Sunday the 2nd of June saw the Niseko Walking groups 2nd adventure and the early summer hokkaido weather did not disappoint supplying us with ample bluebird weather and maybe even a touch too much sun.

The walk took about 2 hours and linked 2 trails Kompirayama Walking Trail and the Nishiyama Crater Walking Trail that can be attempted individually if you have small children and think it may be little to much for them to do both.

It’s hard to put into the words the experience of walking the volcanic craters and ruins created by the eruption of Mount Usa.

The Eruption of Mount Usu

The 2000 eruption of Usu volcano was the first in 22 years and followed several days of rumblings which thankfully gave the community ample time to evacuate.

A first new vent opened in the West-Nishiyama area on 31 March 2000, followed by activity in the Kompira area on 1 April. Eruptive activity lasted for more than a year and gradually declined until September 2001.

A large area of Usu volcano deformed during the eruption by uplift of up to 60 m vertical displacement and involving a volume of ca. 40 million m3. That figure makes sense when you walk past the ruins of housing block. My first thought was ” Well it doesn’t look too bad ” until you realise what you are looking at the 2nd story. The first story being all but completely buried by mud. The town takes this threat very seriously with a wall that’s built to funnel any future flows away from populated areas.

First Niseko walk of the season a great success

The niseko Walkers tackled the snow covered peak of Iwaonupuri on the 4th of April 2019. It was our first walk for the season and also our first event as a walking group.

We meet at the carpark and after a brief meet and great began the slow careful climb. The Snowcover was a lot more than anticipated with a only a few steps briefly revealing their hiding place from the long winter before ducking under the snow back again.

Get fit and meet new people in Niseko

When I first to moved to Niseko last summer I was very eager to explore some of the amazing hiking peaks and even valleys that surround Niseko in all directions.

It was very surprising that no formal walking group had yet been set up in Niseko. In light of this I thought until somebody more qualified comes along ( and the bar is low ! ) I would give it a crack and get something going.

Sure it’s not pretty or well organised but a bunch of us are coming together to walk most days around Niseko town and we have some upcoming hiking trips planned already.