Climbing Mt. Fuji Story, Fumi's 34-time climbing till summer in 2009.

Mt. Fuji is not only the highest mountain of 3,776m (12,400ft) but most popular mountain in Japan. Basically there are five routes to climb the top of the mountain. But at the rim of the top, there are three goals and you can see the amazing crater. The most popular approach is "Subaru-line" highway and we can drive to the parking lot about 2,300m high above sea level. I have climbed 34times (until 2009) so I would like to introduce how Mt. Fuji climbing is interesting! The most of the pictures here are from my climbing, but some others are from previous climbing.

You must walk to the top struggling the rocks and sands. Usually you must walk 5 or 6 hours in average. Some people who climb at night stay at the mountain hut for a sleep, then re-climbing early next morning. I recommend using "stick" made of wood. The stick is not only the climbing tool but good souvenir of Mt. Fuji. You may understand the special word as "5-gome", "6-gome" or so. Theses words show the height of the mountain. For example, "5-gome" shows the mid of Mt. Fuji. But don't think precisely, you should recognize "approximately". Basically, "10-gome" means the top of the mountain and "1-gome" is the bottom. (But usually we don't use "10-gome", it is just "top".) There are mountain huts at each "gome" level. But they are not exact, just "almost". The mountain hut provides foods, drinks, oxygen can and sleep. They are much more expensive than at the ground level. Of course the prices go higher according the height.

The are two ways to climb. One is daytime climbing, and the other is nighttime climbing. I have experienced both. Frankly speaking, night climbing is very tough, because sleepy, cold and tired!! But daytime climbing is also tough if the sunshine is furious. Night climbing is the only way to see the wonderful sunrise. They call it "goraiko" specially. I have experienced many times and the sunrise was so beautiful and amazing. If you are not luck and the sky is not clear, you must see only clouds!!! But while climbing at night, you can see the beautiful constellations, shooting stars and sometimes bigger moon. Again, night climbing is very tough and you should recognize it.

The view from the mountain is amazing. I love not only the view below my feet but the clouds of interesting figures. I ｆｅel if I can walk on the clouds or catch and eat them!!! Anyway, the clouds are interesting and I love them, they seem like white animals. On the other hand, you should be careful, the weather around Mt. Fuji is very changeable. Sometimes if you are climbing under the beautiful sunshine, just after a couple minutes you may lose all the view in "whiteout".

Needless to say, Mt. Fuji is a volcano. At the top, there is a huge crater (but no eruption now). You may reach to the rim of the crater in the end of long climbing. Walking around the rim needs about 1.5 hours. The ultimate top of the mountain is 3,776m and you must need to walk a little more to that peak. Frankly speaking, most climbers don't go to the ultimate top, because they feel too tired when at the rim of the crater. Of course I have gone there many times. Once there was a weather radar dome. But no more because the satellite weather watching radar system is more effective. You should remind that the temperature and the air pressure are very different from the ground level, much cooler (sometimes colder) and less pressure. Sometimes it is under the freezing point in dawn. We can see the ice or the icy snow somewhere.

The lava is very interesting with its colors and shapes. Sometimes I feel as if I was walking on Mars. Most colors are orange, red or black. But you may find also yellow and green colors. Most lava and rocks are rigid but sometimes you find very flat and rectangular rocks. Anyway, the volcano Mt. Fuji is very interesting and I like to continue climbing while I am healthy and active. I hope you enjoy too. :-)

fumi.kobayashi@nifty.com