Kiso Komagatake May

Hi
I read about the bus station near the summit of mt Kiso Komagatake at about 2700 m (?). I will be in Takayama for a few days also visiting Kamikochi. I learned there are buses to the bus station from mid May.

What is the weather like up there in mid May? Is it somehow possible to hike to the actual summit? Or is it something else worth of seeing around there?

Mt Kiso-Komagatake belongs to the Central Alps. It would be very hard to get there from Takayama. Going there from Nagoya or Tokyo would be easier. Even a day trip could be possible from those cities.
https://www.chuo-alps.com/lang/en/
https://www.chuo-alps.com/lang/en/fares-and-timetables/
The green season there is from July to October. It would be highly likely to be covered by snow and ice in mid-May.
https://www.yamareco.com/modules/yamainfo/ptinfo.php?ptid=75

From Takayama, there is good bus network both to Kamikochi and Norikura Tatamidaira. They both are in the Northern Alps.
https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/#routemap
The best season for Mt Norikura is also from July to October.
http://www.yamaquest.com/detail/norikuradake-3026/853.html
Here are opening dates for the bus routes:
Apr 17, 2017: Hirayu - Kamikochi https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/hirayu/
Apr 17, 2017: Kamikochi - Norikura Kogen https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/norikurakogenkamikochi/
Apr 29, 2017: Norikura Kogen - Kuraigahara Sanso https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/haruyama/
May 15, 2017: Hirayu -(Skyline)- Norikura Tatamidaira https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/skyline/
Late May: Kuraigahara Sanso - Daisekkei https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/haruyama/
July 1, 2017: Daisekkei -(Echoline)- Norikura Tatamidaira https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/echoline/
The bus stop Elevation 2716m will be covered only after July 1.

Here is a record of a sunny day in mid-May. The photo with a pond, Tsurugaike, is the one for Norikura Tatamidaira.
http://yamajoshi.hatenablog.com/entry/2015/05/17/230000
https://www.google.co.jp/maps/@36.1248202,137.5563121,106m

I must have gotten the wrong name of the mountain, its Tatamidaira not Komagatake, sorry for that.

A bit confused though, is the bus stop Hirayu - Tatamidaira not located at 2716 m? Or is it another bus stop?

My notation in the above post of "A - B" means "between A and B".

The bus stop "Elevation 2716 m", marked as N41 in this route map, is on Norikura Echoline Road.
https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/echoline/#routemap
It is just situated between Daikokudake peak (2772 m) and Fujimidake peak (2817 m). Anyway, that road will be opened after around July 1, depending on the snow condition this year. Just forget that bus stop for now.

Norikuradake usual means Tatamidaira(N42) at 2702 m.
http://giftgift.sakura.ne.jp/08kankou/norikura_tatami.html
In mid-May, you could get there from Hirayu Onsen, marked as HO-37 on this site.
https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/skyline/#schedule
(I see... This site says N41. But the Japanese word says Tatamidaira. I believe that most people would like to drop at the Visitor Center at N42, before starting to walk. And the bus could not turn around on a narrow mountain road. It would be just a mistake. Anyway, the altitude difference is just 14 m.)
This bus runs on Norikura Skyline Road, the light green line on this map.
https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/#routemap
Yamareco.com shows that there is the second visitor boom in May in their bar graph on this page.
https://www.yamareco.com/modules/yamainfo/ptinfo.php?ptid=73
This bar is pained as light blue, so the path should be covered by snow. If you prepared for the snowy paths adequately, climbing to Kengamine, the highest peak of Mt Norikuradake, at 3026 m above the sea level, should be OK even in May.
http://maps.gsi.go.jp/?ll=36.10638888888889,137.55333333333334&z=15#16...
The guide map, shown on this site, indicates that it would take 170 minutes (30+10+50+40+10+30) in a dry condition.
http://www.hida-norikura.com/norikura/

Yamaquest.com shows another option for a 5 hours 45 minutes course. This course itself is rated as level 31 (or for beginners); the mean slope 2.6 degrees and the length 10 km. As shown as red lines on Google Maps on their site, this course starts from Norikura Echoline Road.
http://www.yamaquest.com/detail/norikuradake-3026/853.html
It looks like the starting point is the bus stop Sanbondaki(N35).
https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/echoline/#routemap
But, you could use a bus to Kuraigawara Sanso (N38) after around April 29.
https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/haruyama/
In order to catch this Haruyama bus, you need to take another bus from Kamikochi(K30).
https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/norikurakogenkamikochi/
This bus goes to Kyukamura(N33), but N29: Norikura Kogen Kanko Center should be a better connecting point. You may review this loop course on this map.
https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/#routemap

There are frequent shuttle buses between Hirayu Onsen and Kamikochi after around Apr 17.
https://www.alpico.co.jp/access/kamikochi/hirayu/#timetable

Via Fujimidake, 10+15+10+50+40+10+10+10=155 min is a faster path.
http://www.hida-norikura.com/norikura/

Thank you for your answers and so on.

If I get some time I might as well check it out.

Seems the bus time changes depending on weather (cloud/rain or sun). At least it leaves once every 2 hours, but it seems the only option as cars are forbidden up there.

I have only been to 2400 m so far visiting Tateyama (Murodo station). I am a little worried of altitude sickness though. They say it kicks in past 2500 meters. Not sure.

Wikipedia adopts 2400 meters for a guideline of altitude sickness. The causes should vary. I had no symptoms at Mt Fuji, while I had suffered a severe sickness at Mt Mauna Kea. Only I had symptoms then. The other parties experienced nothing. I have been to Mauna Kea several times. Some occasions were OK, but the others were not. I have sent to lower grounds with an express car with an oxygen mask once.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness

I had been taught to take water frequently and not stand still. Sports drinks would be better than pure water. Climbing on foot should be a better course, not by a car or a ropeway. Go up slowly. Yamaquest might suggest starting at a lower ground below 2000 meters at the eastern side, not going up to the end by bus. The starting point of their course looks around 1807 meters.
http://www.yamaquest.com/detail/norikuradake-3026/853.html
http://maps.gsi.go.jp/?ll=36.10638888888889,137.55333333333334&z=15#17...