How to Climb Mt. Fuji

Hey guys! Today I'm going to give everyone a quick rundown on how to climb Mt. Fuji.

Mt. Fuji (The largest standing Mountain in Japan) is only open during the summer months since most of the year the Mountain has snow covering the summit. The most popular way to climb the Trail is the Yoshida Trail starting at the 5th Station, you can take a bus from Fujikawaguchiko (富士河口湖) to the 5th Station where you can climb to the Summit within a day. Although this way is popular, another way (and the way that I would recommend) is starting from the shrine where people who did the pilgrimage thousands of years ago started. Sengen Shrine (浅間神社) is the name of this shrine. From there it is about a 20 mile hike to the summit. this took me about 8 hours.

Since I went during the first weekend of the Climbing season, weather on the mountain changed about every 5-10 minutes the higher I got. One moment it was raining and the next it would be snowing, then it would be clear! By the time I hit the summit (頂上) it was -1C (about 27F). The reason I chose to do the long pilgrimage was to challenge my endurance and to say I climbed the entirety of Mt. Fuji.


WHEN YOU CLIMB FOLLOW THE 3 POINT RULE!!!!!! This rule means always have 3 points of contact on the mountain at all times! Mt. Fuji is a very steep and dangerous mountain if you are not careful. There are parts of the mountain where you have to climb over rocks! make sure you come equipped with gear that has good grip so you don't slip!

Another big thing when it comes to climbing the mountain is making sure you have enough food and water. Pack enough food as if you are going for multiple days as you do burn energy up quickly and each station's food can be quite expensive.

The last thing I wanted to quickly cover was about one thing that is a must do when Climbing Mt. Fuji, to watch sunrise! I climbed in the dark overnight to make it to the top of the Mountain in order to be able to watch sunrise from the top!

If you plan on Climbing Mt. Fuji while in Japan here's a small list of things you can refer to when packing to go:
-Multiple days worth of food and Water
-Warm Change of clothes
-Heavy snow gear (It is freezing up top with the windchill!)

-Camera (It's an unreal view up at the top)
-a Cool Change of clothes (for when you go back to the bottom because it can be upwards of 40C (100F) in Japan during the summer!
 -Good Grip Shoes
-Flashlights (For nighttime hiking)