Summer Challenge GET! The Mt Fuji Climb

It's been one week since the climb, and I STILL can't believe I did that. It's truly an amazing feat, especially for a computer geek like me! If I can do it, you can do it too!

For those who're lazy to read the whole story (you bugger), my schoolmates Jasril from Malaysia, Hakukun from Taiwan and I have climbed all the way to the top of Mount Fuji in the early morning of July 23rd 2009. We reached the summit at 3,756m (bolded for proudness). The true highest point though is 3,776m, at the other side of the crater (Mt Fuji is an inactive volcano), and we couldn't make it there due to bad weather. Just 20 more meters, gah!

(Thanks to Jasril and Hakukun for some of the pics!)



At 9:40 am on 22nd July, we boarded the Keio bus from Shinjuku station. There was a confusion earlier at the ticket counter coz a lot of guides say it's the Kawaguchiko 5th station, but there's no such station. Tell them you wanna go to the Mt Fuji 5th Station.



Both of them slept in the bus, but I was too excited to sleep.



The weather that day was bad, but we had no choice as Hakukun already took leave from his part-time job just for this event.



This is Fuji-kyu Highland, an amusement park very near Mount Fuji. It was even featured in the Amazing Race 9th season. You can watch it here.



And here we are, Fuji-san 5th station. A tourist trap for those who forgot to bring stuff. You can buy those here at very high prices, just for you mr. tourist sir!



But one thing that you gotta get are these, wooden walking sticks. I recommend not to bring your own, you will know why later.



Toilets from here up will cost 100 yen to enter. What? A middle-aged lady at the counter? That's so yesterday!



Gotta practice skiing for the downhill descent.



And the journey starts here! Let's go!



We could also ride a horse all the way to the 7th station, but what's the point then?



The new Windows wallpaper.



It was strange at first coz the road was going downhill. Are we on the right track?



Yes we are! The blind man says so.



I know we're gonna see amazing stuff, but a UFO? No way!



Of course, there were many others climbing with us, especially those packed with tour guides and what not. Come August, it'll be more crowded thanks to the summer holidays.



Felt paranoid throughout the journey. I mean, one of these big rocks could just slip and BAM!



Less than an hour into the journey and we reached the 6th station @ 2,390m above sea level.



The view here is superb. I saw some people who just came to this point to enjoy the scenery and went back down.



The climb from the 6th to the 7th station was on a steady uphill slope all the way.



Special thanks to these construction workers who help build, er, stuff to prevent landslides, making it safe for people to climb the hill safely during the summer. Especially that shovel guy.



Thought I'd practice my kendo on the way there. Hakukun was so bad-ass with that cigarette.



What's nice about this climb is that you can see your next destination, which is a lineup of mountain huts nearly all the way to the summit. Motivated me to climb further and further!



7th Station GET! We're now 2,700m above sea level, if the sign isn't obvious enuff :P



Mt Fuji was too kind until now, now he (she?) throws in a bunch of knee-height rocks to climb, all the way to the 8th station. And it has started to rain too. Evil!



I used all my shaman magic to stop the rain, but to no avail.



Was too tired to take pictures during the rock climb, but here we are! The 8th station at a whopping 3,100m above sea level.



All these mountain huts are tourist traps for those who didn't bring enough food along the way. Well, at least they can warm up your body, unlike my energy bars.



We rested enough, and it was getting dark. Our reserved mountain hut is a long ways from here, so we better get a move on.



Oh, before I forget, at prominent stations you can have your walking stick chopped! That will be clear proof that you made it that far. And that's why the wooden walking stick rocks.



The trail was on the east side, so of course we won't be able to see the sunset clearly.



Well, what d'ya know!



Love this picture, but forgot to switch on the flash :(



Alah, Jasril had a better picture of himself with the sunset. At-- at least I had more clouds!



And finally we reached our reserved mountain hut, Mt Fuji Hotel @ 3,400m. The temperature was a cold freezing 6 degrees celcius.



Nothing like a nice warm meal after that tiring climb! Hakukun was complaining about how expensive and *little* the food was, but what do you expect when you're waaaaaay up here!



We only had one-pillow width of space to sleep, but at least they had warm blankets and sleeping bags to prevent you from hugging each other. Phew!



YAWN! Had to wake up at 1:30 am if you wanna make it in time for the sunrise. What's worse is that we couldn't sleep well at all, with the racket caused by incoming visitors hour after hour. At least I was awake enough to ask Hakukun to take this picture!



Woo we're all fired up, let's go!!!!!



It was dark and cold rain water kept hitting my face.



But at least we were not alone. In fact, at some point we even had to queue up! That's right, it's like queuing up for doughnuts! Japanese people just love queuing. Most guides out there say this is part of the unique Mt Fuji experience. I have to agree.



The 9th station at 3,600m above sea level, but no time for celebration. A little more to go!



I have a bad feeling about this weather, especially when we reach the top.



And wow, we have made it to the summit! Hakukun and Jasril reached first, while I arrived an hour later. They have the stamina of a horse!

To no surprise, the summit greeted us with souvenir shops and vending machines, so very Japanese. Quite anti-climatic, but all I had in my mind was food and a warm place to rest.



This is one of the many souvenir shops cum restaurant lined up at the summit. Problem with these places is that even if it's raining outside, they'll chase you out after a while unless you order more (expensive) food. But until then, we rested as much as we could.



These are faces of three very satisfied gentlemen. Yoku ganbarimashita!



And now it's time for the sunrise! Wooooooo.... so where's the sun?



Sigh, to our disappointment it was raining so heavily that we couldn't even catch a glimpse of the sun through the clouds. It was also around zero degrees celcius and we were chased out of the resting area, so just imagine what horrible depression we went through at that time.



So the next thing to do is to go around the crater to the highest point at 3,776m right? Well we tried, but we saw no one going there. The winds were gusty, it was raining and visibility was horrible, we had to give up for fear of our safety :(

Of course we could wait for the weather to clear up, but no chance in hell are we gonna wait in the cold freezing rain! And we had a 2 o'clock bus to catch, bought the tickets already.



One thing's for sure though, I was at the summit @ 3,756m and am damn proud of it!



Oh, almost forgot! A chop on my walking stick :)



And now the downhill climb. For me, it was worse than the ascent coz I already had a blister on my left toe at the start of the descent. Imagine the pain I had to go through everytime I set my left foot on the ground!



You might have noticed a plot of snow on the mountain in the first picture. Now it's right in front of me!



Oh, how nice. *moves on* Ow, my left toe!



The weather started to clear up early in the descent.



This is God's way of saying "Hah, in your face! You should've waited!"



Well, God gave a lot of breathtaking scenery anyhow.



And I wanna be part of it!



At every rest, I had to open my shoes and cool down my exasperatingly painful left toe.



Meanwhile, Jasril went hours ahead of me and took pictures with cute girls. Way to go wei!



You know you're close to your goal when you see vegetation!



And GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!! Yahooooo, I did i--- *faint*



No time to celebrate though. Had to write a bunch of postcards to family and friends before the bus arrives. Actually there's a post office near the highest point, but due to bad weather we couldn't make it. Postcards sent from there will have the Mt Fuji Summit special chop.

Oh well, a few of you guys have to settle with the Mt Fuji 5th Station chop. Sorry!

Well all in all it was an amazing experience. I'm pretty sure that's the most extreme thing I've ever done in my life, apart from climbing the giants in Shadow of the Colossus. I suggest those who come to visit Japan during the summer to give this a try!

Who said unhealthy fat guys can't climb mountains? Rubbish!