Adventurasia Community

(Written back around 2003)

I’ve read somewhere that a Must-Do for anyone who visits or lives in Japan is to climb Mt. Fuji. However, only a fool would climb Mount Fuji more than once. Well, I guess that makes me a fool, sort of. The difference is that on my first attempt, I didn’t make it to the top, and in fact, out of 5 people only 2 people had made it. In my recent attempt, there were 8 of us and we all made it to the top. Overall the experience is quite satisfying and if I had the time this year, I’d seriously consider doing it again - however, due to time limitations, I may have to put it on hold until next year. Foolish words, I know.

As with many things, I’d say preparation is the key to a successful climb.

It was back in March that a group of us who took part in the JAYM Ohanami event had thought of climbing Mt. Fuji in the summer. In subsequent meetings we always talked about climbing Mt. Fuji but deciding when to go was a problem what with conflicting schedules and what not. Finally back in June duringanother hiking trip (to Mt. Mitake) a tentative climbing date was set for August 3rd-4th. For some people, Mt. Mitake was their first climb, and set the stage for the Mt. Fuji climb.

The following was our planned itinerary:Saturday August 3rd
10:00 AM - Meet at the Shinjuku Station West Exit Police Station
10:45 AM - Take the bus bound for Mt. Fuji 5th level
13:00 PM - Arrive at Mt. Fuji 5th level and have lunch
14:00 PM - Start climbing towards the 8th level
19:00 PM - Arrive at the lodge, have dinner, sleep

Sunday August 4th
06:00 AM - Leave lodge and continue climb towards top (10th level)
10:30 AM - Arrive at the top, walk around the crater, have lunch, head back down
15:30 PM - Get back to the bus terminal on the 5th level
16:00 PM - Take the bus back to Shinjuku
18:30 PM - Arrive in Shinjuku

Of course with any plan, you need to be flexible. Probably the major bottleneck was the transportation time between Shinjuku and the 5th station.

Right from the get go, and before we even boarded the bus, we were behind schedule. The bus was late in arriving as it was caught in a traffic jam.

We departed from Shinjuku at around 11:00 AM on a bus filled with climbers of all ages. Supposedly the weekend that we chose to climb Mt. Fuji is the mostpopular weekend - we ended up arriving at the 5th station at about 3:30 PM. Just as we arrived, there was a huge downpour. We decided to grab some grub andhope that the rain would stop after finishing our lunch. The weather seemed to get worse and worse until at last it was clear.

At around 4:30 PM we set off tobegin the climb. We took the Fuji Subaru route which is supposed to be one of the easier ways to go. Between the 5th and 6th stations, the going was quite easy as there wasn’t much of an incline - I was actually beginning to believe that this would be a cake walk. However, once we got past the 6th station, the goingbecame more steep and treacherous. Some people chose to shell out about 10,000 Yen to rent a horse that would take them part way up the mountain. Given thatthere wasn’t a saddle (instead there were pillows and blankets) and the horse looking unsettled, I would guess that it wouldn’t have been a very comfortable ride. During the climb we took many short (1 minute) and long (5 to 10 minute) breaks. At some points during the climb, it looked a bit like the Great Wall climb in Beijing. By around 6:00 PM it was getting real dark and I had to depend on the rope to guide my way. It was alsohard to believe, but in many places we had to queue up on the mountain as there were just too many climbers! This was good in some respects as it gave us a chanceto rest up a bit as well.

Finally at about 10:00 PM we arrived at the lodge. The name of the lodge was something like ‘White Cloud Lodge’ and they charge 5200 Yen for a cramped cubby-hole. The lodge claims to be able to fit 600 people and my guess is that the place is smaller than most Japanese homes. The lodge is made up ofmany sleeping lockers about 8 cubic metres (2 X 2 X 2) which are layed out side by side and stacked on top of each other. They put 6 people in each sleeping area along with all your belongings. I think we spent almost an hour trying to decide what the sleeping arrangements would be (in the end this was a fruitless exercise as it was so noisy with people coming and going; the kitchen staff making their noise; and the greeters shouting out ‘irrashaimasse’). There were about toilet stalls and people would haveto queue up for about 15 minutes to use the facilities. There wasn’t any toilet paper and we had to pay 100 yen for the privelege. Our dinner consisted of either rice with currysauce for 1000 Yen; or cup noodle soup for 600 Yen. They served ‘brown’ tea in the evenings; and ‘green’ tea in the mornings. Both teas tasted the same - basically boiled water with colouring added. The lodge facilities were definitely a disappointment.

In the morning we had some snacks and left the lodge at around 6:00 AM to get to the top of the mountain. It was a very tiring climb as none of us got much sleep. Finally at around 9:00 AM we got to the top and took some photos. We walked around the crater area a bit, had brunch, took more photos, wrote our name on a woodenplaque, left our mark on a wooden torii. (My mark was a Vancouver keychain that I was carrying around - so if you reach the top, please look for the keychain and letme know if it’s still there). At around 11:00 AM we started the descent to the 5th station. We took many breaks along the way and got to the 5th station at around 3:00 PM.

We went to one of the restaurants and enjoyed a traditional post-climb dessert - cream soda (basically melon flavoured soda with a scoop of ice-cream).

We boarded the bus around 4:00 PM. By about 4:30 PM everyone on the bus was asleep except for a couple of people. The bus ride home proved to be somewhat eventful as at one point there was a group of motorcyclists who kept on cutting in front of the bus. Several times the bus driver had to slam on the breaks and come to a lurching halt. Some of usdecided to put our seat belts on. Now how many times have you worn a seatbelt on a bus? It’s a first for me.

Anyways, we finally arrived in Shinjuku around 8:00 PM. Wehad dinner at a restaurant called Hokkaido, located on the 44th floor. The food was great and the restaurant was huge! We Kanpai’d - it was the first beer I had in over a week and it tasted SOOOO GOOD!

So what sort of things should you bring with you? I’d say the top 10 things (in no particular order) are as follows:
1. Portable Oxygen bottle - these cost about 700 Yen in Tokyo, about 1200 to 1500 Yen on the mountain. Several times during the climb I felt a bit dizzy and the oxy really helped
2. Drinking water - I’d suggest about 3 or 4 of those 500 mL bottles. I brought 2 and I ended up buying a drink on the mountain for 600 Yen!
3. Sunscreen - Even though I applied SPF 50 on my face, I still got a bit burned. Sunglasses/Goggles are useful as well as it’s quite bright and there’s a fair bit of dust.
4. Ski wear - most people in our group brought ski pants and coats. It gets really cold and windy up there and can be quite wet. At the top of the mountain I wore jeans, a heavy fleece, a parka and gloves.
5. Gloves - you’ll be using your hands at some point in time - either to keep yourself from falling; or trying to hold onto a rock/rope/stick.
6. Extra clothes - socks, t-shirt, shorts, etc…
7. Comfortable shoes - and shoes that you don’t care too much about at that as the descent is very dirty.
8. Toilet paper - even though you have to pay 100 yen to use the outhouses, many do not provide toilet paper. People are always passing out tissues near Ikebukuro/Shinjukustations, these are perfect.
9. Snacks - calorie mate, granola bars, beef jerky, nuts, cookies, chocolate, etc… Food is very expensive on the mountain.
10. A walking stick - I’d recommend buying one from the bottom of the mountain. As you reach different milestones you can get a ’stamp’. Makes for a good souvenir.
Whoops…
(11.) Towel - for when you sweat like a pig
(12.) Medicine - Pepto Bismo; Aspirin; Bandaids; cough candy etc…
(13.) Plastic bags - in case it rains and to carry all your junk. I wrapped all my stuff individually in bags so that if it rained, my clothes and other things wouldn’t get wet. Bringa couple garbage bags that can go over your backpack in case of a heavy downpour. One other useful instance that I used a garbage bag was in the washroom - the groundwas disgusting with sh*t all over the place. I didn’t have anywhere to put my backpack, so I put a garbage bag on the ground to keep my bag from getting soiled

Budget wise:
Shinjuku to 5th Station bus : 5200 yen round trip
Lodging : 5000 Yen
Food : 1000 Yen per meal
Drinks : 500 Yen per drink
Toilets : 100 Yen per visit
Stamps : 300 Yen each
Walking Stick : 1200 - 1500 Yen
Souvenirs : 2000 Yen

So why was this climb more successful than the last?

I think it’s because we did it over two days rather than one day. The first time I tried climbing Mt. Fuji we didn’t start until shortly after midnight. We were already tired before starting the climb as we had been up all day. We were also trying to rush to the top in order to see the sunrise.

Would I climb Mt. Fuji again?

You can call me a fool, but if I get a chance and have some time, I would. It’s a great feeling to make it to the top of the mountain. Click here to view the photos taken during the Mt. Fuji trip.

Filed under: Japan