FUJINOMIYA, Shizuoka Prefecture–Two foreign climbers were rescued on snow-covered Mount Fuji on the night of March 9 after slipping and falling near the new seventh station here.
Of the two, the 23-year-old woman from Sweden was reportedly unable to speak, while the 51-year-old man from New Zealand was seriously injured.
At around 3 p.m. on March 9, the Fujinomiya Police Station in Shizuoka Prefecture received a report that two foreign climbers—a man and a woman—had fallen near the new seventh station on the Fujinomiya Trail of Mount Fuji, which is closed for the winter.
According to the police station, another member of the climbing party, of which the two sliding climbers were a part, witnessed the fall and reported it through an acquaintance.
The prefectural police mountain rescue team was dispatched, and at 10:40 p.m. the same day, it located the two individuals who were believed to have fallen near the Hoei crater.
The two were rescued by members of the rescue team and transported to a hospital by the prefectural disaster‑prevention helicopter. The two climbers and their companion are reportedly colleagues from the same company.
According to the fire department, there is information indicating that the pair fell approximately 400 meters.
All four trails leading from the fifth station to the 3,776-meter summit of Mount Fuji, including three in Shizuoka Prefecture and one in Yamanashi Prefecture, are closed to the public except during the summer climbing season, which ended on Sept. 10.
The mountain huts are also shut down when the climbing season is over.
In its guidelines for climbing Mount Fuji, a council made up of the national and local governments calls for prohibiting climbers who are not fully prepared from attempting the ascent during the winter closure.
This period is often marked by strong winds and snowy, icy conditions.
However, many people have attempted to climb the mountain even during the closed season, resulting in accidents, including a fatal one, this winter.
AloJapan.com