Four Mount Fuji Deaths Reported Before Climbing Season Begins

At least one person died climbing Mount Fuji days before the official start of the climbing season, and three bodies were found on the mountain, the police and local media said.

Among them was a professional rock climber, Keita Kurakami, according to Patagonia, which he was an ambassador for. He lost consciousness while ascending the mountain, Japan’s tallest, on Wednesday and was pronounced dead at a hospital, the local police said, according to public broadcaster NHK.

The three bodies were discovered about three-quarters of the way up the 12,400-foot mountain, all near its crater but in different locations, the local police said on Wednesday, according to