Lost on Mount Fuji off-season? You'll have to pay for your rescue

From next year, individuals who attempt to climb Mount Fuji during off-peak seasons and then require rescue by helicopter will have to pay for the service, authorities governing the northern part of the peak say.

Key points

• Mount Fuji's official climbing season runs from July to early September, with regarding 200, 000 hikers attempting the summit each year.
• The fee is among a series of measures Japan's Yamanashi prefecture is introducing to deter reckless and poorly prepared climbers.
• Yamanashi authorities will additionally require those looking to scale Fuji during the off-season.
• It governs the southern part of Fuji, have seen a rise in off-season and unplanned climbs, some of which have left climbers stranded.
• Shizuoka authorities say they will impose penalties on individuals who fail to register their off-season climbing attempts and strengthen efforts to keep climbers out of restricted areas.

In practice, the fee is among a series of measures Japan's Yamanashi prefecture is introducing to deter reckless and poorly prepared climbers.

Notably, a similar fee of 8, 000 yen ($51; £38) per five minutes is already in place in nearby Saitama prefecture for other mountainous areas and will be applied as a reference.

Yamanashi authorities will additionally require those looking to scale Fuji during the off-season. It runs from early September to July the after year, to submit detailed climbing intends.

"We ask the general public to refrain from climbing during the off-season. We hope that these measures will cause individuals to rethink what climbing Mount Fuji during the winter is like, " Yamanashi Governor Kotaro Nagasaki stated on Monday.

Authorities in Yamanashi and neighbouring Shizuoka prefecture. It governs the southern part of Fuji, have seen a rise in off-season and unplanned climbs, some of which have left climbers stranded.

Shizuoka authorities say they will impose penalties on individuals who fail to register their off-season climbing attempts and strengthen efforts to keep climbers out of restricted areas. They did not announce a helicopter rescue fee.

Climbing outside of those months is highly discouraged although permitted up to the fifth of ten stations.

Nevertheless, most mountain huts and toilet facilities are closed off season. The weather and trail conditions additionally tend to be more severe.

Taken together, the developments around lost on Mount Fuji off-season? You' ll have to pay for your rescue point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.