“But why can’t we fit in Mt Fuji into this trip?” “But have you heard about the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route?” I replied to Geoffrey. Geoffrey enjoys outdoor activities, especially cycling, running and hiking. There was no way I would even think about climbing Mt Fuji although I know this has always been on his bucket list.
The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is an easily assessable 37km horizontal route / 2,000m vertical height over the scenic Mt. Tateyama mountain range in the Northern Japan Alps. It is easily assessable from the major cities of Toyama and Nagano prefectures at either end. Renowned features of the route are the many unique forms of transportation – funicular (cable railway); bus; trollybus; aerial tramway and walking.
Geoffrey continually marveled at the engineering of the route (especially the tunnels) which had been constructed with maintaining the natural scenery in mind. One of the main attractions along the route is the snow corridor – a 20 meter high snow wall on either side of the road. Another spectacular attraction is the 186 meter Kurobe Dam – Japan’s tallest Dam. Kurobe lake dam behind the dam was frozen over when we were there but we understand that it’s incredible sight in the summer when the spillways are opened.
There were a lot of people on the route but it never seemed over-crowded especially when you were out of the tunnel and on the mountain. That’s just Japanese efficiency at play – like many things that the Japanese do so well.
It has been stated that the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is the world’s leading mountain sightseeing route. It was a trip that easily exceeded our expectations. You could easily take your parents and fit grand-parents through this route – it is that assessable.
If you would like more information about this destination please contact me.
