Climbing Fuji

Then you should follow the signs that say Yoshidaguchi trail.

Don't follow the signs that say "Subashiri Trail".

Just stick to the left.. when you come to an area where it branches into two trails... stick to the left!

Bess, you can leave your lugage if you stay at a hut "Tomoekan" on the 8th station. They keep lugages for free for the hut guests.

Tomoekan is located near the ascending & descending trails of Kawaguchigo-guchi, yoshida-guchi, sugashiri-guchi.

There are some more huts where you can leave your luggage but Tomoekan is the only one hut that I can remember.

I think you'd be mad if you lug your luggage all the way up to the 8th station... that's just my opinion anyways.. But some people do carry their bicycles to the top..and ride back down.. and people do carry cans of pop to the summit to replenish the vending machines.. but...i will take a picture of you if i saw you and your luggage.. :)

I'll be in Tokyo from Jul,31 to Aug, 16. I would also like to climb fuji san, but would like to join somebody else... any invitation?

I'll be leaving shinjuku for Fuji on the 10:50 am bus the 2:nd august. Let me know if you are interested.

/Trond

I'm climbing Fuji on the 14th... If anybody's interested.

Trond, do let us know how your climb went! I'm eager to read about it... =)

Dan, what month do you plan to climb?

I'll make sure to remember to write some review about how it went, but I'm not sure that'll happen before I'm back home (arount the 15:th of August)

I'm climbing July 30th. Alone. Taking the bus from Shinjuku, Slow climb from 230pm though. I'm not climbing from 10pm like some people..

hello,

does anyone has any idea of getting some climbing equipments, especially climbing stick on rent on 5th station or nearby fujisan.

Thanks,
Prasad

Dan,

I can climb the 14th. What is your schedule and plan? I was considering an overnight climb depending upon weather. I will be based out of Tokyo and taking a trip out to Fuji either the 13th or 14th. Message me at bands myspace if you have an account.

www.myspace.com/gradualmeltdown

Hi, is it 14th August you guys are talking about? I'm also planning to go then! Hoping to start going up at around noon, spend some hours in a hut and then go up the rest of the way for the sunrise. Any chance we can go together? I'm hoping to take the easiest (Kawaguchiko) trail.

Ello again, Dont think I want a picture taken of me with my bag.... haha, does anyone know if there are places to leave em at the bottom - like the 5th station? Theres gotta be right..

Hi, I'll be visiting Hakone on the 13th first. Then I plan to do a night climb on the 14th. I'll be staying at the Kawaguchiko guest house.

So 14th about 10pm... Would that fit? I want to do a night climb cos I want to avoid staying in the huts which are overpriced and quite dirty i heard, better off using the money to relax at an onsen after... =)

Good?

Pez,

You wanna consider doing a night climb? I'm taking the Kawaguchi trail too. I read that it's so crowded at this time that you literally have to stand in queue at some passages. So maybe we could set off slightly earlier. about 915pm, and hike at a more leisurely pace.

Do let me know...

If you leave at 10pm you will have to be reasonably fit and not rest a lot to make it by sunrise. I recommend giving yourselves at least another hour and taking it more slowly. Remember you will be going from sea level to 3,77m in less than 12 hours and the faster you do that the more likely you are to experience altitude sickness- headaches, nausea, difficulty breathing. It is not something to rush.

Both times I climbed it I left around 8.30pm and took plenty of rest stops outside the huts. I wouldn't have liked to stay in the huts- it didn't look very restful to me and the crowds outside the huts at about 2pm when everybody leaves for the summit have to be seen to be believed. It becomes like one long queue from the 8th station to the top.

If you get stuck in these crowds there is a good chance you won't make it to the top by sunrise- I know lots of people who this has happened to, and they were very frustrated by not being able to move due to the crowds. Having left a bit earlier my friends and I were able to stay in front of the big crowds and made it to the top comfortable before sunrise.

Hi Sira,

Thanks for the very useful advice! I'll leave about 830pm from the 5th station then. I would like to take it at a more leisurely pace.

Did you have any problems descending? Did u try the subashiri sand slide down?

I'm not too sure which route to take down. Buti'll probably buy a Fuji Hakone pass, so I can take a Chuo bus back to Tokyo from Kawaguchiko. Any idea where I can get one?

Dan, I'm not too confident about doing it all in one go, so I'm planning to start quite early at a leisurely pace and reach a hut at around dinner time, eat, rest a few hours and then go up the rest of the way for the sunrise. So it seems like we'll be going at quite difference paces - but it'd be nice to meet at the top and say hi! :D

To go down, I'm thinking about taking one of the Shizuoka trails, as Uji suggested in the other thread, because they end closer to Hakone where I'll be staying for 2 days.

I meant 3,776m before, not 377m! ;-)

Yes, I have taken the Subashiri sand slide trail down- both times I climbed I went up from Kawaguchi-ko as it is supposed to be easier, and down Subashiri as it is closer to where I lived in Kanagawa.

It's quite fun for a while but it gets a bit tiring after having climbed all night. it's quite a fast way to go down- you can take big long steps! But you do have to be careful not to twist an ankle on small rocks under the sand and I had to stop every 10 mins or so to empty the sand out of my shoes.

After an hour and a half or so of that you reach the tree level and walk through forest trails for another hour and a half until you reach the Subashiri trail head where you can get hot drinks and some food and rest while you wait for the bus to Gotemba station.

It gets hotter and hotter as you go down and we were stopping every so often to take off a layer of clothes. The cloud also usually starts to roll up the mountain from about 7am so you spend a lot of time in mist until you get below it.

Yeah Pez,

It'd be totally cool to meet on the summit. But it'd be a challenge as there'll be thousands of other climbers as well. Maybe we could work out a system to meet at the post office or smt! Haha.

By the way, where are u staying in Hakone? I hope u found somewhere good to stay. I decided to stay in Kawaguchiko. And I'll be heading back to Shinjuku immediately after the climb. So i'll have to descend via the Kawaguchi trail.

(If anybody's thinking of climbing fuji on the 14 Aug about 830pm, do post a reaction. Maybe we could work smt out...)