On July 8, 2014, I arrived in Japan with one big goal in mind: climb Mt. Fuji and watch the sunrise from the summit.
Instead, I found myself climbing into the edge of Super Typhoon Neoguri. The weather deteriorated overnight, bringing violent wind, hail, freezing conditions, and almost no visibility. I eventually reached the summit, but the wind was so strong that I couldn't even walk around the crater.
Looking back, continuing toward the summit after the mountain-hut staff warned us not to go was a terrible decision. I was lucky to make it down safely, and this story should be read as a record of what happened, not as an example of how to climb Mt. Fuji.
This is the photo essay from those two days on the mountain, followed by the much quieter day I spent recovering around Lake Kawaguchiko.
Arriving in Japan
As I arrived at Haneda International Airport at 11 PM on July 8th, 2014, I quickly grabbed a bus and headed to Shinjuku Bus Station where the capsule hotel I booked was located.
For the first time in my travels, I had never felt this safe before. I was walking at 1 AM, asking strangers for directions with ease. In no time, I was able to find the hotel, checked in, and went straight to bed.
The Journey to Mt. Fuji
Since the hotel is right by the Shinjuku bus station (exact location), I was able to catch an early bus at 8:45 AM to the Subaru 5th Station. About an hour and a half in, I was greeted with the first sight of Mt. Fuji from afar.
Day 1: Climbing Toward the Storm
I left everything except the essentials at a locker in the 5th station before I headed out at 11:30 AM. Such a nice day to climb, isn't it? In my defense for climbing Mt Fuji during a typhoon, it doesn't look like the typhoon would hit Mt. Fuji at all.
The walk started out simply with a beautiful landscape and vegetation.
After an easy walk, the trail became steeper and steeper, and in no time, it was like this. I had to climb this with the support of my two hands.
As I approached the 7th station, I was met with a few supply stops. They did have a lot stocked up there, but the price was almost twice the price at the fifth station. A small bottle of water cost around 250 Y (2.5 USD).
Arrived at the 7th station, but unfortunately, the mountain hut I booked is at the 8th station, which is still 2 more hours away.
There were shrines scattered along the trail to add a little spice to the barren-like landscape that is Mt. Fuji.
I was finally at the same level as the snowcap (what was left of it anyway) on Mt. Fuji.
I could feel the summit calling to me!
By 4:30 PM, I arrived at the Fujisan mountain hut near the 8th station. Since I had to wake up at 2:00 AM for the sunrise, I ate dinner and went straight to bed. I was unable to sleep until almost 8 PM because of people walking in and out and probably due to the altitude. I was breathing heavily all night. It was part of the experience, though, and I was expecting it to be more crowded than what I experienced.
And as I lay there with hundreds of people, the super typhoon crept up on us at night and picked up speed around 11 PM. I knew in my mind that tomorrow would be a big problem for us, but I hoped it would just be mountain weather in the evening.
Day 2: Into the Typhoon
The staff woke me at 2 AM. By then, the wind was shaking the windows and doors of the mountain hut, and most climbers had abandoned their summit plans. The staff strongly warned us not to continue. A British couple, two Swedish travelers I had met at dinner, both named Johan, and I nevertheless decided to try.
Looking back, we should have listened. At the time, we told ourselves we could turn around if conditions became impossible, and we set off into the storm.
The wind was raging like crazy as we went higher and higher. Instead of rain, hail started to hit our faces like a bullet. There were few to no shelters along the way, so we literally had to crawl up because the wind would just knock us off our feet if we stood straight.
From the map, there were supposed to be 2 stops where we could find shelters (The 9th station and the summit), but it was all a lie. The 9th station was simply an abandoned lodge submerged under a landslide, while at the summit, the mountain hut was completely closed.
Many people we saw along the way abandoned at the 9th station. To tell you the truth, I was also going to accept defeat when I saw the 9th station, but as I looked up, I saw the sign saying that I was only 800m away from the summit. 800! So yes, we went on and on.
Our dreams of grabbing a hot coffee at the summit were shattered when we saw no signs of living things. As we reached the top, we also ran out of shelters from the wind since there were no side mountains blocking it from hitting us full force. At that point, I was unable to blink because everything on my face was numb, so the water from melted hail kept getting into my eyes.
We attempted to find the crater, but we were literally knocked back by the wind and unable to walk any further. We decided that we had already accomplished what we could, so we got the hell out of there and went down as fast as we could.
My goal at that point was simply to get down and get warm. I descended far too quickly, running and sliding over volcanic ash while the wind continued to hammer the mountain. Several times, gusts pushed me forward near exposed sections of the trail. It was reckless, and I was extremely lucky not to be injured.
As I was descending as fast as I could, the hail turned into raindrops, and the wind became more bearable. It took me only 3 hours to reach the Subaru 5th station from the summit. I retrieved all my belongings from the locker and hurriedly left Mt. Fuji as the wind continued to rage.
The Day After the Storm
Yay! I survived! And this is how I celebrated. Dancing in the rain. :)
I walked around this quiet town for a bit in the rain and noticed this well-designed sewer cover. As it turned out, every town in Japan has its own design for the sewer cover that shows what the town is known for. It's these little details that made me fall in love with Japan so much!
Denn's Inn also allows you to rent a bike to cycle around the lake, but since I was heading to Tokyo at the end of the day, I decided to walk around instead.
The day after the storm. I can't imagine what it would look like from here, with the typhoon raging at the summit.
I was still stunned that I had climbed Mt. Fuji in those conditions and walked away unharmed. It wasn't skill. I had been extremely lucky.
Walking Along Lake Kawaguchiko
Katrin and I decided to walk along the lake together and count how many photos we could take of Mt. Fuji. As it turned out, there were a lot.
Saiko Iyashino-Sato Nenba
We split here as Katrin went for a bike ride around the lake, and I was following the footsteps of a photographer I admired (Trey Ratcliff) to Saiko Iyashino-Sato Nenba, an ancient village located near Lake Saiko.
The village was surrounded by mountains and lakes. Very isolated.
One thing I learned was that in Japan, when the temperature is at 30+ degrees Celsius, resisting an ice cream cone is futile.
The Japanese people really do know how to decorate their gardens.
A beautiful shrine amidst the forest.
Being goofy in front of a camera is my thing, man. :)
This village offers a great viewpoint of Mt. Fuji but without the tourists.
This was the exact spot Trey took when he was here. It took me a while to find where this was, but it was all worth it. The place has a great composition of the village and the bell that puts Mt Fuji into perspective.
I only had a limited amount of time at the village, so after taking a few more photos, I caught the retro bus back to the station and headed for Tokyo.
And that was the end of the first part of my Japan journey: a typhoon on Mt. Fuji, a quiet recovery around Kawaguchiko, and a very hard lesson about knowing when to turn back. From here, I headed back to Tokyo for the next part of the trip.
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5 Comments
I couldn't believe your story because I had a similar experience climbing Fuji when visiting a friend in Japan. We had both never climbed any mountains before and were completely uninformed and unprepared for climbing. I was wearing jeans and inadequately clothed. We both had a bottle of wine in our backpacks which we thought we would celebrate with at the summit. I even packed a dress that I was going to change into at the summit and take a photo (yes...dumb). When we got there, we were a bit alarmed by the suggestion that we should buy supplementary oxygen, but we decided against it. We were also alarmed by the people who were dressed in "gear" which we didn't have and also alarmed to see that some climbers had guides and organized climbing groups. We didn't think to get a guide and decided just to go up ourselves. I was not expecting the thin air to effect me so much, but after Hut 9 I began to really suffer. Four steps...stop...breathe. etc. We saw two groups of climbers descend after Hut 9 and I asked them what was happening. They said their guides made the executive decisions to abort due to gale force winds above us. It was very windy already, but I had no idea it would get so much worse. We had summit fever (so close to the top!) so we decided to continue despite others turning back. I almost got blown off the mountain near the summit. I remember at one point clinging to a rockface like a starfish for 5 minutes as I waited for the winds to die down so that I could inch my way to a safer substrate. I was really fearful and thought "I'm going to die in a foreign country." In the end we made it up to the summit slowly. The top was such a relief and then suddenly the winds died down and we were able to descend in peace! When we both got back to the bottom we were exhausted. As we repacked our bags...guess what we found....two unopened bottles of wine!
Wow beautiful photos and it is great that you survived the typhoon! After reading this post I am thinking of doing an overnight at Fuji ^_^
You should! It is certainly possible. From the 835 station to the summit, it doesn't take that long given there's no super typhoon in between you and the summit haha.
Fantastic photos and a "page turning" post!!! But no local authorities warnings or advices about the typhoon whatsoever?
There was an approximate arrival time, but the day I began was all sunny and clear and I thought the next day would be the same before the typhoon set in. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Haha.