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JAPAN HAS BEEN THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN ALPINISM FOR DECADES, BUT NOW TOURISM HAS BALLOONED CLIMBERS OUTSIDE THE ‘THOSE WHO KNOW’ CIRCLE ARE CATCHING ON. THERE ALWAYS WAS A TRICKLE WHO READ BETWEEN THE LINES TO FIND OUT WHERE STEVE HOUSE, WILL GADD, MARCUS BUNDLER AND OTHERS WHO REMAIN UNDISCLOSED WERE GOING, WITH THE SMART ONES TRANSLATING CONTENT FROM THE ELITE JAPANESE CLIMBERS AND TRYING FOR THEMSELVES.

MOUNTAINEERING IN JAPAN BEGINS AND ENDS WITH MT FUJI, NOT LEAST BECAUSE IT IS SO CLOSE TO TOKYO AND CENTRAL TO THE JAPAN EXPERIENCE. LOTS OF CLIMBERS WANDER UP IN WINTER AND STRUGGLE BECAUSE DON’T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY, BUT THERE’S ANOTHER SIDE TO IT ALL WHICH IS FAST AND LIGHT ALPINISM AT IT’S MOST REFINED.

A LONG TIME HANGING OUT WITH JAPAN’S BEST ALPINISTS GOT US THE DETAILS, OF THE BEST THE MOUNTAIN HAS TO OFFER THAT MAKES IT A WORLD CLASS OBJECTIVE. CLIMBED AS REAL ALPINISM MT FUJI IS UNRECOGNIZABLE FROM THE SUMMER CONGA LINE OF TOURISTS, AND TURNS BACK MANY WHO THOUGHT THEIR TIME ON EVEREST OR DENALI WOULD MAKE IT EASY.

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CUT ANYWAY YOU LIKE, IN WINTER MT FUJI IS 2500m OF ASCENT, THAT IS VERY COLD, VERY EXPOSED AND THAT ISN’T CLIMBED BY LUCK. THE RISKS ARE REAL, THE CONDITIONS CAN BE DRAMATIC, AND IT’S A HUGE AMOUNT OF ALTITUDE GAIN NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET SO FAST ANYWHERE. WE REGULARLY DO THE FULL 2500m OF ASCENT AND DESCENT IN A SINGLE DAY, UNDER FULL WINTER CONDITIONS AS PREPARATION FOR TRIPS TO THE GREAT RANGES. DONE AT A DIFFERENT PACE, NIGHTS IN HIGH CAMPS ON FUJI ARE THE PLACE TO SEE WHAT YOUR HIGH BIVVY MATERIAL IS MADE OF, WITH WINDS AND COLD REACHING LEVELS THAT FEW WILL HAVE EXPERIENCED.

OUR STYLE ON FUJI DOES IN AS LITTLE AS A SINGLE DAY – OR NIGHT – WHAT OTHERS USUALLY DO IN THREE DAYS, CLIMBING STEEP AND UNTRACKED TERRAIN THAT REQUIRES PROPER ALPINE TECHNIQUE. ROUTES CAN GET AS TECHNICAL AS YOU WANT THEM, RIGHT UP TO MULTI-DAY ASCENTS OF OVERHANGING MIXED WITH AIDED SECTIONS, NEEDING THE SAME MINDSET AND SKILLSET USED ON BIG PEAKS ANYWHERE.

THE STYLE WE USE ON FUJI IS THE SAME AS WE USE IN TIBET AND THE KARAKORAM – MINIMALIST, HIGHLY STRATEGIC, BOLD AND RUTHLESS. WE SEE THE ROUTES ON FUJI THE SAME WAY WE SEE ROUTES ON HIGH ALTITUDE EXPEDITIONS, AS LINES CONNECTING FEATURES THAT BRING OUT THE BEST OF THE MOUNTAIN.

THESE TRIPS RUN ACROSS WINTER, RUN BY OUR JAPAN ELEMENT ALPINE CLIMBING JAPAN THAT ALSO COVERS ICE AND ALPINE ASCENTS. THESE ARE PARTNERED ASCENTS, NOT STRICTLY GUIDED, THAT RUN LIKE MICRO-EXPEDITIONS, USING LONG TERM LOCAL KNOWLEDGE MIXED WITH FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS BIG MOUNTAIN PERSPECTIVE.

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