June, 2002
A friend and I set out to climb Mount Fuji before climbing season officially began. We had the mountain to ourselves. The only other living person we saw was a ranger at camp on the peak. He told us a storm was coming and we should descend as quickly as possible. So we did.
Do to an abject lack of preparation (namely, forgetting sunscreen), I was hospitalized for three days after the climb. My ears had swelled to double their size. My entire face was a oozing bubble of yellow goo. One dermatologist told me I was going to lose my ears. In the end, everything healed just fine — I apparently been the first white man with a seriously horrible sunburn they had ever seen.
From Wikipedia
[Mount Fuji] is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" (三霊山 Sanreizan). An active volcano[3] that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji straddles the boundary of Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures just west of Tokyo, from which it can be seen on a clear day. It is located near the Pacific coast of central Honshū. Three small cities surround it: Gotemba (south), Fujiyoshida (north) and Fujinomiya (southwest). Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers.