Japan’s sacred Mt. Fuji opened to climbers today with a powerful typhoon lashing the country.

Members of the Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha shrine at the base of Mt. Fuji prayed for climbers’ safety.

Climbers set out from the southern Shizuoka side nine days after Mt. Fuji opened from the northern Yamanashi approach.

With typhoon Neoguri pounding central Japan, climbers were thin on the ground.

Only one of three routes up the peak from the Shizuoka side was open.

People who’d begun climbing at dawn could be seen returning from failed attempts to reach the roughly 3,800-meter summit.

Mt. Fuji is experiencing an increase in climbers since becoming a World Heritage Site last year.