Three bodies found near summit of Mount Fuji – SoraNews24 -Japan News-

Search and rescue team searches for missing hiker, returns three bodies.

It's easy to make the mistake of thinking about Mount Fuji like some sort of safe, sterilized theme park attraction. Seen from a distance, the symmetrical slopes appear gentle and welcoming and, in addition to being the symbol of Japan, it is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the country. Each year it attracts thousands of visitors, many of whom are not particularly outdoor enthusiasts, but who feel safe and confident hiking to the summit thanks to plenty of online information readily available on the route and the infrastructure of mountain huts along the way. .

But make no mistake, hiking to the summit of Mount Fuji and then descending is dangerous enough to be fatal, especially if you attempt to climb it outside of the official climbing season, and a grim reminder That came this week when a search and rescue team went looking for a 53-year-old man from Tokyo.. Last Friday, the man told his family he was going to climb Mount Fuji, and he apparently achieved that goal, sending a photo he took from the summit before noon on Saturday. That was the last time they heard from him, and when he didn't return home, the family reported him as missing.

The man was carrying a GPD beacon with him on his hike, and the last signals it sent out came from near the summit crater of Mount Fuji. Using that as a starting point, search teams searched the area and found not one but three corpses.

No official statement has been made regarding the age or gender of the deceased, but with no word from the 53-year-old Tokyo man's family announcing his return home, it seems likely that he or one of the three.

Morbidly, one might wonder whether the three men were linked by some sort of suicide pact, but the circumstances suggest that the deaths were neither intentional nor connected. All three were determined to have died of cardiac arrest and were found in different locations, although all near the summit.

The exact chain of events that led to these deaths is still under investigation, but it is certain that climbing outside of the official climbing season significantly increased the risks hikers took. As hot and humid as lower regions of Japan are currently, there is still snow on parts of Mount Fuji, especially at higher altitudes, which can make travel difficult and exhausting. But more than anything else, hiking outside of the climbing season means fewer people, including support service staff, on and around the mountain. Hikers who slip and fall, collapse from exhaustion, or encounter other problems are unlikely to be spotted by passers-by, and medical help will take longer to arrive. Wearing a beacon likely gave the 53-year-old Tokyo man a false sense of security, but ultimately it appears it only helped searchers find his body after he was already dead.

Climbing Mount Fuji outside of the official climbing season is not technically illegal. However, “not illegal” and “not dangerous” are two very different things, and anyone interested in climbing Japan's highest mountain is strongly encouraged to do so. wait for the start of the climbing season, which this year will be July 1 for trails on the Yamanashi Prefecture side of Mount Fuji, and July 10 for those on the Shizuoka Prefecture side..

Source: Teleasa News via Yahoo! News from Japan
Top image: Pakutaso
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