I climbed Fuji-san!!

I can’t believe it myself! It was very, very hard work!

Set off for Fuji-san on Friday after lunch with 2 other JETs in my area – Dean and Patrick. Took the highway bus to Tokyo before catching a bus to Mt Fuji.

Fuji-san is the highest mountain in Japan. 3,776 m high, it is divided into 10 stations. It is a dormant volcano and last erupted in 1707. It is open for climbing only in summer, coz there is snow on top of the mountain during all the other seasons. Vehicles are allowed to drive only up to the 5th station. Most people start climbing from the 5th station in the late afternoon/evening, take a rest at the 8th station for 2-3 hours before starting their final ascent at about 3am to reach the summit for sunrise. The ascent takes between 5-8 hours depending on which route you take (there are about four 5th stations situated at varying altitudes along the mountain.

Due to rather poor planning and limited Japanese on our part, we ended up at the lowest of the four 5th stations! Only at about 1,400 m high with an estimated ascent time of 7.5 hours! And this was at 10+ pm…we were faced with the prospect of an overnight climb with virtually no rest at all in order to catch the sunrise at 5am…SIGH!

The climb itself was not technically difficult. In fact the terrain was easier than my school hike up Hakkai-san (no chains to worry about at Fuji-san!). In retrospect, it was a rather pleasant climb because it was a clear, starry night. The part about the terrain that was troublesome was that there were stretches that were very steep and covered with loose small rocks or soft sand. But what made the climb really difficult was the icy cold wind that was blowing relentlessly at you. The temperature was about 3 deg C with a wind speed of 20 km/h. There were no trees or boulders around to shield us from the wind.

I really felt like giving up during the long hike between the 7th and 8th station from 1-3 am. I was tired and cold (yes, feeling cold even with the physical exertion of climbing uphill with my fleece and windproof layers on!). At one point, I was so tired I just sat on the ground and thought I’d call my friends with my brand-new cellphone to tell them to go ahead. I tried to sleep but it was too cold and I’d freeze to death if I stayed there any longer. I could see the 7th station a long way below me and the 8th station a long way above me. URGHS! Decided to continue climbing up. That particular stretch between the 7th and 8th station, we all agreed afterwards, was the worst stretch. Another Singaporean JET told me that she gave up after reaching the 8th station.

When I reached the 8th station, I found my friends keeping warm in a toasty little teahouse, where climbers can pay S$100 to sleep for a couple of hours. We had to buy at least a drink to enjoy the heat in the teahouse. The cheapest drink was a tiny cup of hot cocoa for S$8!! Robbers they are, I tell you! But its so cold outside that no one really cares about money anymore. There were hordes of climbers squeezed into that little teahouse. After eating the riceball that I brought up with me and drinking that ridiculously expensive cup of hot cocoa, I was re-energised for the final ascent. We resumed climbing at about 3.45am. Our timing was perfect! As we were climbing to the summit, we could see the sky changing colours. Shortly after we reached the summit, the sun peeked through the clouds at 5am and the crowd of climbers gathered at the summit started clapping, cheering and taking photos! It was simply amazing!!

The first signs of sunrise at 4+ am while we were making our final ascent

Sheets of cloudsEveryone climbing faster so as not to miss the sunrise at the peak
Climbers waiting for the sunrise (if you notice, everyone put their hoods up because it was too cold and windy even with woollen beanies on!) And what everyone's been waiting for

(from left) Patrick, me and Dean. Check out our headlamps! (coz we were climbing at night mah) Crater of the volcano

The coolest mountain to descend. The descent route consists of sand slopes that you can run or slide down. I actually saw some people wear special padding around their bums (looks like diapers actually) so that they can slide down. Running down the slopes sound like fun, but your knees start hurting after a while. The descent took 3 hours!

There's a saying that a wise man climbs Fuji-san only once, only a fool climbs it twice. I have no intention of being a fool, so here's one last look at the mountain which I will never climb again! (It looks kinda small because this is only the 5th station, not at the bottom of the mountain yet.)