Mont Fuji

So everything started like this:
Ferdi: "let's climb Mont Fuji"
The 2 Japanese who are helping us on this mission: "it's pretty difficult, but actually it's OK. You have to do it during the night so you reach the top for sun rise. It takes 5 hours to go up and there are many stops so you can have breaks and then 2 hours to get down."
OK let's do it, it's going to be so much fun!!
yeah... If only I knew....

Drawing of the planning of our climbing to Mont Fuji-san (san: at the end of a name is a mark of great respect to a person in Japanese).

so 1st step: Kobe - Tokyo Friday night.
Ritual stop in Roppongi

Streets of Roppongi @ 5am

Deb's: "j'ai mal au pied"
CG: "fichtre on monte le Mont Fuji ds 12 heures"Saturday 7pm: meeting at Shibuya in front of the dog statue, a famous meeting spot. The statue was a tribe to a dog who after his master's death kept on coming to wait for him at the station. Cute! Non on s'en fou du chien, le plus barj c'est le type au gros bide avec cet impressionant collier de barbe rousse, Hallu!
That's the real map of the rise to the top given at the begining

Here is an other real map of the hell we are about to live:

23h00: departure from the 5th step
Looking good and fresh (wait and see).
When we passed the entrance we were told that on that night around 6'000 people were climbing Mont Fuji.

6th stop

7th stop: we suggested the guys to go in front and we will join them at the top
8th stop: 3'100m.
I never did something so physical... I wanted to give up and go down but the only way down is to reach the top

Kit Kat break

9th stop

one more to go and it's getting really crowded and cold. We decide to have something hot: lamen! (noodles in broth).

I am wearing 2 T-shirts and all the jumpers that I have but it't not enough with all this wind and the rain. Thanks god they have these fantastic combies:

3'400m. the top is only near: 3'776m

Shit it's about 4am and the sun will rise soon. We are stuck btw the 9th step and the top. It's so crowded that you have to stop 10 seconds each step you make. I have never been so tired in my life...

Very impressive: the sun rising and all Japanese shouting "Bonuzai!!!" (they shout Bonzai when something chear before sthg difficult).

Shit all the to go to the top, I am dead...and all these trafic jams. It's as crowded as Shibuya's crossing.

Last gate before the top

with Deb's on the top eventually

Looking for the guys at the top. Where can they be? Deb's : "a tall guy by a vending machine, that's Ferdi!".
Thank you Felix for this fantastic market share research: on Mont Fuji out of 15 outlets only one sells Kit Kat or Nestlé products.

Sponsorisés (Kit Kat bags)

The longest 2.5km of my life (the 5th station being the arrival).

Des promesses, tjs des promesses...10:30am. Eventually the end. I am trying my best to smile

Now we "just" have to go home.

Advertisement of Mont Fuji at the train station.

Fuck we did it!!!!!

12:00 left Mont Fuji. 2 buses, 3 trains and at 6:00pm we arrived at the hotel.

There is a famous saying: "one is a fool not to climb the Mont Fuji once but one is twice as a fool to do it twice. "

Climbing Mont Fuji is for Japanese like a pilgrimage and only 1% of the population does it (which makes me say that with all the crowd we passed there Japan is bloody populated).

Doing it really changed us and with Deborah our 1st resolution was: "mountain climbing never again!".