It's very hot this mid-summer in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The maximum daytime temperature is often over 35 degrees Celsius. I evacuated from the urban "heat island", and visited the cool mountain in Gumma Prefecture with my family last weekend. Our destination was Nikko-Shirane Mountain, which is located about 160 kilometers north of Tokyo. It's a stratovolcano in Nikko National Park. Its main peak named Okushirane is an andesite lava dome, 2,578 meters above sea level.
Nikko-Shiranesan Ropeway is a convenient access to this high mountain. It's a single rope automatic circulation type gondola lift. Connecting Sanroku (foot of the mountain) and Sancho (summit) stations, its route length is 2,493 meters. The height difference between the two stations is 602 meters. Its maximum inclination is 38.97 degrees. There are 22 struts on the route. Nikko-Shiranesan Ropeway is owned by Nippon Paper Development Company. The route was constructed by Nippon Cable in 1999. The gondolas were built by CWA in Switzerland. They are operated counterclockwise with a speed of 5 meters per second. It takes about 15 minutes to go one way. Each gondola can accommodate up to 8 passengers.
Sancho station is located about 2,000 meters above sea level. After getting off at the station, we enjoyed the forest walking. Okushirane main peak was often seen from the footpath. The temperature was about 20 degrees Celsius, which was 15 degrees cooler than that of Tokyo. It's very comfortable and refreshing.
There were many pleasures in Nikko-Shirane Mountain.
Nikko-Shiranesan Ropeway is a convenient access to this high mountain. It's a single rope automatic circulation type gondola lift. Connecting Sanroku (foot of the mountain) and Sancho (summit) stations, its route length is 2,493 meters. The height difference between the two stations is 602 meters. Its maximum inclination is 38.97 degrees. There are 22 struts on the route. Nikko-Shiranesan Ropeway is owned by Nippon Paper Development Company. The route was constructed by Nippon Cable in 1999. The gondolas were built by CWA in Switzerland. They are operated counterclockwise with a speed of 5 meters per second. It takes about 15 minutes to go one way. Each gondola can accommodate up to 8 passengers.
Sancho station is located about 2,000 meters above sea level. After getting off at the station, we enjoyed the forest walking. Okushirane main peak was often seen from the footpath. The temperature was about 20 degrees Celsius, which was 15 degrees cooler than that of Tokyo. It's very comfortable and refreshing.
There were many pleasures in Nikko-Shirane Mountain.
View of Okushirane Peak from Sancho station, Nikko-Shiranesan Ropeway