A Taiwanese-American climber was found dead on 12,388-foot (3,776-meter) Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain and an active volcano 60 miles southwest of Tokyo, after he and a Japanese co-worker went missing after reaching the summit on Saturday, July 19.
Jerry Wu, a 30-year-old American citizen, was climbing Fuji with 20 co-workers from a Japanese communications company. The party began their ascent on July 18, reaching the summit early the next morning. As the group descended, Yu and 27-year-old Tsuyoshi Nakamura were separated from the group. They were reported missing three days later when they didn’t return from the trip, which is a long time to make a missing climbers query.
Peter Tsai, spokesman from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan, reported, “We received information from Japan that Yu’s body was found at the bottom of a cliff located at an altitude of 100 meters in the mountain. It was believed that Yu fell off the cliff at an altitude of 3,600 meters.” It appears that both climbers had just descended a few hundred feet off the summit when they fell in deteriorating weather conditions. Snow and temperatures that dropped below freezing killed both men, although Nakamura was still breathing when first discovered lying face down a few hundred feet below Wu’s body. Police determined that both died from hypothermia.
Every year about 200,000 people climb Mount Fuji, mostly in July and August, the best season with the most reliable weather. Last year 17 climbers were injured and four died on the mountain. A third of the climbers are foreigners. Many climbers time their ascents so that they reach the summit in the early morning so they can witness sunrise from the sacred roof of Japan.
More about Mount Fuji:
Climbing Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji Photo Gallery
Photograph above: The beauty of Mount Fuji with spring cherry blossoms belies its danger to climbers. Photograph © Darryl Benson/Getty Images
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