Mt. Asama (CONQUERED)

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Attended a belated Halloween Party organised by my Boss on Sat. I must confess, I am truely inspired by her as she had the whole street infront of her house cordoned for the event and even the city Mayor had to give face and grace the event which is going for the 5th consecutive year. My Boss had turned a small private Halloween event into a little town festival that is held annually...Gosh speak about achiecement! Well from what I had known, Halloween is usually not celebrated like a major festival unless there are a group of foreigners who live in the vicinity and they will make it a major thingy but not to the extent to cordon the streets. My Boss Nagisa San, I salute you...*SALUTE* And all we did were just bumping around in our silly costumes and chill with the 70 odd kids who turned up for the event and the reward, a 1 day lift ticket to Asama 2000 ski resort...Wow, I really didn't see that coming. Too bad I asigned the photography task to another one of my friend so no pics yet till he is done.

After the event, there was a drinking party in the evening with the adults (obviously...) and the city mayor and all the other important people of course...which is fully paid for by my Boss. She's an amazingly great woman and I really wouldn't mind slogging my sorry ass off for her. Haha..pardon the language there... :p And so there was a second drinking party with the rest of the English teachers...too bad I had a big day on Sunday so I didn't really drink much which most of you would have know that I prefer sweet stuffs to alcohol anytime.

And then comes SUNDAY, the big day. I was all set and prepared to scale Mt. Asama which was like my maiden hike. At 2568 metres above sea level, I wasn't quite sure I can summit but still I inquired about who's actually gonna summit. There were 12 of us in total going up, 5 Japanese, 1 Singaporean and 6 Americans.

And so going up by car, we reached somewhere at the base of Mt. Asama where I set my new Casio toy (PRW-1100YTJ-1JF) to zero elevation. This was to make the recording of the accend and decend more accurate as my new outdoor watch had a built in digital campass, altimeter and barometer which definitely proved useful at times like this...so all set, I started the accend at 9.30am (which was recorded by my watch) and promptly reached the summit at 2.14pm. Of course we stopped halfway up at 12.30pm for lunch which I had completely forgotten to bring. Was pretty sucky as I had absolutely no food or drink...so the rest of the kind souls had to spare me a peanut butter bun and some isotonic drink. Thanks guys...

Had a little prayer with the rest at the little shrine there at the half way point which had a log hut and a resting point but that was it. There were no other buildings anywhere from the base to the top except this half way point. However no food or drinks were sold here except for toilets and a nice chill out log hut with some outdoor tables.

Continued the accend at around 1.30pm and reached the summit at 2.30pm. The last part of the accend, I almost felt like giving up...my tofu body like what Lawrence suggested was no match for the harsh elements...Yep my Ronin Jacket and Burton Gloves did kept the chilly 5 degrees wind out and my trusted Altama Desert boots was great but blisters were already forming at my heels. My knees and leg quads were on the verge of maxing out and the air was thin, steep slopes and I was panting away. Taking 10 steps max and pausing to catch my breath was a much dreaded routine which I had to endure to summit. I gritted my teeth, snapped some pictures and told myself, I came here fot a reason and that was to summit so dispite all odds, I had to do myself proud and also do Singapore proud...haha for the first time I felt patriotic.

So in the end, my hard work did paid off...I reached the summit and the gorgeous view and awe of the mystic scenery and charm of the barren mountain robbed me of my soul. There weren't any snow which had melted over the weekends except little tiny small pockets of snow. Since arriving in Nagano, I had only watched this great mountain from afar and from my school but to actually conquer it today was an amazing feat for me, a new achievement for a maiden scale, a new adventure and definitely rewarding pictures for my dear readers...The feeling is GREAT but I wouldn't wanna do it again...haha so here's some pictures for you guys to enjoy while I rest my battered body...I will post the complete set of pictures soon...enjoy now




On top of the world looking down...GREAT!


*sigh* I need to soak myself in an onsen now...