Reaching the Summit

It took us around two and a half hours to reach the summit. Our goal was to reach the summit on time to walk around the crater and reach the highest point of Mount Fuji - the weather station. On the way up, we encountered more climbers than we had on the previous day; most of them were Japanese and were descending at an incredibly fast pace. They made it look easy...

Overall I have to say it was an incredible experience and we couldn't have asked for better conditions to climb Fuji-san. ありがとう!

- Marie ✌

Climbing Mt. Fuji

With 3,776.24 m, Mount Fuji is not only the highest peak in Japan, but the most respected and prominent mountain in the country. The dormant volcano is known as "Fuji-san" amongst the Japanese and its summit is reached by thousands of people every year. The official climbing season is open between July and August to mid September; however, some huts are still open through October. Having arrived and settled in Japan during the first couple of weeks of September still gave us time to plan a more relaxed off-season tour to the top of Mount Fuji. We booked the trip a few days before with Fuji Mountain Guides and got our backpacks ready for a two-day adventure that would surpass all expectations. 

We started hiking at the Subashiri 5th station in the Shizokua Prefecture, at approximately 2,000 m of altitude. This is the base of the Subashiri trail, which, starts below the tree line and offers the possibility of hiking through the forest before the view expands into a rocky and volcanic landscape. We left the 5th station at around 1 pm and reached the 7th station at around 4.30 pm, where we spent the night in a hut to watch the sunrise the following morning.

By the time dinner was served at 5.30 pm, the second group had reached the hut and we all had time to catch our breaths and settle into our cosy sleeping compartments. After a warm and satisfying Japanese meal and tea, we headed outside for a glimpse of the full moon before heading to bed for a short but deserved night's sleep.

The following day we were woken at 4.30 am by the staff; by 5 am we were having breakfast half asleep. We finished our grilled salmon, rice and miso soup fairly quickly and rushed to our bed compartments to put on all the layers we could find. As we stepped out in time for the sunrise, the cold air hit our bare faces. We watched the sun come out and were ready to continue our journey to the summit by 6 am.

- Marie ✌