Mount Fuji , Japan ( CNN ) -- At the start of a three-month reporting stint in Tokyo , I 'd thought vaguely to myself how I would n't mind climbing Mount Fuji when my assignment was done -- in the way that I 've always vaguely wondered about running a marathon , but never got round to it . Fuji , after all , is a mountain close to the hearts of all Japanese , an icon of this beautiful country ... and front cover of the Lonely Planet , which I had furnished myself with prior to departing Berlin , my regular reporting base . Then when my producer , Yoko , told me that she 'd found coming down Fuji worse than running a marathon , I thought to myself , `` It 'll never happen . '' One day on an early morning flight to Nagasaki , Yoko and I flew over Fuji -- the most breathtaking view of the mountain I 've had , and the photo that 's got the most likes I 've ever had on Facebook . Then a month ago I was sent to Seoul and told I would n't be returning to Japan -- my dream of climbing Fuji was relegated to wistful `` it was never meant to be '' status . But no . This Saturday I have to be back home in the UK . It was always a hard `` out date '' from Asia . And now the chance has arisen . We 'll be accompanying a team from Google as they chart a route to the summit of the 3,776-meter ( 12,388-feet ) . My colleague , Anna Coren , was meant to do this last week but the weather was too bad so the trip was postponed . Cultural gem . The Google Street View Trekker team plans to map out a path up to the peak for the first time . Mount Fuji was recently granted UNESCO World Heritage status -- though the U.N. panel classified it as a `` cultural '' rather than `` natural '' heritage site because it had `` inspired artists and poets and been the object of pilgrimage for centuries . '' The plan was to leave the mountain at 6 p.m. local time on Friday and depart on my flight to Europe the following morning . I banked on my frantic last-minute HIIT ( high intensity interval training ) sessions -- courtesy of my Seoul producer KJ -- to help me deal with my fitness so I could better cope with issues such as altitude sickness . But if 300,000 other people manage to climb Fuji each year , then so could we . Follow Diana on Twitter too . Rather than a dose of nature , I readied myself for human traffic jams up towards the peak . It 's a heat-wave in Tokyo , the perfect time to escape . Fuji-San , we 're ready for you ! Perfect conditions . The weather was perfect when the party set off . We were treated to some fantastic views as we traversed to 3,000 meters . At this point we had around 700 to go by the afternoon , so everyone prepared to climb into the evening . The only slightly troubling thing was that our companions from Google -- our reason for being here -- seemed to be having a few `` technical problems . '' The last thing we heard was that they 'd had to `` reboot '' the camera -- which is technically 15 cameras set on top of a green contraption on the back of some poor fellow who has to carry all 18kg up the mountain . Poor Google -- they had to turn back last week because of bad weather . But this would not stop us from finishing the climb . Remarkably our cell phones still worked and I was not feeling the effects of the altitude . We were overtaken by a few Fuji marathon runners who can take the mountain in around 3 hours flat ; that 's at the end of July . It was also nice to have CNN 's long-time friend Hiro Sasso with us . He helped out with our coverage during the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck eastern Japan in 2011 . Sasso is a member of the Japan alpine club and the person to speak to about all things Fuji . He 's climbed it ten times -- he even showed me the route he skied down in May . Not recommended though . If you fall on that ice , he says you 'll need an ice-axe to stop , otherwise you 'll slide to your death . So only for extreme skiers -- his words . I also discovered that Pot Noodles are a Japanese invention . Can this be true ? At any rate if I could remember how they tasted the last ( and possibly only ) time I ate them , I 'd say they 'd never tasted so good . But as it is , up here at altitude , that salty and shrimpy mixture was nothing short of perfection . Plus in Japan you 're allowed to slurp them , making the experience all the more fun . As we neared the summit , everyone seemed 100 % fit . However , CNN producer Junko started to feel nervous about what was still ahead . She was part of last week 's aborted venture and said her muscle ache only went away yesterday . FOLLOW DIANA 'S CLIMB IN PICTURES ABOVE .
Currently Magnay will join teams from Google as they explore a route to Everest 's summit . The expedition marks the end of Google 's assignment in Asia . July 1 was the start of the climbing season on Japan 's highest and most iconic mountain .