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Most people who end up in a scenario that requires them to be airlifted from a mountain would probably wait a while before trying to tackle it again. However, that was not he case with a Chinese college student studying in Japan who was rescued from Mount Fuji two times in less than a week after making the regrettable decision to go back for his phone.
Mount Fuji is relatively tiny when measured against the highest mountains on the planet, but the 12,389-foot active volcano is the tallest peak in Japan and presents a challenge for anyone who attempts to make the trek to its summit.
Hundreds of thousands of people head to Mount Fuji to attempt to do that every year, and the vast majority of them will do so during the climbing season that typically kicks off on July 10th and ends midway through September.
The four trails that lead to the summit aren’t officially closed during the offseason, but officials discourage people from taking on the mountain outside of the warmer months of the year due to less-than-ideal conditions that are exacerbated by the lack of trail signs, bathrooms, and first aid stations outside of the sanctioned window.
According to The Independent, an unidentified 27-year-old Chinese man who is currently enrolled in college in Japan decided to take his chances last Tuesday only to be airlifted from the Fujinomiya trail where he managed to lose the crampons on his climbing shoes and was essentially stranded 3,000 feet above sea level.
On Saturday, the police force tasked with overseeing the mountain received a call from a climber who encountered someone who appeared to be dealing with altitude sickness in the same area.
The rescuers who were dispatched to the location discovered the man who said he’d gone back to retrieve his phone and some other belongings he’d left behind, and he was placed on a stretcher before being taken to a station at a lower altitude.
They say the third time’s the charm, but here’s to hoping he doesn’t decide to put that theory to the test.