Last Saturday I had the opportunity to climb Mt. Hiezan, a massive granite slab with numerous bolted multi pitch alpine routes. Though I've climbed (or attempted to do so) Hiezan twice in the past, I've always encountered difficulties. The first attempt went fine enough until summitting, at which point myself, Steve, and Kiara realized we couldn't hike down from there. With only two hours or less left of day light, we start to rappel, just barely making it off the mountain before absolute darkness set in. The second "expedition" didn't even make it to the top. While proud of myself for climbing a ballsy on-site lead, I was disappointed to find that I had veered far right of our intended route. With no choice (aside from bailing) other than to continue, Kiara led the next pitch. That too was ballsy, so at the second anchor we made the smart decision to get the hell out of there.Flash forward 14 or so months, more experience (albeit sport climbing), and Mr. Isobe, our Japanese lead climber who knows the mountain backwards and forwards, having climbed there almost every weekend for the past five years. There was also Andrew in tow, a beginner who was being introduced to climbing on a 500 foot granite slab. Birth by fire so to speak. We were ready.
Our first climb started at 11am. Isobe-san led all the routes, flying up them at break neck speed as I belayed him. Andrew climbed second, thereby not having to belay at all. This route soon had a very deja vu feel to it, a theme that would last the entire day. I soon realized why. My present course, 3KN Slab, was the intended route for my second Hiezan trip, the route that I sub-consiously chose to ignore for a much more challenging difficult and dangerous route. I was kicking myself once I figured this out. 3KN is a sweet climb for any beginner, and with Isobe-san leading the way, I had an opportunity to really size up the route. Diagnosis: Kiara and I could have easily tackled this one. Live and learn.
After 6 pitches we were at the top, taking in the breathtaking view. Hiezan is in the Shishigawa Valley, one of the more rugged areas of Kyushu, with steep granite faces, crystal clear rivers, and mountains maxing out at 1600 meters. Until about 65 years ago, this area had a substantial logging industry, as is obvious by the abundance of cedar plantations throughout the valley. Oh how times change. The cu
rrent population is about 70, with the vast majority of residents in the twilight years. While it's sad to see the community dwindle (they closed the elementary school last March after graduating their last seven students), I enjoy seeing the area return to nature. It probably hasn't known this much solitude since the start of the Meiji period.After a brief lunch break at the top, we started hiking over the ridgeline to the trail down, definately a sketchy experience and scarier than the climb up. 45 minutes later, we were at a small shrine, filling up our water bottles from a mountain spring. That done, we headed to Slab #1, for our second and final ascent of Hiezan.
This route also felt familiar. After a brief searh of the archives, I discovered that this was the very first route I had ever attempted at Hie, the one we had to rappel down for want of a trail. I was a little nervous about this by the second pitch, but Isobe-san assured me that there was indeed a trail from the summit. Seven pitches, no falls, some aid climbing over one area, and there we were again, sitting on the top. None too soon either, as it started to rain on our last pitch. We were dead tired after a day of 13 pitches under a hot sun. Again, a brief snack, collecting the gear.... we were ready to go. Where was the elusive trail? Sure enough, it was there and obvious at that. Our mistake a year or so back was not looking over the rocks towards are right, a mistake that forced us to rap in almost darkness. Well, all's well that ends well.
