In the past I used to get flustered preparing for Yamabushi training, or simply climbing a mountain. This happened multiple times, even though I was preparing pretty much the same stuff each time. So, I decided to keep lists of stuff that I could update to make things easier.

I now have two lists for climbing mountains. One is for Shugyo training, making sure I have the right equipment and enough spares (like Fundoshi loincloths and Hakui jackets depending on the duration), and now a new one for just general mountain climbing.

Tomorrow I will be climbing Mt. Gassan led by a Yamabushi friend of mine, but it is not proper Shugyo. This list means I can get ready rather quickly, which saves me precious time. Mt. Gassan is as unpredictable a mountain as it gets, which means I will need extra time to prepare though.

When climbing, your bags can get quite heavy even if you’re trying to purposely carry as little as possible. It helps to think of this extra weight as extra resistance for training 🙂 extra water is also an incentive to drink more, which you will definitely need to do on a climb up Gassan!