Alpine route and kamikuchi on mid April 2017

Hi,

I want to do the Alpine route or Kamikuchi in April 16th 2017 (I cannot do it later then that unfortunately).

1. When the opening dates for April 2017 will be released for those 2 routs? For now I only see the dates of 2016
Is there a chance that both of them will be completely closed on those dates, or only part of the route is closed?

2. Are those routs recommended in mid April if they are open? Will I get to see nice views?

3. Is it possible to arrive to Tokyo by public transportation at night right after alpine rout / kamikuchi?

Thanks

According to the official website, the first Alpine Route scheduled bus/cable car (west bound only) begins at 10th April. Kamikochi official website said schedule for 2017 as pending.

If I am you, I may want to wait a bit longer before booking. However, this kind of thing is highly sensitive to weather, just because it is scheduled open does not mean weather is actually suitable for hiking or whatever activity you planned exactly. However, I do think the chance of changing opening date to be low. The only thing I could see that could cause a problem is really heavy snow condition during winter. The chances of temperature being too "warm" that the snow will not be there on the Alpine Route (we are not talking about regular ski slopes but 2500+ m mountains) is very very low (but it is never zero). It is still worth to go to Tateyama even without the snow (as I had done before)

There is no possible way to know what the weather conditions months ahead as necessary for travel planning (reasonable forecast skill only extends up to only 5-7 days). I had this problem seeing Sakura or hiking in Japan just as much as going to see flowers Keukenhof in Netherlands. If it is wet, foggy, too cold, you just have to be flexible and be willing to deal with it.