Stranded man moved by plane from Mount Fuji, then rescued again days after he returned to get his phone

A climber moved with an altitude disease from near the top of Japan Mount Fuji Last week he returned to the slope and was rescued for the second time only four days later, authorities said Monday.

The climber was identified only as a 27 -year -old Chinese student who lives in Japan. He made an emergency call on April 22 and was transferred by plane after developing symptoms of cursed altitude, police said, added that escalation plates were also damaged.

On Saturday, he returned to the Fujinomiya path of the mountain to almost 10,000 feet above sea level to search for his cell phone and other belongings that are left behind, said the prefecture of Shizuoka. Another climber found him there unable to move after he apparently became ill, the police said.

“It was suspected that he had an altitude disease and was taken to the hospital,” a police spokesman in the Shizuoka region to the France-Presse agency on Monday, on Monday.

It was not known if in the end he could find his phone, local media reported.

The mountain hiking routes are officially open only from July at the beginning of September, but there is no penalty for walking out of season. There is also no charge or penalty when a climber needs to be rescued, but the case of the Chinese student caused a fuss on social networks and generated the calls to accuse him, at least for his second rescue.

After the rescue of man, the police in Shizuoka prefecture reiterated his advice against climbing during the low season, since the weather could suddenly change, which makes rescuers respond, the BBC reported. The medical facilities along the paths are also closed.

Police urged all climbers to use caution, noting that the mountain has low temperatures and is covered with snow even in spring.

The mountain of 3,776 meters high (12,388 feet high) was designated as a Unesco cultural heritage site in 2013. A symbol of Japan, the mountain called “Fujisan” used to be a pilgrimage place and is increasingly popular among hikers today.

To control the overcrowding and risks of climbing during the night through the rocky slopes to see the dawn, the local authorities introduced an entry rate and a limit in the number of participants on the most popular path and introduce similar rules in other main paths this year.

But exactly how many tourists visit Fuji, and how many are too many, is in debate, Thomas Jones, professor of sustainability and tourism at the Ritsumeikan University of Japan, He told News themezone in 2023.

“I would have to find consensus” for what constitutes the load capacity, he said, “and at this time there is none of that. So, in reality there is no kind of concerted effort to limit the number of visitors there.”

In 2023, more than 220,000 people went up to Mount Fuji between July and September, according to the BBC.

In:
• Rescue
• Mount Fuji
• Japan