Mt Shirouma-dake: a 2-day hike from Hakuba

Mt Shirouma-dake (白馬岳, shirouma-dake) is a 2932m peak located in the Northern Alps of Japan, right above the village of Hakuba. With a hiking course of around 12 - 14 hours, it can be done as a long day hike for those with endurance, or more commonly with a stay at the Hakuba Sanso lodge near the summit. Mt Shirouma-dake is one of the more popular hikes in the Northern Alps, and after hiking this mountain I can see why. The trailhead is fairly accessible, the ridgeline views from partway up the mountain are amazing, and the hiking course is not so challenging if you spread it out over 2 days. My hike began at the Tsugaike Ropeway, used by skiers in winter but also a convenient way for hikers to be speedily transported up to an elevation of 1900m in summer (I see this quite a lot in Japan - it's a win-win that we can re-use infrastructure set up for skiers like this). The journey is split up over a 20-minute gondola ride, and then a shorter 5-minute ride up on the cablecar. The…