tokyo crags - p. 3 Ogawayama

Finally, it's Friday evening.  Bolt out of the office and bodyslam your way onto the subway.  Bust through the front door and rip that suit off.  Stuff a last few items into the pack.  Kiss the dog, pat the wife and duct tape the kids to the doorknob - it's Ogawayama weekend time! Four hours on the road from Tokyo (if the traffic's good - if it's not, don't even talk about it), Ogawayama is a wonderland of high quality, high friction granite.  Combine that with short approaches and cheap camping in a beautiful setting, and we're talking serious destination for us metropolitan drones.  There's a lodge, too, with beds and full-on Japanese baths, but so far we've always preferred to stink and sleep outside.  When you normally live in a concrete antheap - it's a treat.  Occasionally, we might indulge in one of the pay showers, but only when the capilene starts to melt. Above is a shot of a part of the Yane Iwa formation (Roof Rock - only one of many in the area), viewed from the parking lot, and below is a composite shot assembled by Sean that's too cool not to include.  Selection, the route shown in the North facing view below, runs up the center of Yane Iwa 2 - the central face in the photo above.  Errrr... is that clear?

And yes, it really is beautiful.  Crowded in peak season, but beautiful.  Below, the gang does caffeine and carbs prior to hitting the rock.  Left to right: Colin, Naomi, me, Rachel, Sean and Yuichi's back - for some, food is more important than stardom.  Photo courtesy of Jono.  Photos on this page come from Jono, Colin, Sean and me.  Mine are the bad ones.

As for the rock itself, Ogawayama offers cracks, face climbs and slabs.  Especially slabs.  The granite is cheesegrater rough and a long slab fall would not be pretty, but boy do your shoes stick. Bloody fingertips on the second or third day are not uncommon as those hard-earned callouses just wear away.... Below, Jono struts his stuff on Ogawayama Street (5.10a).

To the right, Naomi topropes the famous adjoining route, Ogawayama Story (5.9), giving a pretty nice look at the white granite runway of the route.  Jono is visible playing photographer on the left hand ledge.  A lower-off with a 50 meter rope would leave you sitting on his head (ugly thought!).  60 meters gets you to the base of the route.  Below, Jono's efforts pay off with a couple of cool shots of Yuichi, first clipping from a sharp, positive side pull, and then moving on.

Meanwhile, Sean gives in to his crack habit.  Damned if I can figure out what this line is called (it's on Otohto Iwa (Little Brother Rock) - mabe Joyful Jam 5.9?).  Anyway, it looked sweet and topped out in a cool spot.  I'll be back for it one of these days.

Saving our tips, five of us took an afternoon stroll, but Naomi, Colin and I couldn't restrain our impulses when we happened on Phoenix Rock.  Below, Colin does some corner business.

Naomi and Colin look pleased with themselves after the route.  Let's just disregard Colin's fashion impairment and apparent thoracic tumor, shall we?  Naomi, in any event, looks just fine.

The angle on this one is misleading - the route is nowhere near vertical.  (See the shots of Jono on Ogawayama Street, above, to get a more accurate idea.)  But still, pretty cool.

Here's a nice one of Jono and Sean.

But you want slabs, you say?  Well, we've got 'em for you.  Check out Jono on the second pitch of Selection (5.8).  (Actually, we usually run the first and second pitches together, but it's the second pitch in the almighty guidebook.)

....here he is later, trying to regain his composure...

While Sean appears to have had a somewhat different reaction....quick, where's the prozac?

Below is Sean, on the job on pitch 3 (pitch 4, according to the guidebook), and below right is a nice shot of the whole face, with Sean's approxmiate location marked to give you an idea.  (Yes, there are other routes that go right up the center of the face - right up that yellow streak.  The book says gear protected 11a - too hard for us so far.)

Back on the other side of the valley, I address a quick prayer to the gods of chalk and sticky rubber:  "Oh, please, pleeeassse......." The route is Ganpecki no Chichi (Father of the Rock), a three star 10b.

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Click below for the second page of the Ogawayama set.