Climbing Mt. Fuji in May (closed season) [SUBTITLED]

[phishthefish]

Hope you guys realise how lucky you are.

[muldoony]

@phishthefish Hi, because of how dangerous it was or because of just having the opportunity to do this?

[phishthefish]

@muldoony The risk. The cold, the lack of proper clothing, sliding down the snow in an avalanche zone. Shit, you DID IT, can't deny that, but far more prepared and experienced climbers have met their end on Fuji when the treacherous off-season weather decided to throw them off into oblivion.

[muldoony]

@phishthefish It's a fair point. We weighed up the risk involved. The cold wasn't a threat - but otherwise, we're the kind of people that will look at the facts, (5-7 people have died doing it in the last decade out of - say - 4000 people? Very rough estimates) and decide to take that risk. It's not something I recommend to others.

[Nejra]

Please tell me, was it hard or are you guys just a bunch of pusies?

[muldoony]

@Nejra hah, 'mazing. As the video mentions, several people have died doing it, y'know?

[Nejra]

@muldoony I was kidding, it looks pretty hard but awsome. Going to Japan myself and I really want to climb mt Fuji, but it will be off season aswell...

Couple of questions, where there any cheap hotels close by camp 5? And is it possible to leave from Tokio to mt Fuji and climb it the same day? What else did you guys do in Japan?

[muldoony]

@Nejra

Camp 5? Very much doubt it. Definitely not during closed season. You wouldn't be able to go in one day from Tokyo either, we got up at 6am from our nearby town and it was sunset by the time we got back to Station 5.

[muldoony]

@Nejra

We were only in the country for 10 days, but we did (off the top of my head) Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, that Floating Tori thing, and some well known islands in the North I can't remember the names of.

If you want to read my blog post on the 10 days (it goes into more detail on the Mt. Fuji climb too) head to markmuldoon.blogspot.com and put Japan in the search box.

[LynxProductions12]

Hi,

Excellent Video!

A friend and I are considering climbing Fuji on the 16th of June, and I was wondering If you had any tips for us.

a. Are there rangers/police that bar you from hiking up, or is it just a matter of hopping over the gate?

and b. What transportation options are there? It looks like you guys hitched, but are there any buses in the off-season?

Cheers,

Lincoln

[muldoony]

@LynxProductions12

Hey there, thanks very much.

As the first part of the video mentions, it is safer to climb Mt Fuji in June, although the official climbing season won't have started yet.

In May, the entrance to go further up the mountain was closed off, but it was very easy to look around for another way in. There were some workmen about, but no actual rangers/police that tried to stop us.

[muldoony]

@LynxProductions12

To get to the 5th station where we started, we got a train to a nearby town, then walked, got a local bus, and hitched up as far as we could.

We nearly failed to hitchhike on the way back down, only three cars were left in the carpark when we made it back to station 5. We were incredibly lucky that the third car stopped and gave us a lift, we would have spent several more hours walking down the mountain had he not. Japanese people are wonderful!

[LynxProductions12]

@muldoony Great. Thanks for the advice!

sorry for the double post earlier... my bad

good luck on your future adventures!

L

[aloneinkudamatsu]

I just climbed the mountain, wish I could have slid down like that, though.

[dangerbay06]

Brilliant video muldoony! I will be climbing Fuji in June as well, and if what you say is true, it should be a blast! Thank you for sharing your experience with us Youtube viewers and soon enough, I may be able to share my summit experience with you.

Congratulations on the successful climb!

[overclocked28]

Excellent vid! Looks like you guys are having a lot of fun on your holiday. My wife and I will be attempting this climb the first week of June (weather permitting).

A few questions for you:

1) what are the trail conditions like? (snowed over, clearly visible, safe enough to climb at night?)

2) Did you need crampons or would simple hiking boots suffice?

[muldoony]

Hi Overclocked, thanks. In June it should be easier, services will probably have been resumed and more of the snow will have melted. A lot of it was snowed over and we barely used the trail, the station base points were clearly visible though. we went up with standard hiking boots. The mountain is packed in July and August with tourists, and you're not really supposed to climb it October to May, so timing wise you've probably picked very well. Feel free to come back with any other queries.

[overclocked28]

Thanks for the reply. Here is another:

Did you take the Kawaguchiko trail?

We were thinking of ascending that way and descending via the Fujinomya trail (we're going to Kyoto after Fuji). I'm not sure if buses make it up to the fifth station yet on the Fujinomiya side though.

[muldoony]

We went up and down the Fujinomya trail, it was the most convienient route as our base was Numazu in the south. If buses on any side are going up the mountain at all, they'll be going all the way to the fifth station.