100m, and Lake Akan is vesting under your feet. Around the summit crater, you may need to put crampons if it’s very icy surface. From the summit at 1,370m in elevation, you will look down hidden twin lakes which you will be tracing the following day. Mt. Me- Akan raising the eruption lively will be seen on the opposite side.

How skiing down is nice or not depends on the snow condition but you have 900m slopes left for descending, so let’s enjoy tree-run as much as possible!

After breakfast, we take a half hour drive to get to Sogakudai (Twin Peaks Lookout) situated at an elevation of 750 meters. Our adventure today starts from there, at first, we ski down through the virgin forest to the eastern shore of Lake Penke-Toh, ‘upper lake’ in Ainu, at an altitude of 500 meters. This is already a very special place which can hardly access other than snowy season. Sticking climbing skins on your ski soles, then wandering as looking up at Mt. O-Akan which rises with an overwhelming presence, you will pass through natural forest of Yezo spruce and Todo fir, pass through on the frozen lake, then reach the northern end of Penke-T0h, where a narrow creek called Ibeshibetsu (‘Sufficient Foods River’) outlets. Then, we continue to hike down to the South End of another hidden lake Panke-Toh (‘Lower Lake’ in Ainu), at altitude of 450 meters, which is over nine times larger than upper lake.

Crossing vast white snow fields we will hike around in the middle of genuine nature. There almost soundless, also, it’s often extreme cold, will surely be your unforgettable experience. The air temperature may sometimes drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius or lower. You will recognize why this site has been worshipped as the one of sacred

After breakfast, we take a half hour drive to Nonaka Onsen where the trail head for climbing another holy mountain Mt. Me-Akan (1,499m), located at elevation of 700 meters. Sticking the climbing skins on your ski soles, then start climbing in the forest, then we reach to tree line at around 950 meters in elevation. The vast slope of the active volcano awaits your challenge for climbing and skiing. If condition permits,

you could have an additional chance to try the noticeable peak called Akan-Fuji (1,475m) which stands like an apostle next to Mt. Me-Akan.

After breakfast, an hour drive with private van will take you to Kushiro Airport.