Japan Today's "A Beginner's Guide To Climbing Mount Fuji"

Above, a view of Mount Fuji from a Osaka-bound shinkansen. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is summertime in Japan and, with that, it is also Mount Fuji climbing season which officially starts on July 1.

For those who are fit enough to tackle a climb to Japan's symbol, Japan Today posted a "beginner's guide to climbing Mount Fuji".

They begin with:

TOKYO - If you were looking for an image to represent Japan, chances are the perfect, snow-capped cone of Mt Fuji would be high on your list. It’s not just there to admire from a distance, however. Conquering Fuji is at the top of many people’s bucket lists and there’s no time like the present to decide to take up the challenge! 

The official climbing season for 2019 starts from July 1 (Yoshida trail), and July 10, (Subashiri, Gotemba and Fujinomiya trails) and ends on September 10.  

To help you along the way, here’s our beginner’s guide to tackling this most iconic of mountains.

Above, lights of climbers seen on the slopes of Mount Fuji at night. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here. 

Climbers Killed In El Capitan Fall

Above, El Capitan is shrouded in clouds. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Yosemite National Park's season isn't on a good start.

Last week, a climber on Half Dome fell to his death in rainy conditions. Now, two people fell from El Capitan.

USA Today reported:

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. – Officials say two people have been killed after they fell while climbing El Capitan at Yosemite National Park. 

The National Park Service says it happened around 8 a.m. Saturday while the two people were climbing the Freeblast Route. 

Park rangers and search and rescue personnel responded to the scene but the climbers didn’t survive the fall.

To read more, go here. 

Man Survives Fall Off Half Dome

Above, Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A San Diego man is sure lucky!

He fell more than fifty feet while climbing Yosemite National Park's Half Dome.

KGTV reported:

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A San Diego man is recovering from a serious fall while climbing Half Dome in Yosemite Valley.  

Alex Doria fell more than 50 feet and broke his back, foot, wrist and ribs.  

“You know the weight of my pack, and my foot slipped, and I had a lot of run out in the rope,” Doria said.  

He credits his friend Jonathan with taking care of him until Yosemite Search and Rescue came and life-flighted him to a hospital. 

To read more, go here. 

2nd Rock Fall At Yosemite's El Capitan

Above, El Capitan is shrouded by clouds. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A second rock fall occurred today at Yosemite National Park's El Capitan.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal said the rock fall was larger than the one that killed a Welsh climber yesterday.

They wrote:

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Yosemite National Park has had another massive rock fall a day after a slab dropped from El Capitan, killing a British climber and injuring a second.

To read more, go here. 

Rock Slide Fatal To One At Yosemite's El Capitan

Above, El Capitan. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A rock slide on Yosemite National Park's El Capitan was fatal to one rock climber and caused injuries to another.

The Los Angeles Times reported:

One person was killed and another injured in a rock slide at a popular climbing destination in Yosemite National Park Wednesday afternoon, officials said. 

The rockfall occurred just before 2 p.m. on the East Buttress of El Capitan, a granite monolith above Yosemite Valley, according to the National Park Service. Officials said the release point appears to have been the climbing route known as the waterfall route.

To read more, go here.

UPDATE (9/28/17):

Later reports say that the rock that fell was as big as an apartment building. 

Man Dies In Fall From Devils Tower

Above, Devils Tower in Wyoming. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A climber of Wyoming's Devils Tower was killed in a fall on Friday.

According to the Star-Tribune:

A Gillette man died Friday after falling during a climb of Devils Tower, the National Park Service reported. 

Matthew Sorenson, 38, suffered major head injuries after he fell while climbing with friends on the Sundance route. He was wearing a helmet at the time. 

Sorenson is the first person to die climbing Devils Tower since 2003, according to the Park Service.

Devils Tower was made famous in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977.

To read more, go here.

Solo Climber 1st To Climb El Capitan Without Ropes

Above, at left, El Capitan. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A feat of mountain rock climbing has been accomplished on 3,000 foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park for the first time. It was an impressive feat (impressive to me since I don't like heights) to accomplish that took nearly four hours.

KHQ.com reported:

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) - An elite rock climber became the first to climb alone to the top of the massive granite wall known as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without using ropes or safety gear. 

Alex Honnold completed the "free solo" climb Saturday in nearly four hours, according to National Geographic, which documented the historic ascent. A photo posted on the magazine's website shows the grinning 31-year-old wearing just a pair of black pants after reaching the summit. 

Honnold, who grew up in Sacramento and now lives in Las Vegas, said he's been dreaming about the feat for at least eight years. 

"Each year I'd come (to Yosemite) and look up at the wall," he told the San Francisco Chronicle in a telephone interview. "And I'd think, 'Oh my God, how can I do it?'" 

He said he started rehearsing the route, climbing it with partners and a rope, and occasionally hiking up to the summit to propel himself down.

To read more, go here.