Climbing Mount Fuji

"Everyone should climb Fuji once, but only a fool climbs it twice."
-Japanese Proverb

Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan standing at 3776 metres, is located in Yamanashi prefecture. Fuji-san (san meaning mountain) is a volcano that last erupted in 1707 and is one of the most well-known mountains in the world. Every year thousands of people decide to climb Fuji-san, and this year we (Aika, Chris, Guillaume, John, Hilory, Kaoru, Moui, Ryan, Wing and I) were no exceptions.

The mountain is divided up into 10 stations, each station having a rest-stop, shelter and overpriced food and drinks. We started at the 5th station, the highest station reachable by bus. It was considerably cooler at the 5th station than the 30ºC at sea level. We each loaded our packs with chocolate, snacks and drinks and headed up, flashlights in hand. We started the climb at 11:00 pm, and it was a beautiful start. The stars were so clear; we could see the Milky Way perfectly. We were all enjoying the cool temperature and the fresh air. Ahead of us, we could see the dotted line of people holding flashlights slowly climbing the mountain. After about an hour of hiking, the ground started sloping steeply. We ended up splitting into two groups, and met up at the 6th station. It was there we met Chris Crooks, a Waterloo student working for Epson in Tokyo.

Climbing from the 6th station and up got more difficult. It was much more crowded, and the trail was much narrower. It was also much harder to stay together, and we ended up splitting up into smaller groups with the hope of meeting up at the stations ahead. Since the crowd tended to move slowly, I spent a lot of time climbing over rocks to try to get ahead. There were several points that couldn't be climbed over, and this led to long lineups. It felt like the lineups for amusement park rides, every couple of minutes everyone would move forward 2 steps, then we would all wait again.

At around 3:30am, I was alone in between the 8th and 9th stations. It felt like the mountain just kept going up forever. Every time I reached a peak, a higher one became visible. Then it started raining. I put on a sweater (it was around 12ºC), and realized I still had Aika's raincoat in my bag. At the 6th station, she realized she had packed too much so I, being the gentleman that I am, offered to take some of her heavier items. Not realizing it would rain, I took her raincoat and we got split up. Luckily I was ahead of her, so I put on the raincoat and waited for her to catch up to me. Waiting there in the rain, I saw the sunrise. Well, some of it. Even though we were above most of the clouds, the sun was mostly covered by grey rainclouds. When Aika and John arrived, I gave back the raincoat and we climbed up together.

At the 9th station, the three of us were exhausted. The sun was at our backs, so we were hot while we climbed, but cold if we stopped. From this point on, the mountain looked desolate. There were no plants growing, only red and brown rocks, and lots of red volcanic sand. When we stopped to take rests, we marveled at the view below us. We could see Tokyo in the distance, as well as a mountain range and several large lakes. We were above some of the clouds, yet far below others. It was a beautiful sight.

The last stretch between the 9th station and the top felt like the longest. The lineup was long and barely moved. The map said it was only a 20 minute walk, but it took us an hour. We stumbled through the torii gate (there was one at every station above the 6th) and found Guillaume was waiting for us at the top. It was 6:00am. We waited by the gate for the others to arrive, then we all collapsed into a noodle shop at the top (yes, they have noodle shops up there - and vending machines) and fell asleep. The climb had taken 7 hours, and we were exhausted.

We woke up at 7:30, after only sleeping for an hour. I got some ramen to eat (quite possibly the worst, and most expensive noodles I have ever eaten) and went out to explore the peak. Looking out over the edge revealed nothing but white mist. I guess when the sun came out it created steam on the cold wet mountain, so the beautiful view we enjoyed climbing up was now gone. John and I decided to check out the crater. It was huge. It looked like it belonged on the Moon, or on Mars. It was totally lifeless, just rocks and sand. We took some pictures then headed back to the noodle shop.

At 10:00am, we were ready to head down. Well, ready isn't quite the right word, but we had to get down eventually. It was raining lightly when we left, but soon stopped. The rain wasn't all bad: it muddied up the ground a bit, so instead of sliding though sandy gravel, and having the dust blow all over us, it stayed solid and on the ground.

The walk down was much less crowded then the climb up, so we made good time. Every time we passed a station, I removed a sweater (I was wearing 2 T-shirts, 2 sweaters and my jacket at the top). By the time we reached the 6th station, I was in a T-shirt. The view walking down was beautiful once we passed the 8th station. The mist was above us, so once again we got a full view of the landscape beneath us.

The walk down to the 5th station took 4 hours. Once again we became separated (some of us had more energy than others), but we all made it down in one piece.

Did I have fun? You bet. Would I do it again? Well, let's just say whoever wrote that proverb knew what he was talking about.

Chris Lyon
Jul 24, 2001