Nagano's famed Jonen mountain hut celebrates 100 years of stunning vistas
First opened in 1919, the Jonen-goya mountain hut is still going strong at 100 — offering adventurous hikers in Nagano Prefecture's Japan Alps a place to rest and recharge.
As Mount Fuji opens for business, brush up on your Japanese hiking terms
Make sure you know your "chōjō" from your "fumoto," and which trail is right for you on Japan's most famous landmark.
Everest's deadly toll has a commercial solution
Letting the private sector manage the world's highest mountain would reduce overcrowding and improve safety.
Top day and multiday hikes in the Japan Alps
With everything from breathtaking alpine vistas to relaxing hot springs, the Japan Alps have numerous hiking options for people of all levels.
Wes Lang and his quest to climb Japan's top 100 mountains
A love of hiking inspired avid mountaineer Wes Lang to scale all of Japan's hyakumeizan (100 top mountains). Now, he's co-written a comprehensive and user-friendly guidebook to hiking in Japan to inspire everyone else.
Mountain High: Junko Tabei's adventures at the top of the world
Junko Tabei was a pioneering alpinist who dramatically changed the landscape of mountaineering around the world. Previously available only in Japanese, excerpts of her writing have been translated and compiled into "Honouring High Places," a beautifully illustrated retrospective.
Mount Meru: for those who like to aim high
If Mount Everest is the iconic goddess of mountains, then Meru in the Indian Himalayas is the unattainable, unknowable bad-ass rock star, beckoning to a chosen few from an impossibly remote place high in the sky. Unlike Everest, Meru isn't famed for its legendary ...
Northern Alps accidents bring Golden Week climbing fatalities to five
Four men were found dead Monday in the Northern Alps straddling Nagano, Gifu and Toyama prefectures, police said, bringing the tally for climbing fatalities during Golden Week to five since Saturday. This year's official Golden Week holiday stretch will end on Sunday. Police found the body ...
Melting Tibet glacier reveals corpses of top U.S. climber, cameraman lost in 1999
The bodies of a renowned mountain climber and expedition cameraman who were buried in a Himalayan avalanche 16 years ago have been found. The widow of Alex Lowe said in a statement Friday that two climbers attempting to ascend the 26,291-foot Shishapangma in Tibet discovered ...
On mountain peaks and tourist trash
Discussing Mount Hayachine, ethnologist Kunio Yanagita observed that it stood on, "a somewhat different plane from the normal world." This could be a description of mountains in general, a landscape where we may experience nature in the raw, and even at times, a numinous ...
Climate change to make Everest even riskier
Climbing to the roof of the world is becoming less predictable and possibly more dangerous, scientists say, as climate change brings warmer temperatures that may eat through the ice and snow on Mount Everest. Nepal was left reeling when a sudden ice avalanche slammed down ...
Two sixth-graders from the city of Osaka were found safe Tuesday after they strayed away from a school outing on a mountain the previous day. The boy and girl, both from Joei Gakuen Elementary School, reportedly got separated from their group Monday while hiking on ...
