ARDUOUS CLIMB

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26628, 26 November 1947, Page 2

ARDUOUS CLIMB

ASCENT OF FUJIYAMA DUNEDIN MOUNTAINEER IN JAPAN Captain Leo Faigan, dental officer to the Third New Zealand Battaliqn in Japan and a member of the Dunedin Alpine Club, recently climbed to the summit of Mount Fujiyama with two Japanese students. Extreme cold was experienced by the party, the altitude of the mountain being. 12,425 feet — higher than Mount Cook. Leaving Tokio in the afternoon, the party reached Fuji-Yoshida railway station (altitude 2000 feet) on the slopes of the mountain, at nightfall'. They proceeded laboriously on foot through the fine volcanic ash which covers the mountain up to the snowline. Usually, climbers travel from there to the 4000 ft mark by bus, and the next 3000 feet by horse, only the final 5500 feet being travelled on foot. These facilities were not available to Captain Faigan’s party, and the three climbers walked for two days and three nights before they reached the peak. Captain Faigan, an experienced mountaineer, said that although the climb was not difficult, the extreme cold and prolonged effort necessary for the ascent had made it an arduous task. Conditions at the summit were excellent and the climbers were able to see a large area of Honshu before they made a rapid descent and returned to Tokio.