Mount Fuji - Preparations

I think I'll spare a while to talk about things people need to summit Mount Fuji, or at least the things that people who've never climbed a mountain before need before they do so. This will probably be the first of two posts, but I'm pretty sure that I didn't see any of these items on any list on any site I visited, or at the very least the exact implications of why you'd need them weren't well explained.

A Friend

The singular, most important thing you can bring with you to Mount Fuji isn't a thing at all, but someone who can help you up when you've fallen down. Thing is, a lot of things can happen up there, and having someone around just in case something bad happens is about the best thing you can wish for. Your friend will watch your back, point out when you've mistaken the path, spur you on when you need to keep moving, and make sure you get around the mountain in one piece. It goes the other way too - both of you need to look out for each other. Both of you need to make it off the mountain.

Your mom probably told you to choose your friends wisely, and for climbing partners, you gotta choose even wiser. Sure you can bring anyone you trust up with you, but even still there are some qualities about a climbing buddy that will make the trip that much more smoother. A good climbing buddy...

Looks out for your health - A no-brainer, this is the main reason you bring someone up with you. If your climbing partner isn't even willing to do this... well, you need to find someone else.
Shares the same goals and attitude towards the climb - If one of you intends to summit, while the other just wants to climb until he feels tired and descend, you're going to hit a point where one of you has to give, or you're both going to go it alone. This kinda defeats the purpose of the climb - you shouldn't force someone to summit when they don't want to, but you need someone at your back.
Has at least comparable athleticism - You can actually ignore this one if you know the right people (or if you are the right person), but the point is that going slower than you think you will be carries its own risks - mainly in terms of sustenance. If your friend is going faster than you and expected to go at that pace, he might not have packed enough for a slower trip, meaning that he'll actually start to run low on supplies. On the other hand, if both of you travel at the same pace as each other, no one feels like they're slowing down the other much. Also, if it turns out that the mountain's too tough, that probably goes for your buddy as well, and you both can descend together without any hard feelings. However, if you find a superhuman willing to go with you, and doesn't care that he's dragging along someone much worse off than him or that he might have to give up on the mountain for their sake... well, you have found a rare person indeed.
Can communicate in Japanese - This one's kinda a bonus and you can do without it, sure... but can you imagine trying to explain exactly what sort of help you need to the locals when you can't speak their language? Honestly speaking, if you're taking the popular Fuji-Yoshida trail, there's a large chance you'll be able to find someone who speaks English, but they'll be another traveller like you, and what help they can or will give can't be known beforehand. If you know someone who fits all the above and can speak Japanese enough to converse casually, they're really a prime candidate for going up the mountain with you. This goes for you even if you can speak Japanese, since there's no guarantee you'll have your voice if something bad happens to you. And of course, if you can't find anyone that can speak Japanese willing to go up with you, you need a friend that much more.

As it turns out, on our trip, there was one of us who had very little of what he needed. He wasn't well-equipped, he wasn't built to scale the mountain, and he was struggling to even watch out for himself... but he had a friend, and that friend made sure he got off the mountain without collapsing on it.

Cash

Bring what you will up the mountain with you, when the unexpected happens, you'll have to buy it on the mountain. There are no ATMs on the mountain, and you shouldn't expect anyone to take your credit card... so bring cash. You can buy meals when you need the energy, drinks when you've run out, or a warm spot to rest for a few hours or a night. All of these you may need at one point in time, but if you only bring enough to stay at that mountain hut you reserved and nothing else, you'll be out in the cold when you find that you need something on the mountain, and that you need it now.

Yes, the prices are expensive on the mountain. A beef bowl you wouldn't pay 200 yen for in the city will run you 1200 on the mountain. Paying 6000 or 7000 yen will net you a night in a sleeping bag squished between two people you don't even know. However, if the worst befalls you because you had money but refused to spend it, you are doing it wrong. Health is priceless. While there's a difference between excessive frugality and careful rationing, if you don't have it but know you need it, you need to shell out for it. You might not have a choice.

To be entirely safe, I'd recommend enough to pay for an unexpected stay at a hotel on the mountain, as well as a good couple of meals and drinks on top of what you already expect to pay for. This means pack what you need if things go as planned, then pack an extra 12000 or so.

A bunch of 100 yen coins is a good idea as well, for paying for bathroom usage. Some have pay turnstiles in front of them - you must use coinage or you can't get in. And an extra bit of trivia - a taxi from Yoshida 5th Station to Kawaguchi-ko Station, which is the start of the climb back to the bus terminal that will get you there, is 12000 yen.

Weather Report

This one's pretty big, actually. You don't want to go scaling a mountain when it's freezing and raining - any one of those will only serve to sap your strength, and the second will eat at your footing and make it that much more work to go up. Above all else, though, rain is generally bad. You can't sleep in wet clothes, and if you haven't got a dry change of clothes, you can expect to get sick. Especially since you're pushing yourself to weakness, and going into high altitudes with low oxygen content. If it's snowing on Mount Fuji, you should probably spare yourself the trouble.

Don't force the climb if the weather isn't agreeing with you, especially if you plan to summit. If the weather is bad, it might turn out that you wouldn't even be able to summit if you bullheadedly attempt the climb, so wait it out until the time is right.

When fitting Mount Fuji into a travel schedule, you might want to keep in mind that it may not always be possible to go when you want to. Planning a trip where you stay in Tokyo for a while without having any hard commitments might give you a range of days you can go to Mount Fuji.

Decent Athleticism and Willpower

The physical and mental requirements to scale Mount Fuji. It honestly doesn't take too much athleticism to make the climb. If you're not shy about physical exertion and aren't clumsy while pushing yourself, you should be able to make the climb though it may be difficult. If, on the other hand, you're the type that can't do a set of twenty push-ups, sit-ups, and squats without struggling, Mount Fuji (and any mountain in general) will bring you no end of health-related problems. You don't want that to happen, believe me.

I mean, I've done my share of martial arts, and I'm pretty sure I can pick up a sport out of the blue and not feel like I'm falling over myself. But Mount Fuji was still an ordeal for me, and I was pushed to the brink of exhaustion more than once during the climb - which hammered into me that there was in fact a physical requirement to climbing Mount Fuji.

Even if you are physically built to make the climb, you may find yourself pushed to exhaustion like I was. And if you're in the same boat as me, you'll be presented with the decision to stop where you stand and collapse in a heap, or to press on even when your body is telling you not to go any further. Yes, you can choose the first option, and if you're at some place with lodgings, feel free. But the fact is, you might not have such luxury beside you. Falling where you stand might not be in a heated hotel, but on the cold side of the mountain at night... in which case, you need to be able to make the second decision, and you need to keep making it one step after the other, one hour after the other, and for however long you need until you finally arrive at a safe haven.

Your health might depend on how much you can push yourself as well as how much you will push yourself. Health is priceless, as I said, so you need to do what you need to maintain it... but more importantly, you need the ability to do so.