7/25/2008

It is the official season for climbing Mount Fuji, 1st July - 31 August. The weather is perfect and the view is clear. It is during this season that experience and inexperience mountain climbers throng the Fuji. It is recommended that the inexperience climbers climb Mt. Fuji during this season as visibility is good and the weather less harsh.

There are five routes you can start out with to climb Mt. Fuji:

Kawaguchiko 5th Station (Yamanashi Prefecture)

Altitude: about 2300 meters
Ascent: 5-7 hours
Descent: 3-5 hours

This is the most popular base for the climb to the summit, and the most easily accessible 5th Station from the Fuji Five Lake region and central Tokyo. The road to this 5th Station, the Fuji Subaru Line, is a toll road (2300 Yen), which gets closed to private vehicles during the peak of the summer holidays (August 9 to 19 and 23 to 24, 2008).

The Yoshidaguchi Trail leads from the Kawaguchiko 5th Station to the summit. Lots of mountain huts line the trail around the 7th and 8th stations, and there are separate trails for the ascent and descent. The sunrise takes place on this side of the mountain.

Subashiri 5th Station (Shizuoka Prefecture)

Altitude: about 2000 meters
Ascent: 5-8 hours
Descent: 3-5 hours

This 5th Station is located only at 2000 meters above sea level and is the base of the Subashiri Trail. The Subashiri Trail meets the Yoshidaguchi Trail around the 8th station.

Gotemba 5th Station (Shizuoka Prefecture)

Altitude: about 1400 meters
Ascent: 7-10 hours
Descent: 3-6 hours

This is by far the lowest 5th Station, and the ascent to the summit is accordingly much longer than from the other 5th stations. The Gotemba Trail leads from the Gotemba 5th Station to the summit. There are about four huts around the 7th and 8th station.

Fujinomiya 5th Station (Shizuoka Prefecture)

Altitude: about 2400 meters
Ascent: 4-7 hours
Descent: 2-4 hours

The closest 5th Station to the summit, the Fujinomiya 5th Station is the base for the southern approach via the Fujinomiya Trail. It is easily accessible from the railway stations on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line between Tokyo and Osaka. There are about half a dozen mountain huts along this trail.

The road to the Fujinomiya 5th Station is toll free and gets closed to private vehicles during the peak of the climbing season (July 15-17 and August 5-14, 2006).

This website is a good place to start if you want to contact an operator for your Mt Fuji expedition: Viator. It sets out from Tokyo, which is convenient for all.

For more resources, click here.