Mt Fuji

On my 29th birthday, I climbed Mt Fuji. I've never been an outdoorsy type - but Nelecia wanted to do it as a Sayonara Japan thing, Jeremy has had it on his Japan bucket list for years, and as for me - I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could! It turned out a bunch of other friends wanted to give it a whirl too - so 9 of us got on a bus from Osaka at 7.40am and arrived at Station 5 at 5pm.

To prepare I'd done a few climbs - well...2 climbs (Mt Maya and Mt Tsurugi) and one hill walk. I bought all the equipment I thought I'd need. I read a few blogs. Then I just did it.

It was challenging, amazing, horrendous and traumatic all in one package.

Here are some horses that take people from stage 5 to 6. I felt really sorry for them as they look broken down and unhappy. The horses have to trot along very stony and slippery surfaces. I watched one on the way back, and they lose their footing and skid around. 

The first half was breezy. The view, the temperature and the terrain were fine. A little rocky, but nothing crazy. Being above the clouds was surreal. I've only seen views like that from an airplane, so that was mental just walking above this white sea.

I'm on Fuji. No big deal.

 

Nelecia - she arrived to the peak first.

Some of the gang.

The shadow of the peak, cast onto the cloud cover.

This pic shows the terrains you can expect when you climb. In the foreground is the red, volcanic slippery rock that is there the whole way climbing down.

It got darker, so we put our headlights on - and arrived to our scheduled rest spot on Station 8 at about 8.30pm. I was making good pace - I felt fit and happy.

We lay down in this crazy hut for what ended up being 2 hours rest. I used the first pay toilet on the trip (200yen). I thought I could have just gone on without the rest but as my heart started to palpitate I thought it was probably a good thing I was lying down.

We were awoken at 11pm and hustled out, given a small bento dinner to take with us as we left. We all had not eaten a proper meal since 2.30 that afternoon.

This was when things took a turn for the worse for me.

I started feeling nauseous as we left - I thought it was just my body adjusting to not being fed or slept. But it turned out as I got higher, the nausea got worse. I had altitude sickness.

Every step I took brought waves of nausea and what I can only describe as a malaise...imagine being cold, tired AND hung over. On a cold, dark, rocky mountain. I had started as a fit, healthy and happy human, and felt reduced to an elderly, vomity snail.

The higher I got, the worse I felt. But, I refused to give up.

In my head, I kept telling myself - get to the top! And the song "she'll be coming round the mountain when she comes" kept popping in my head too. I couldn't speak, but I had friends with me, spraying oxygen in my mouth when I looked like I needed it.

First glimpse of the sunrise

When I made it to the top, I cried out of sheer relief that it was over. As soon as I stopped on a level surface, the nausea left. Then, it was time for the descent.

                          

Fuji's paths are windy, rocky and crowded. On my ascent, I couldn't walk properly due to the overwhelming nausea. I ended up shuffling when it was the worst. I looked at my feet, at every single step. I refused to look up because for one I felt worse, and for two - it was depressing. The trail of headlights up the mountain was backed up right til the peak.

Here I am at the top. I thought I was smiling.

Jeremy, Amelia and Ooi-san. These people literally oxygenated, pushed, pulled and encouraged me up in my worst moments. I could not have done it without them.

The path down Fuji is completely different to the path going up. It is ALL slippery shingle, volcanic rocks and dust. For four hours. When you shuffle/slide down it, it kicks up volumes of dust that ends up everywhere. On the "stuff to take" lists I had read, it said to take a bandana...now I know why. I breathed in a fair share of the dust - maybe I'll grow an extra lung or something. When I came down the mountain my face and lips were hilariously blackened, panda style.

We HAD to catch a bus at 10am to leave - which meant we powered down that thing. Bear in mind we all had not eaten, and I gave up drinking due to the nausea and dust. We made our deadline. It was an amazing feeling and achievement, in my mind, to have conquered the mountain in the tight time frame we were given, considering the altitude sickness and lack of food. 

Would I do it again? Yes...if I could take time to acclimatise. I'd like to climb it during the day, and sleep somewhere overnight.

For anyone trying - don't ignore the equipment needed lists. Bring oxygen. Give your body a chance to acclimatise. Bring something to cover your mouth with for the dust. Don't be alone in case you get sick. And don't give up! If I can do it, so can you.