Nissho Pass (Pekerebetsu-dake and Nissho Peak)

Route 274 tops out at 1,022 m where it crosses the Hidaka Range at Nissho Pass. Few paved roads in Hokkaido climb higher. Trucks grind over it day and night between Sapporo and Obihiro, and the plowed parking areas along the way let you step from the car onto three good peaks. It runs cold up here and the season lasts into May. Wind regularly strips the exposed slopes between storms.

Pekerebetsu-dake is the main event. You leave a ten-car pull-out about 7 km below the summit of the pass on the Tokachi side, follow a forestry road and the creek for an hour, then pick a ridge. The Centre Ridge goes straight at the 1,532 m summit and finishes very steep. On the North Ridge you gain the spur by a 300 m gully that faces due west before a steep last 100 m to the top. The big east face gives direct lines and excellent powder on the right day, and from the summit you can see across the Tokachi plain to the Daisetsuzan peaks in the northeast.

Nissho Peak is the quick option. From the lot at the west end of the Nissho Tunnel it takes about an hour and a half to climb its north ridge to 1,445 m, and the north side often holds powder when the summit is scoured. Soshubetsu-dake starts lower at the Chisaka parking area and climbs a forestry road and then forest to an open, gentle summit slope at 1,383 m. Tomamu's snowcats run up its far side, so keep off their track and away from guided groups.

No avalanche bulletin covers these peaks directly. Read the Japan Avalanche Network forecast for Daisetsu and Tokachi, which comes out three times a week, and file a climbing plan on Compass before you go.