Capturing the extremes: Meet the photographer that calls the highest of Mount Fuji dwelling

Japanese photographer Megumi Ueda spends the climbing season residing and dealing at a Shinto shrine close to the summit of Japan’s highest mountain.

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From 3,776 metres above sea stage, she pictures sunrises, sunsets and the altering climate whereas warning climbers concerning the circumstances they might encounter.

Ueda first climbed Mount Fuji in her early 30s after a good friend really helpful the ascent. She later utilized for a job at a mountain shrine, permitting her to spend extra time on the summit and take pictures.

A life on the summit

The first season was tough. She says she had no entry to a shower and little freedom, whereas massive numbers of climbers handed via the summit. But the views satisfied her to return.

“When I finally came down and turned around and looked at Mt Fuji, all those views came rushing back to me, and I just started crying,” she says.

Ueda has since returned for many climbing seasons. She now works on the shrine, serving to put together meals for employees, whereas additionally photographing the mountain.

Every morning, she wakes at round 04:00 to seize the dawn. “You can’t create that scenery,” she says.

Ueda is especially drawn to the shared expertise of watching the dawn with climbers from all over the world.

“There probably aren’t many places where everyone, people from all different countries, looks in the same direction and shares that sense of awe together,” she says.

Showing the mountain’s dangers

Ueda’s pictures isn’t solely about Mount Fuji’s spectacular views. She additionally paperwork its harsh and unpredictable climate.

Human-caused local weather change is having a extreme affect on the mountain’s climate patterns. The peaks of Mount Fuji sometimes get a sprinkling of snow by early October, however rising temperatures meant the Sumit was with out snowfall till the start of November again in 2024.

This marked the longest interval with out snow since data started some 130 years in the past.

Each day, Ueda measures the temperature and wind pace on the summit and posts the data on-line, along with movies exhibiting the circumstances.

She says the visible proof will help folks perceive the dangers higher than figures alone. “At the summit, the temperature is like midwinter in February,” she says.

Strong winds could make it inconceivable to stroll, whereas poor visibility could make circumstances significantly tough. “I think a lot of people simply don’t expect the weather to be that severe,” she says.

Helping climbers keep protected

More than 200,000 folks ascend Mount Fuji throughout its official climbing season.

Ueda has been educated in wilderness first support and says she has repeatedly helped with rescues close to the summit. She has encountered folks affected by hypothermia after arriving inadequately dressed, in addition to climbers who’ve fallen and been unable to proceed.

The photographer says she needs her real-time updates to present folks a clearer image of circumstances on the high.

“There aren’t any webcams or anything like that at the summit, so I want to be the one to communicate those conditions instead,” she says. “I’m doing this because I hope that seeing the actual conditions will help raise awareness about safety.”

Japanese media reported that at the very least six folks died on the slopes of Mount Fuji throughout this 12 months’s climbing season.

Beauty and hazard

For Ueda, documenting Mount Fuji means exhibiting each side of the mountain. She continues to {photograph} the sunrises that first drew her again to the summit, whereas utilizing her social media posts to spotlight the risks that climbers might face.

“I want to keep thinking about how we can make sure everyone can enjoy climbing the mountain safely and return safely,” she says.

The climbing season has now ended. Ueda plans to return subsequent summer time, persevering with to doc life on the summit and the altering circumstances on Japan’s iconic mountain.

Video editor • Yolaine De Kerchove Dexaerde