Unabetsu-dake

Unabetsu-dake stands by itself at the base of the Shiretoko Peninsula and tops out at 1,419 m. In February and March drift ice from Siberia packs the Sea of Okhotsk below it, and the whole descent looks out over a white sea. Shari-dake rises to the southwest and the Shiretoko peaks run off to the northeast. Japanese guidebooks single out that view of the sea ice, and local riders talk about the mountain as a backcountry pilgrimage.

There is no summer trail, so people climb it on snow. The usual line leaves a forestry-road junction about 13 km east of central Shari, crosses a field to a deer fence and follows an old logging road up the valley past a dam. About 750 m beyond the dam you climb onto Shuen Ridge (朱円尾根). It is broad and gentle and carries you most of the way to the summit ridge. Hokkaido Wilds counts 16 km and close to 1,300 m of climbing for the day.

The mountain takes a lot of wind and gets relatively little snow. Crust is common, and on the Hokkaido Wilds visit the party turned around 300 m short of the top in wind and cloud. Come down the way you went up when the snowpack is unsettled. No avalanche service covers this corner of Hokkaido, and bears start moving in late March, so carry spray on spring tours.