Climbing Mount Fuji

While in Japan, we thought it would be rude if we did not conquer its highest peak, that of Fuji-san, standing at 3776m. “But isn't that an active volcano?” I hear you cry! Well yes it is, it last erupted in 1707 and as therefore is possibly due to pop but as luck would have it, it kept quiet during our visit.

The climbing season for Fuji is very short due to the peak being snow-capped for most of the year, most people climb in July and August. The normal routine is to ascend in the middle of the night and reach the summit in time to view the sunrise. We left our bags at the train station and got the bus to the 5th station, which is where most people start. There are 10 stations in all which are at intervals all the way up the mountain and offer accommodation, food and refreshments. You can climb all the way from the bottom, which is where the pilgrims used to begin, but it is more of a woodland stroll to the 5th and adds 4 hours to the ascent. We arrived at the 5th around 17:30 and set off for the 7th station where we would have a quick nap and dinner before setting off for the peak.

The climb was fairly easy going, a back-and-forth hairpin trail which affords you views back down the mountain at the town below. At points it was more challenging and almost like rock climbing with only a chain to hold onto and seperating you from a big drop. We made good progress and were at our accommodation by 19:30. We had a Japanese style dinner before settling in for a sleep until midnight. I have never climbed a mountain in the middle of the night before so this was somewhat of a unique experience. We shared a torch between us and set off for the summit, sunrise was just before 5:00 so we had plenty of time.


It was fairly busy going up so all you had to do was follow the torch in front of you to see where the trail went. This part of the climb gets a lot steeper and you need to use both hands to pull yourself up the large rock formations. From the side of the mountain we could see the twinkling lights of the town lying asleep below us. The stars were also available to help guide us and they were out in their thousands! It had also got cold by this point so out came the hoodies and waterproofs to keep us warm. We reached the 9th station by 2:30 in good time, all that was left was one more station, easy – or so we thought. Turns out that everyone had the same idea of reaching the peak for sunrise and half of Japan had turned out to climb and we found ourselves standing in a queue on a mountain trail, lit up by hundreds of torches, at 3:30 in the morning. Only in Japan!



Because of this we didn't make the summit until just after sunrise, but as we were on the Eastern side of the mountain we still got to watch the sun slowly emerging from behind a few clouds, lighting the sky gradually with beautiful morning cololurs. At the peak the atmosphere was buzzing, we had a hot tea and warmed ourselves up preparing for the descent. It did feel rather surreal to think you are standing with thousands of others on top of an active volcano that is due an eruption!

The climb down was not as enjoyable, the trail was made up of broken up volcanic material – almost sandy. This meant that every step you took was a battle to stay on your feet, not easy on a flat but even harder when on a slope. Our legs felt like they couldn't take any more and we were both feeling tired anyway. It didn't help that the views on this side were also rather boring! But we made it and got to the 5th by 9:30, our adventure complete and one that we will remember for a long long time!

For the full set of photos for Fuji click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phase_k/tags/fujisan/