Swiss hiker dies on Mount Fuji, second fatality in a week

A Swiss climber died after collapsing while ascending Mount Fuji, making him the mountain’s second fatality in a week and the second death of the 2026 climbing season. The loss unfolded on the Fujinomiya Trail on Japan’s highest peak, which rises 3,776 meters above sea level.

The man was identified as Bernhard Sutter, 58, the managing director of EXIT, one of Switzerland’s best-known euthanasia organizations. He lost consciousness during the climb, a reminder that Mount Fuji’s hazards are not limited to poor weather or technical terrain but also include the strain of high altitude on a heavily used summer route.

The death came during a season that officially began on July 1, with trail openings staggered across the mountain. Official climbing guidance said the Yoshida Trail and the Subashiri Trail opened that day, while the Fujinomiya Trail, the Gotemba Trail and the summit crater-rim walk were scheduled to open later. The Fujinomiya Trail opened on July 10, and Sutter’s death fell within the first two weeks of its season.

A separate fatality had already been recorded earlier in the climbing season, putting renewed attention on how Japan manages one of its most famous summits. Mount Fuji draws large numbers of visitors every summer, and officials have spent recent seasons trying to reduce dangerous “bullet climbing,” the practice of rushing overnight to the summit without proper rest. Stronger safety measures were introduced for 2026, including trail controls and fees.

The Yoshida Trail was subject to a limit of 4,000 hikers per day, one of the clearest signs that access to the mountain is being managed as a public-safety issue as much as a tourism one. Authorities have also emphasized emergency-shelter and access rules ahead of the season, reflecting the difficult reality of rescue work on a mountain where crowds, altitude and narrow weather windows can turn a climb into an emergency.

Sutter’s prominence as head of a Swiss euthanasia firm drew international attention, but it also risked overshadowing the larger question now facing Japanese authorities and climbers alike: how to keep Mount Fuji open without letting its popularity outpace the mountain’s safety limits.