There have been numerous mountaineering accidents as the spring season of mountain trekking has arrived.
In one example in late March, a group of 13 men and women was stranded on a mountain in Okutama, Tokyo. Most of the hikers in the involvement in the incident were beginners at mountain trekking and were climbing the mountain in light clothing.
A climbing expert warned: "Even in spring, weather in areas near summits can be the same as winter. We want people who plan to go mountain trekking in the Golden Week holiday to set up a sensible plan."
According to Ome Police Station of the Metropolitan Police Department, the people in the Okutama incident became acquainted via WeChat, a Chinese social media platform. The group comprised three Japanese and 10 Chinese from their teens to 40s.
When they began climbing 1,531-meter Mt. Mito in the morning of March 21, snow was falling.
According to the police, after they began ascending the mountain, the snowfall became heavier. Some of the members considered that it was better to climb down. But the group was unable to turn back because the distance had increased between the members in the front and the rear of the group. The party gradually wandered off the trekking route, and all of them became unable to move.
On the night of March 21, the party made a 119 emergency call, saying the members of the group were unable to climb down. The Tokyo Fire Department's rescue team and the MPD's mountain rescue team were dispatched. On the following day, the climbers were rescued on a ridge about a kilometer from the trekking route.
Among the 13 members, five had mountain climbing experience, but the other eight were climbing for the first time.
Only some of them were wearing trekking shoes, while most of them were wearing sneakers. Most of them were also only wearing light clothing such as raincoats. When they were rescued, they were suffering from hypothermia and were physically weak. The police said one woman had slid down a slope and broken her hip.
Police authorities and local governments urged climbers to submit their trekking plans in advance, in which climbers' addresses, names and trekking routes are recorded.
But the police said that the members stranded in Okutama did not even know about the existence of such a system.
Recently in China, mountain climbing in Japan has been booming, but there have been many cases in which climbers did not submit their trekking plans.
According to the MPD, there were nine mountaineering accidents in Tokyo alone in April. In six of those cases, climbers were injured.
The mountains in the Okutama area are close to central Tokyo, and thus there are many beginners who climb the mountains.
A senior MPD official said, "Unless climbers submit their trekking plans in advance, just in case, search activities could become difficult and there is a fear that an incident could become fatal."
Temperature differences
Mountain climbing has been booming mainly among middle-aged and elderly people. According to the Japan Productivity Center's white paper on recreational activities, a total of 6.5 million people were estimated to have participated in mountain climbing in 2016.
The number of mountaineering accidents has also been on the rise.
According to statistics from the National Police Agency, there were 167 mountaineering accidents nationwide during last year's Golden Week holiday from April 29 to May 7. In the accidents, 27 people died and 84 were injured.
While the weather becomes warm in urban areas in spring, the weather on mountains is still cold, and there are places where snow remains.
There are many cases in which people climb mountains without sufficient preparation, and some of them die.
"The temperature falls by about 0.6 C for every 100 meters you climb. When the wind speed rises by one meter [per second], the temperature you feel falls by 1 C," said Gota Isono, head of the Japan Mountain Guides Association. "Mountaineering in spring is popular because climbers can enjoy seeing fresh greenery, cherry blossoms and other flowers, but the weather near mountain summits is the same as in winter."
The association operates an app named Compass that climbers can use to submit their trekking plans via smartphone. Starting this year, the app can also be used in Chinese and Korean.
"Sharing trekking plans with climbers' family members or third parties can also help them protect their own lives," Isono said.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
