We've done some pretty neat adventures in our lives but this one was truly unique and super cool. Visiting Japan and climbing Mt. Fuji had been high on our list for a very long time, but dealing with the huge crowds was always a deterrent. Considered a sacred place by the Japanese, well over 200,000 people make the journey up Fujisan every year, the vast majority in July and August when the mountain is actually "open" for hiking. In order to avoid sharing the trails with hoards of 3,000+ people per day (and to have some fun skiing on the way down) we decided to go in May before the official season begins and the very best month of the year for this kind of endeavor. The timing needs to be just right and having the proper gear is a must. Japan also had an excellent snow year this winter so everything was shaping up quite nicely for a longer than usual ski descent.
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| 6:15 AM at trailhead ~7,800' with Kenichi Minegishi |
We found a terrific ski/mountain guide named Kenichi Minegishi who speaks very good 'Engrish' and whom we highly recommend (Instagram: @guide_kintoun and email: coastmountain72@gmail.com). Kenichi picked us up at our hotel in Hakone Gora (a beautiful mountain resort area only ~2 hours from Tokyo by train including a bullet train segment) at 4:30 AM and we drove 90 minutes to the trailhead of the Fujinomiya Route. We parked at about 7,800' and after getting our skis strapped onto our packs, we started hiking at 6:15. The weather was perfect with clear skies, mild Spring temps and low winds. Kenichi had attempted to summit Fuji twice this season but in both cases he was turned around by harsh conditions. Just three days prior to our attempt, he encountered a snowstorm and 75+ mph winds and only got about halfway up.
We were grateful for our ideal conditions, and after an hour and a half and about 1,000 vertical feet of hiking, the trail became steeper and now entirely covered in snow. At this point we swapped our trail shoes for ski boots and crampons and continued up. Along the way we saw the various mountain "stations" which were all closed and partially buried in snow. At these outposts you can buy hot ramen and stay overnight in July and August when the mountain is technically open.
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| Torii gate just below the crater rim ~12:30 PM |
After about 4 1/2 hours of climbing from our boot/crampon spot, we reached the iconic torii gate just below the crater rim. Climbing for another 15 mins and about 200 vertical feet to 12,389', we reached the summit of Mt. Fuji!
It was now 12:45, time for a small sandwich, photos, and the super fun part - clicking into our bindings for the ski descent! Kenichi is an excellent skier and guide in Hokkaido and the Japan Alps for powder hounds seeking the famous JAPOW in January and February. He has also climbed and skied a surprisingly long list of the same mountains around the world that we have climbed and/or skied as well (Denali, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro and skiing in Switzerland, Chamonix, Whistler & Utah to name a few).
...back to the top of Mt. Fuji, the conditions were ripe so I knew Kenichi would be up for doing something I thought would make an already unique experience even more extraordinary- skiing down INTO the crater of Mt. Fuji! The last time this volcano erupted was 318 years ago, so we should be good I figured. Kenichi needed absolutely no convincing. The drop in from the crater rim near the summit was steeper than I'm used to skiing at Powder Mountain, and falling would be suboptimal, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Luckily there were no mishaps and I didn't even mind the extra climbing required to get back up and out of the crater. It was already a long day with over 4,500 vertical feet of climbing, so we didn't ski all the way down into the depths of the crater. But we did ski enough turns to crank up the Fuji fun factor. It was well worth it and Kenichi was stoked too.
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| Me and Kenichi getting psyched up to drop into the crater! |
Then we hiked back up to the crater rim and completed the requisite fist bump. Now it was time for the true reward for hauling all of our gear to the top of Mt. Fuji. A 3,000+ vertical foot descent on skis taking a fraction of the time and effort required to hike back down. We still had to hike down the last ~1,000 or so vertical feet carrying our skis and we returned to the trailhead around 4:30, only ~10 hours round trip. With thanks to Kenichi and the weather gods, a bucket list adventure to climb and ski Mt. Fuji, while reaching our 33rd country high-point, is now complete.
