In A Wheelchair, 90-Year-Old Japanese Mountain Climber Climbs Mount Fuji

Nine-year-old Japanese mountain climber Yuichiro Miura (Youtube screenshot @KYODO NEWS)

JAKARTA - Age and physical condition do not become a barrier for Japanese mountaineer Yuichiro Miura. He and a group of friends and family have reached the top of Mount Fuji. Miura is known to be 90 years old and climbs in a wheelchair to reach the highest peak of Mount Fuji. Climbing is done for three days. Miura arrived at the peak today at around 7.20 am in the middle of sunny weather and cold winds. He thanked those who had supported his business. While Mount Fuji is 3,776 meters high, Japan's highest peak, is a popular climbing destination, few elderly people are trying to climb. His victory on Mount Fuji comes after struggling with his health. In June 2020, Miura, then 87, was hospitalized for about eight months due to a spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma -- when a nerve in the neck is depressed and causes paralysis to the hands and legs. The mountain climber, who in 2013 became the oldest person to conquer Mount Everest at the age of 80, aspires to climb Mount Fuji as a means of rehabilitation. "Thanks to everyone, I can fulfill my desire to reach the top. This is extraordinary," he said as quoted by KYODO via Japantoday.com, Thursday, August 31 evening. Miura in its mountain climbing wheelchair, which was specially designed to start climbing around 5:15 Thursday from the 9th stationary hut on Fujinomiya Line just as the sun peered into the horizon. With the help of his climbing group that dragged the chair up, he reached the top about two hours later. "I can climb with fun friends. The view is so amazing that I will never forget it," said Miura. About 40 students from Clark Memorial International High School, where Miura acted as the principal of honorary school, greeted mountain climbers at the top when she arrived. They joined him in the 9th station hut the previous day and met early. "It made me realize that he was admired by so many people," said 18-year-old student Tomoya Sano, adding that he felt the support Miura received was impressive. Most of the climbing for three days consisted of him driving his wheelchair which was dragged by a rope. He suffered from an acute feeling of tingling in his legs as he moved his body. On Tuesday, Miura left the 5th station hut with her son Gota, 54, and spent one night each at 7th and 9th stations. This mountain climber was known for successfully skiing down Mount Fuji in 1966 using a parachute to slow its decline. In 2003, 2008, and 2013 -- at the age of 70, 75, and 80 -- Miura managed to reach the summit of Mount Everest as high as 8,848 meters. The oldest person to reach the top of Mount Fuji is Teiichi Igarashi, who was 101 years and 10 months old when he achieved the feat in 1988, according to an association that authorized national records.