'Team building'- a 'catch cry' term familiar to many of us. It is indeed, a wonderful thing when living in a foreign country on an overseas posting!! Even better when, technically, you're not even part of the team, except in a support role. It has meant many dinners out and lots of fun activities, including beach parties and Hash running at an unofficial level. With a visit to Japan from a major team leader an event, which involved climbing Mt Fuji, was organised.
Steve had put both our names down but, unfortunately, his knee ultimately prevented him from participating. Disappointingly Steve had withdrawn our names. Initially I thought, 'Oh well, that's it!' and then I thought why not? With encouragement from work mates, at a team dinner in Yokohama on the Wednesday night, I decided to join the group of thirty-five people, mostly unknown to me, and climb the iconic Japanese mountain. At the dinner, Moses was 'over the top' explaining where the summit is....up here....at the top!!!
I was a late entry on the Thursday and the walk was on the Friday!! The group included people from, not only Steve's team, but the Japan based company as well. The plan was to meet at Shinagawa station by 7.30am to catch the bus. I left home by about 6.20am which gave me plenty of time to catch a train to Yokohama then another one to Shinagawa. Each hiker had received a complimentary hiking jacket, hydration pack and head lamp complete with the project logo. Obviously all transport, food and accommodation costs had been covered. I had bought my pack etc from Australia so I was well equipped. The day before I had got some new wick dry leggings and bought a few nibbles. All participants had undertaken an orientation program except me. Steve had completed it on my behalf. As a bit of an outsider I naturally was a little nervous joining the group. This nervousness was magnified when, much to my horror, the sole suddenly fell off my hiking boot as I was approaching the bus. I felt like an unprepared fool arriving with the boot in my hand.
A tearful phone call to Steve left me no closer to a solution. Shops don't open until 10am in Japan and I was told quite clearly the bus would not be stopping on the way. I decided to go anyway, not prepared to give up at this stage. If I didn't find a solution I could stay with the base team at a Fitness Resort.
The trip to our starting point, the 5th Station, took about 4 hours. Four hours spent pondering my predicament. I was sitting with Moses, the work mate of Steve's who had encouraged me to join, who comes from Borneo. Moses kindly offered me his new Nike hiking boots and said because he was from Borneo he could walk barefoot...as if!!! As it turns out, over the weekend, he was the man!!!....regularly carrying packs for others in his group when they were flagging. No.....he didn't carry mine! He was in a different group.
As soon as we arrived at our destination I raced to the closest shop. There was about half an hour before the hike started. Much to my surprise I found a pair of Chinese runners. They were 2 sizes too big and naturally poor quality. I parted with 1700 yen, very cheap, and decided I would just wear an extra pair of socks and see how it panned out. As I was returning to the group I noticed some other shops. What the heck.... you never know!! One shop only sold food but in the next shop I found another pair of daggy runners, still a bit big, that I purchased for 2800 yen as back up. As I was leaving the shop, imagine my excitement when, I saw proper walking boots for sale. They were way too small but I managed to communicate my desire for a larger pair. The shopkeeper hurried off and came back with another pair. Quickly I tried them on. They seemed to fit quite well, so with the 'thumbs up' signal I kept them on, got a refund for the runners I had just bought and ran back to the group. Not the ideal way to buy such an important piece of equipment but what choice did I have? My newly acquired Goretex boots, Mont-Bell's, turned out to be a creditable brand that did not let me down.No blisters, no pressure points...amazing!
Climbing Mt Fuji is a unique experience that only 1% of the Japanese ever experience. There is an old saying about Mt Fuji-
"If you never climb Mt Fuji you are a fool, and if you climb it more than once you are a fool". Others have been known to say '"Fuji-san is a mountain only for looking at; not a mountain for climbing". Obviously people who say this are part of the 99%. Mt Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan (3776 meters) and is an active volcano. It is said that about 300,000 people climb it every year, many of these foreigners.
The ascent does not pose any major difficulties which require specialised climbing skills, but the terrain is rocky and steep. Many sections are chained and the scree can be very unstable. Warning signs alert you to sudden rock falls and wind gusts. The main challenge of the climb is the fact that it is very strenuous and the air gets notably thinner as you gain altitude. Lots of bike riding, hash running and walking ensured my physical fitness level was good.
After a briefing with the guides, the customary group photos and warm up session two groups took off. Everyone had purchased their official Fuji-san staff to assist in the climb and to also have stamped at every station.
We started in very warm weather and as lightly clad as possible. The initial part of the track was fairly flat and very busy because of school holidays. Many of the outfits of the seemingly hundreds, if not thousands, of climbers were a constant source of entertainment. For a mere 12,000 yen ($160.00) you could even get carried on horseback for the first little bit. Surely this service is only for people out on a day trip. If you needed horseback assistance here you wouldn't bother continuing.
The climb to the top is broken into ten stations with most people starting at Station 5. There are many mountain huts located between 5th station and the summit. Drinks and food are sold in the huts, but they are expensive. As we got higher the price of food and water increased. In my opinion, a small price to pay if you don't have to carry all the required water.
It usually costs about 5,000 yen to 7,000 yen ($65.00-$90.00) to spend a night in a mountain hut. They get extremely crowded and it's recommended to make a reservation. Most of mountain huts at Mt. Fuji are open only during the official climbing season (July-August). A short break at each station allows the body to adjust to the increasing altitude and time to purchase the stamps, which are burned on the staffs. The cost of each stamp is 200 yen ($2.60) and some stations had two stamps available. Pretty good turnover during the climbing season, if 300,000 people climb each year.
I had purchased my staff for 1200 yen and had proudly bought about ten stamps, when in typical 'Jenny fashion' I accidentally left mine behind at the 7th Station. Realizing too far up the track I was not allowed to return. An expensive stick to lose, I say (3200 yen or $43.00AUD)!! One of the lovely girls in our team, Juri, gave me hers in spite of my protestations. So many times in this life I really make myself cross!
As we ascended the temperature gradually dropped and, of course, the light began to fade. We had left the 5th Station at 1.30pm and our progress was very slow. Often we had to wait for the hordes of people ahead of us. The steep and rocky terrain further slowed the pace.
By the time you had a toilet stop (which cost 200 yen each time), had your staff stamp burned on and bought water (300 yen at the lower altitudes to 450 yen at the higher stations) your rest time at each station was soon over. The official guides led each group and the back leader, as we call them at school, was a person from the team who had Fuji experience. Our guide was on his 18th Fuji climb for the season, a season only 5 weeks old. My climbing buddy was Akinori, a delightful Japanese man, who was our designated back leader.
We trekked on throughout the afternoon and added layers as the temperature decreased. The views were spectacular and difficult to describe.......beautiful, awesome, picturesque, stunning..... Tokyo could be glimpsed in the distance and lakes, plains and undulating countryside lay below. The surface of the mountain often resembled a moonscape, with steep slopes of scree and pumice stone, and overall was very barren with a lack of any significant vegetation.
As we climbed higher we appeared to be perched on cotton wool and as the sun settled the sky turned pink. Before we knew it we were deploying our head lamps and our climbing continued in the dark.
As we climbed we could see each of the stations above us. They seemed so close but the track zig-zagged on its way up.
As already mentioned, it was at the 7th Station that I left my 'stick' behind. The journey between the 7th and 8th stations was definitely 'the straw that broke the camel's back' for many walkers. Halfway between the two stations I began to develop a headache and started to feel nauseous. I had been noticing for a while that my stomach was feeling very bloated (air expansion) and, probably, I was not concentrating on my breathing as I should have been. At this stage it was also important to slow down your movements to sufficiently compensate for the lack of oxygen. Anyway, the short story is, I succumbed to altitude sickness. Lying on the track retching and with little energy, I would happily have stopped and rested where I landed. Enter....
team support!! Initially some of my team mates sat with me, encouraged me to breathe deeply and egged me on. I was then relieved of my pack and given some high energy food bars. After a short recuperation I would move on another 20 steps or so, then stop and repeat the process. Finally I had a few puffs of aerosol oxygen and ultimately I felt an arm under each armpit as I was virtually air lifted to the 8th Station. The time about 9.30pm. What a day!!!
Once again, I was annoyed with myself but felt a little less demoralised when I discovered another member of the team, who was on his third Fuji climb, had also succumbed. A meal was waiting at the hut but unfortunately I felt too disgusting to have anything but a few nibbles of rice. The little sausages and curry didn't appeal at all. The station was named 'Fuji-san Hotel', a very regal name for a humble, but cosy, mountain hut. At about 10.30pm I found a bunk, crawled in and finally went horizontal but, as to be expected, sleep alluded me. The bunk was quite comfortable with a 'futon like' mattress and lovely thick blanket and small pillow. I was glad to release my down puffer jacket from its stuff bag and cuddle up with it.
The plan was to rise at 1.00am and have an early breakfast before beginning the final ascent. Not one to miss out, I dragged my still nauseous self out of the warm bunk, popped an anti nausea tablet and attempted to eat breakfast......more rice, tuna and some strange tasting topping....not a 'happening thing' except for a few mouthfuls of rice. In preparation for the zero degree temperature, at the top and on the climb up, everyone layered up. By 1.30am about 20 of our 35 were ready to leave, many had decided the night before that they would not proceed.
The group split in two.....the ones who wanted to climb around the crater and those who were happy to stop at the summit above. I opted for the 2nd group. The track rose steeply and the surface was loose. Within a couple of hundred metres two climbers had returned home...victims to continuing altitude effects. I was the next victim to be overcome with continuing weakness, lack of desire and I suspect just plain tiredness. After receiving strict instructions on how to descend I was left to find my way back to the hut in the dark. Once back in the hut I quickly fell into bed again and really didn't give a damn whether I saw the sunrise at 4.00am or not.
At 6.30am, before the summit walkers returned, those still at the hut began the descent back to Station 5 . The return trip was more like a slide in many places and it was commonplace to see people falling backwards onto their behinds. By the time we returned to the bottom the sun was shining brightly, the temperature was back up again and all the layers had been shed. In the end eleven of the original thirty-five starters reached the summit.
The whole experience was excellent; the group camaraderie and support was terrific and the organisation was 'spot on'. We enjoyed a lovely shower and a celebratory meal at the Fitness Resort below the mountain. Each person was acknowledged and presented with a certificate to mark the occasion. It also gave me the opportunity to thank my rescuers, one of whom was Akinori, my trusty 'buddy'!!!
I am definitely glad I climbed Fuji-san but probably will not attempt it again. At this stage I can't say I will never attempt it again, that's a bit definite. You just never know..........there is always next year!!!!!! The mountain will still be there and, as far as I am concerned, it is there to be climbed and looked at!
As they were looking..... I was climbing!!
This photo was taken by Bek on a day trip in our new car.
