Originally Posted by
petec
curious.. i'm thinking about climbing Mt Fuji this summer (early July) with my 11 year old son. I understand it's not off-season but this seemed like best Mt Fuji hiking thread out there. I have decent experience hiking (did Kilimanjaro a few months ago), my son is good but but would be his biggest hike. A few questions:
-how realistic is a hike with a 10 year-old?
-Do I need to decide ahead of time between sleeping on the mountain or not? Ideally would prefer doing up and down, starting early but i understand that given his age, I might want to decide later on to stay for the night.
-Any other tips related to this?
-A fit 11-year-old should have no problem. When we climbed there was an American scout group (ages 9-12 probably) on the mountain. Terrible weather coming down, but they survived and seemed to be doing better than their scoutmasters (who were on the heavy side).
https://www.garyjwolff.com/what-is-t...n-one-day.html
-That is a tossup. Don't expect a good sleep as you are packed in like sardines. We booked our stay ahead, but on the day there was plenty of vacancy. Peak season might be a bit tougher to find a "bed."
-Acclimation is the only real issue, as headaches can affect any age. Going slowly, staying hydrated and having some ibuprofen ready is the solution. I would suggest warming up with short 1hr hikes, and then do a longer one or two and see how he goes. If he can do a 6hr hike then he should be able to do the up and down in a day. The biggest issue may be attitude, as the hike itself is not really difficult aside from the time and altitude. The Subashiri trail is forested for about half, and the views on a nice day make it interesting.