By Paula Gracia and Pilar Bernal Zamora
Tokyo, July 1 (EFE).- Mount Fuji’s climbing season opened on Wednesday with thousands of hikers expected to ascend Japan’s highest peak over the coming months, as growing concerns over overcrowding and safety fuel calls to ban off-season climbing altogether.
«We don’t want tragedies, including secondary accidents that could endanger firefighters and rescue workers,» Fujinomiya Mayor Hidetada Sudo said at a press conference ahead of the start of the climbing season, according to the Mainichi newspaper.
Sudo, along with other mayors of municipalities at the foot of Mount Fuji, urged Shizuoka Prefecture to permanently ban off-season climbing, arguing that winter ascents are «extremely dangerous.»
The latest fatal accident on the mountain occurred last December, when a 44-year-old Japanese climber died after falling while descending from the summit.
