i climbed fuji on monday, which was a remarkable feat. we left ryans house in yokohama at 530 and didnt arrive at the base until 11am, and it cost a fortune. when we began the ascent it was sunny and clear, but somehow it started to cloud over and rain on us around the 7th stage. there are buildings and huts that are open for services during the climbing season (july1 to aug 31), they were mostly all closed now. by the 8th stage we were miserable and soaked to the bone and it was freezing cold, the oxygen was noticably decreased and we were shivering... prehypothermic i suppose. we rested and ate ramen in the hut there, which was luckily open - they were building another structure at that elevation. we decided to turn back, and as we exited the hut ryan and i decided to try for the top... a mere 300 vertical meters away... andrew turned back and ryan and i stupidly gave all we had to climb the last bit. finally about 40 minutes later we reached the 9th stage and a series of buildings with many sitting benches and a remarkable gate. the visibility was next to nil and the wind was raging with rain, the temperature was surely near 0... we went a bit further, on a more horizontal path, and reached a point where the ridge veered off in both directions and fell off before us... the rim of the volcano! we were thrilled and took a few photos rapidly (my camera was dead... batteries) and ran back down to the hut where andrew was. tehre is a tenth stage at teh highest point on the ridge which we didnt make it to, but we made the top nonetheless, and it only took 4 hours or so. we rushed to the bottom and had unfortunately missed the last bus. we tried apporaching people for a ride down the hill (about 40km to the train station) but noone wanted to give three dirty giant white men a ride. luckily one of the last cars shifted their load (several girls went into the trunk area of a small suv) and we got a ride down jsut as it was getting dark. we were soaked to the bone and very tired and sore. we caught the last bus to tokyo city and finally arrived home at 930 or so. it is a great feat in japan to have climbed fuji, although those that do are called fools. one saying goes at in the above title, another that you are a fool if you climb fuji, and twice the fool if you climb it twice. we are certainly fools, and i`m sure that we were not far from hypothermia! next time, ha!, I will bring more appropriate supplies.