JAPAN - A Vietnamese male tourist and his friend trekked 9 km, through 10 climbing stages to capture the moment Mount Fuji froze and was immersed in a sea of yellow clouds at dawn.
The first time he came to Fuji in March 2022, Nguyen Van Hoai, 28 years old, currently living in Japan, set a goal to return here to "hunt" for the moment when Fuji's peak completely froze in winter.
On March 2, he and his companion set out on their fourth winter ascent of Mount Fuji. The two traveled from Gotemba Station to the parking lot at the foot of the mountain to spend the night and set off early the next day.
At 7am on March 3, Mr. Hoai and his companions started trekking from the foot of the mountain to the 8th floor of Mount Fuji. On the first day, the weather was sunny, with temperatures ranging from -5 to -10 degrees Celsius.
A few days before, Japan had experienced a cold spell, with heavy snowfall, leaving a 50cm thick layer right at the foot of the mountain. From the dense forest below, the scenery along the road gradually became sparse as it climbed higher, and finally turned into a white blanket of snow all around.
The distance from the foot of the mountain to the top has an altitude difference of 2,300 m, is about 9 km long, divided into 10 stages.
Mr. Hoai lost his sense of direction and entered a steep slope due to strong winds and dense fog that reduced visibility. Despite using spiked boots and a hand axe, the snowy surface caused him to slip and fall about a meter.
After a few seconds of holding his position, he used the sole of his spiked boots to push hard into the snow to create a foothold. But because the ice was thick and slippery, he slipped and fell a second time. "At that moment, my heart stopped for a few seconds and I thought of the worst case scenario," he said. After two falls, luckily on the third try, he created a foothold to overcome the dangerous section.
In the photo is a slippery slope before Mr. Hoai's group reaches the vertical slope.
From the 6th stage onwards, in addition to strong winds and fog, the snow had turned into thick ice on the steep terrain, and the air was getting thinner. Mr. Hoai and his companion used ropes to hold each other, avoiding the risk of slipping.
On the seventh stage, an endless stretch of white clouds appeared before Mr. Hoai's eyes under the sunset. After a hard day of trekking through the snow, "the golden sunset embracing the sea of clouds was a worthy reward for our efforts," he said. The two stopped to admire the scenery for a while before moving up to the 8th floor, where they would stay overnight.
The next day, Mr. Hoai's group set off at 4:30 a.m. to climb to the top in temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius. According to Mr. Hoai's experience, it usually only takes about two hours to get there.
However, from the eighth climb onwards, the weather became more severe. Instead of snow, the surface became a slippery ice sheet, which crampons and axes could not penetrate. The steep slopes with continuous strong gusts of wind made Mr. Hoai feel like he "could be knocked down at any moment".
The most difficult part was when he passed stage 9.5, he encountered a large and long ice slope. Although the cold wind made his hands numb, lost feeling and lost control of the axe, he still tried to strike the axe into the ice to find a grip. "I have never felt such pain in my toes because I had to constantly hold on to my shoes," he said
From this point on, Mr. Hoai and his friend continued to tie ropes to their bodies and took turns moving.
At 8am, the male tourist set foot on the top of Mount Fuji. When he arrived, the dawn was shining, spreading a brilliant orange-yellow color on the snow. The Heaven's Gate and the temple on the top of the ice were covered in white, only the roof was visible, sparkling in the dawn light, below was a magical sea of clouds.
This is a scene that few people can capture and Mr. Hoai had to trade 4 times to capture this "valuable" moment. At 3:00 p.m. the same day, the two moved down to the foot of the mountain.
On this trip, Mr. Hoai spent about 3 million VND on gas and highway fees, 350,000 VND on mountain climbing insurance, and about 1 million VND on food and accommodation.
Snow mountain climbing requires a lot of specialized equipment, visitors should prepare some necessary items such as specialized shoes, crampons, axes, shovels. The two most useful things on the trip with Mr. Hoai are pain relief spray and ropes to keep both of them safe. The temperature on the snow mountain can be much lower than predicted, visitors need to prepare enough warm clothes to withstand temperatures from -15 to -20 degrees Celsius.
Quynh Mai Photo: Van Hoai
Vnexpress.net
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