Will I be a fool?

One of the things that really struck me when I was researching for my trip to Japan last year was the fact that I shouldn't climb Mt. Fuji more than once. I was trying to find out more about the weather conditions, lodging and time necessary to climb the mountain and every website I visited told me this, "If you never climb Mt Fuji you are a fool, and if you climb it more than once you are a fool". Well, I'll keep that in mind.

The other statistic that jumped out at me was that most Japanese people never climb Mt. Fuji. I had always thought of climbing Mt. Fuji as a deeply traditional and spiritual thing for the Japanese, but 99% of them never make it up. They don't even think about climbing it. I mentioned to my Tokyo host that my mother and I were going to climb Mt. Fuji, and she immediately replied, "It's impossible!". I guess my mother's not exactly young, and I don't exactly look like a mountain climber, but the websites assured me that it was possible. It was just a matter of taking a little more time. My other host, a guy, thinks that he'll never make it up, so he didn't think two tiny females could. That was not exactly encouraging.

But we went ahead and climbed Mt. Fuji anyway, and we made it up despite my altitude sickness. At one point in time, I was panting alongside a very old man who was left behind his tour group of equally old people. Oji-san had to give up but I couldn't. Not when I dragged my mother up that mountain at 1am. My mom was doing well, but man, was I feeling sick.

I missed sunrise by 30 minutes, even though I gave myself more time on the account of my altitude sickness. But you know, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that I made it up. Officially, I am not a fool.

As far as climbing Mt. Fuji goes, it's a matter of willpower, not leg power. As much as I felt bad as seeing my poor mother fall down in exhaustion, there is something about the raw satisfaction of having climbed a mountain, and having accomplished what most people will never do. I am proud of my mom because she had the willpower to finish the monstrous task. It was a torture to go up, but there is no easy way down so you might as well go on.

Someday, I would like to climb Mt. Fuji again. I am told that I'll be a fool. Am I a fool for thinking it? Or will I only be a fool when I do it? It will be hard to go back, and there are other mountains to climb. But once you're conquered a mountain, it's yours to keep. It doesn't matter if a million people have gone up, because...just because. For all that you can learn from the experience of others, it is important to live your own life too.