Rime covered trees appear on Mt. Horohoro almost like a gang of monsters
Mt. Horohoro (1,322 m), located in the city of Date in the Iburi region of central Hokkaido, is a place where snow monsters (rime-covered trees) appear during this season, to the delight of climbers.
On February 19, I entered the western-side foothills of Mt. Horohoro from Sankaitaki-cho in the Otaki-ku district of Date. The rime-covered trees began appearing from around 900 meters above sea level. With hardly any coniferous leaves visible, they look like white monsters.
On this day, the deepest snow cover in Otaki-ku was 113 centimeters. On the other hand, the town of Shiraoi at the foot of the other side – the southeastern side – of Mt. Horohoro had only 27 centimeters of snow.
The winter winds blow from the Otaki side of the mountain, causing snow to fall and blowing dry air down the Shiraoi side. The monsters are the claw marks of those winds.
(Words and photo: Kobayashi Motohide)
Location
Mt. Horohoro
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