U.L. SLEEPING SETUP I dozed off shortly after dinner, sometime past 8 p.m. In general I'm a cold sleeper, so I went into the evening expecting it to be a lon...

PLAN A More than a month ago I was contacted by two-time Trans Japan Alps Race (TJAR) finisher Otokozawa-san, who I first became acquainted with last Septemb...

This week I had the privilege of guiding a fellow American I met on the slopes of Tsugaike last month, up to the summit of 2,696m Mt. Karamatsu in neighborin...

The village of Otari is not only a 豪雪地帯, or "heavily snowed area" as mentioned in our last blog post, but its land area is more than 80% forests, contains po...

The Oami Fire Ceremony (大網火祭り) is one of the most fascinating annual events held here in the village of Otari. Taking place each year on the second Saturday ...