My Journey to Mt. Fuji
By Elena Lisina
At 5 kilometers from the Fifth Station, the Fujinomiya Trail is the shortest route to the summit of Mount Fuji. It takes an average time of 5 hours to reach the summit, and 3.5 hours to descend. At the beginning of the climbing season in July I went there to conquer Japan's most famous mountain. We arrived at the Fifth station early in the morning and allowed ourselves the recommended hour to adjust to the altitude, then began the ascent. Unfortunately strong winds made us decide to turn back at the Seventh Station, but it was still a great experience. Better luck next time!
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Find out more about Mount Fuji.
https://en.japantravel.com/shizuoka/fujinomiya-trail-part-1/59909
Our attempt was from the 5th Station of the Fujinimiya trail in Shizuoka, where there is a car park. Maybe no buses though - not sure. I think it was the weekend before the season officially started. We managed to make it up to the 7th station, but I think we were struggling with the altitude, and couldn't get our breath. I will take some canned oxygen next time.
On top of that, the wind was really strong and seemed to be getting worse as we climbed. We decided to turn back on reaching the 7th station after we saw a guy being carried down on a stretcher. He got blown off a ridge or something. We wondered if we had been too easy on ourselves then, because the sun came out and the wind slacked off. We passed lots of people who were still going up as we were coming down.
It was certainly cold, but I was working much too hard to feel it most of the time. Layers, a windbreaker with a hood, good solid boots (the lava rocks are extremely rough) and gloves definitely necessary.