Mt Fuji - August 2015

Photo album

Monday/Tuesday 10/11th August

From Mt Fuji 2015

Up bright and early, I checked out (storing my luggage at the hotel for the next night) and headed back to the Sumitomo Building to check in at 7am for my Mt Fuji climbing tour. I was delighted that the gear pack included boots that fitted perfectly, however the wet weather gear turned out to just be a fleecy top- not sure if there was a mixup there. There were a bunch of Venturer Scouts at the bus terminal that I had a chat to - they had been at a big international Jamboree in southern Japan.

On to the buses - our group of about 16 had a big luxury coach, with two Japanese girls in their 20s (with great English) as our guides. I was the only Australian, and there were as a good representation of other nationalities, particularly American, French, Italian, Thai, and Malaysian. It was a novel experience to travel from Tokyo by road - all my previous journeys had been by train. We stopped for morning tea and then on to Fuji Subaru 5th station to briefly acclimatise for the altitude. We bought an early lunch, stashed our excess gear in the lockers and attached our group identifiers - a bus company badge to tie into our shoe laces, and a small bright pink version of a fish kite to hang from our backpacks, to identify Team Green (ie the translation of Midori's name).

Our group rendezvoused at 11:40am and within about 2 minutes, a passing shower made us don our wet weather gear, which we packed away again at the 6th station. The first section was an easy stroll around the mountain and headed more downhill than up (I think), passing some stable yards for horses that can be used for rescues. The path then headed sharply upwards and we made steady progress over the next six-or-so hours. A couple of the group found the going a little strenuous and stayed behind at one of the huts, but I think that the climb is comfortably achievable for those with a reasonably good level of general fitness and a little preparation - but please seek your own advice! Compared to the climb I'd attempted the year before, it was a lot more 'walking up' than 'clambering up' and my muscles felt fine throughout (just a brief cramp at the summit). We were certainly blessed with ideal conditions - very mild and clear, with little wind. A few of our group found the pace a little bit too rapid but with some forceful encouragement from Midori, we managed to stick together. As the altitude increased, the views around the countryside became more and more spectacular. There were regular breaks; at one of them one of our group (Les) found a couple of bells from someone's hiking stick and gave them to me as a souvenir. I also opened a packet of chips/crisps, which was a good indicator of the air pressure - the airtight bag was taut and looked ready to pop.

Close to 6pm we reached our accommodation hut, "Tomoe". Like most of the huts, it had plenty of supplies for sale (another big difference to Kinabalu), and we were able to relax for a while and enjoy a good dinner. The sleeping arrangements were optimistic - we were packed in 2 rows of 5 people in the space smaller than my bedroom at home, with a 1.5m high ceiling with our belongings (including boots) suspended from hooks. I perhaps had a short nap but any quality sleep was interrupted by various snoring, and the odd flying elbow or knee from my neighbours. Also, my stomach had started to gurgle a little in a sign of discontentment with the altitude - I was already higher than Laban Rata. I resigned myself to wait for the 12:40am alarm.

Once up & about, a wave of nausea hit and I decorated the hillside with last night's dinner. I'd let the guides know that I'd had an episode the previous year, so they could keep an eye out for any danger signs, but I still felt quite confident to reach the top. I had been taking some altitude tablets for the last couple of days and I presume they were working, but I was only aware of some perceived side-effects - I felt a little bit 'tingly' and had some intestinal cramps.

I hadn't brought gloves (and may have been OK without them as the cold wasn't too severe) but repurposed my supplied brand-new hiking socks, which worked perfectly. They also were effective in wiping my face after each wave of throwing up. It was quite an amazing sight to be part of the chain of headlamps snaking up the mountain. We saw a couple of shooting stars, and a crescent moon joined the party after an hour or two. I threw up a couple of more times - after each episode I felt temporary relief but on the whole I wasn't particularly comfortable about things.

All of a sudden, with little fanfare, we'd reached the crater rim! It was still quite a while before dawn and very dark. Feeling quite green, I just sat still for the next 20 minute break, along with the others who were recuperating and offering each other quiet congratulations. With the first light starting to break, we set of on a circumnavigation of the crater, reaching the far side and the summit, not too long before dawn. This point was a few dozens of metres higher than the rest of the summit circuit, and I felt like this really made a difference to my nausea; I felt rather unsteady and very queasy and not the slightest bit intrepid as we posed for pictures at the summit marker... I'd wanted to pose with my Hawks cap but I'd left it with my bag a dozen or so metres away, and had decided it was simply too far to bother with! I also found it very difficult to speak coherently, but I guess that's normal for people when they're super tired. Retreating a few metres to watch the sunrise, I vomited yet again - but was a bit concerned that it had a new taste and I might have thrown up a little blood as well. I looked at the evidence on the ground, and it was a bit hard to tell as the dirt was quite red anyway. Regardless I felt like I'd really like to start descending soon- alas one of our group had disappeared which caused quite a few minutes' delay. (It turned out she'd decided to head down the mountain but hadn't told the guides.)

I had little energy or inclination to stop and enjoy the view but managed to take a few photos which in hindsight are quite spectacular. We had another break at the end of the circuit and I asked Midori if I could start descending but she said I should stay put - I found a comfortable bench to sit on and had a short nap. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only person suffering from a bit of nausea but I suspect that I'm on the leading edge of the bell curve - perhaps mountains aren't really meant to be my thing...!

I was delighted when we started the descent and very rapidly started to feel a lot better, but also glad to have the guides nearby, and to have my groupmates keeping a close eye on things (thanks Les!). By the time we got back to Tomoe my nausea had pretty much passed, although I had no appetite; and I was feeling much steadier on my feet. It was a rapid slide/scramble back to the sixth station - Midori had to demonstrate to some of the group how to launch into the downhill slopes when they were being a bit too tentative. A couple of times we needed to make way for tractors bringing supplies up, and I narrowly missed being skittled by a bowling-ball sized boulder that had been dislodged from uphill - it continued down past groups of other climbers - I tried yelling warnings but I think my voice was pretty feeble. I was glad to see that the boulder had come to rest without having collected anyone. As the surrounding landscape got closer I tried to see if I could spot trains or vehicles travelling around the nearby towns but I wasn't able to- the distance and my tired eyes were not a good combination.

The descent was not done as a group, and I made it back to the 5th Station with about an hour before our bus pick-up. My muscles felt like they'd had a good workout but were only a little sore, and I was very tired and still no appetite - just managing a few sips of water. I took most of the spare time to sign the climber sheet, retrieve my bag from the upstairs locker, and to repack my belongings ready to return the hire gear. Back on the bus we were all pretty quiet but I think we shared a sense of accomplishment. We stopped at an onsen and some of the group went in - I considered it but felt that there was a chance my nausea might return. Instead I found a common room and had a pleasant nap on the tatami matting. We had one additional rest stop on the way back and I managed to eat - albeit just a green tea soft serve! The bus dropped us off near Shinjuku, a couple of blocks from our starting point, and we all farewelled and congratulated each other again. It was a definite challenge and great to have achieved a successful outcome!

I gingerly walked back to the hotel and checked back in. I posted of my successful return online and at around 6pm went straight to sleep until close to midnight. I'd got a little bit of my appetite back so decided that it was a perfect time to go to MOS Burger, and then straight back to the hotel for another 7 or 8 hours' sleep.

Mt Fuji overview

Thanks to Damien from Japan Explorer for the tour company recommendation! Fellow Melbournians, Kai and Jenny, also tackled the climb during their respective Japan sojourns - Kai said the weather made his climb quite unpleasant, but Jenny made it to the top in fine style, as part of a much larger climbing group. Well done to both of them!