‘Due to harsh conditions, people are discouraged from climbing Mount Fuji outside of the official climbing season that starts in early July and ends in early September.’
Good advice!
Indeed!
Back in the day, three of us (very physically fit) climbed the mountain in late September or early October. We had the mountain to ourselves, were making good time, and passed several of the higher stations. There was no ice or snow at the levels we reached.
Visibility became pretty dense, 10 to 20 feet, and the young (our age) mountain police turned us back. We were not so easily persuaded, went down off the trail, worked our way up and around the police only to run into more.
We weren't quite sure whether the police could arrest us, but they were clearly working together and we finally said "the hell with it", we would come back another day (didn't happen).
We turned around and when out of sight ran down the side of the mountain, falling and flying all the way. It was the most fun I ever had climbing, but we were not at all prepared for ice or snow.