Second Winter Fatality on Mt. Fuji

 

Sadly, another climber died while on Mt. Fuji last Monday morning. A Japanese man in his thirties was descending near the 9.5 station about 8:30 am when he fell, then slid about 1.5 km on ice and struck rocks near the Hoei Crater, resulting in his death. His body was recovered by a police rescue team. 

And that’s not the end of the story for that day. A foreign tourist in his 30’s who was also descending the mountain, witnessed the Japanese man’s fall before he also fell at about 3,670 meters. He slid over 1,400 meters in about 1.5 minutes. According to his GPS watch, his average speed during the slide was 60 km/h, with a maximum speed of 78 km/h. He came to a stop when he collided with rocks near the Hoei Crater, injuring his leg, tearing his clothes and backpack, and scattering his gear. It took two hours for him to crawl and find his phone to call for help. It took another two hours for a police helicopter to rescue him. He is recovering in the hospital. 

There are risks involved in climbing Mt. Fuji, especially when the mountain is closed to climbers. This is a sad ending.