Rikkyo University

We formed a five-member team consisting of members from our alpine club and those at other universities to successfully climb the 6,524-meter Phungi, an unclimbed mountain.

The Rikkyo University Alpine Club has a history of taking on the challenge of climbing numerous Himalayan mountains, including the first successful ascent of a Himalayan peak by a Japanese team.

Reflecting on the club's history, I developed a desire to climb an unclimbed mountain in the Himalayas someday.

With this ambitious goal in mind, the Alpine Club engaged in various forms of mountaineering throughout a year to gain experience. As members of the expedition team, we underwent extensive training, participated in climbing sessions, and met regularly to make meticulous preparations.

It took us about a month to reach the peak after leaving Japan, but we remained patient. We made sure to take enough time to acclimatize to the high altitude and carefully establish the route to the summit.

We faced numerous challenges, including navigating an unexpected crevasse zone and a knife-edge ridge that required precise climbing skills. However, we overcame all obstacles, and I am very happy that all team members reached the summit safely.
I would like to share my experiences from the expedition with junior members of the club and will do my best to support its further development.

I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the former members of the Alpine Club and to the people at the JAC who provided invaluable support and cooperation.

We managed to take one step after another toward the peak, despite feeling exhausted from altitude sickness, and finally conquered it.

Surrounded by awe-inspiring, beautiful scenery, I felt a sense of joy at that moment; however, I experienced a rush of emotions about the ascent the day after returning to the base camp, as what we had achieved seemed almost surreal.

When I joined the Athletic Association Alpine Club four years ago, I vaguely dreamed of someday climbing an unclimbed mountain, but I never imagined that I would actually realize that dream.

During my middle and high school years, I led a life unrelated to sports, so I was unsure if I could keep up with the club’s activities.

We were able to make the first ascent thanks not only to the passion for the mountains shared by all members of the team, but also to the support of great comrades, former members of the Alpine Club, and people from the JAC, without whose support we could not have achieved what we did. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to them on this occasion. We were also fortunate to have good weather conditions.

Due to the nature of its activities, the Alpine Club is not as visible compared to other clubs within the Athletic Association. However, it would be gratifying if our accomplishment were to draw more attention to our activities.