Yamadera: Wonderland

Yet another trip to Yamadera. As always, the nature  did not fail to disappoint. The greenery in this country really approaches quite ridiculous levels of vibrancy.

At long last I was able to go with Disa again. Our drivers were a change up from the typical Noboyuki-san though. I went out with the wily Shigeo and the motherly Mama. Here she is climbing a warm-up route.

Shigeo spent more time on his back than on the wall. He complained of being ailed by some sort of food poisoning, but I have a sneaking suspicion that "food poisoning" is Japanese for "hangover".

The other end of the rope Mama is holding has a big ol' fish named Matt on it.

The new crew got me on new rock, including an especially fun route with a challenging mantle halfway up and a cruxy bouldering-like start that was really enjoyable. Here's Disa after she powered through the start, followed by her pulling through the mantle.

To give a bit of scale to the route, here I am about two clips after the mantle.

After a full day of climbing, Disa, Mama, Mama's son whom we picked up along the way, and I all went and had a great dinner at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant. I'd swear I've eaten more sushi in the last month than I have the rest of the time I've been in Japan this year.