The hardest hike ever! There’s an e-mail floating around of a mountaintop teahouse somewhere in China. The amazing thing is how one gets to the teahouse. First by tram, then by a series of planks on the side of a mountain, steps cut into rock, and chain to hold onto. It looks absolutely amazing, but I can’t figure out if it’s real. Have you received this e-mail, have you ever seen this pace, or even know the name of it?
Situated just 120 kilometers East of Xi’an City, in Shaanxi province, Huashan is one of China’s five sacred mountains and one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions. It’s appreciated for the beautiful natural scenery and the ancient Taoist temples, but Huashan is most famous for the dangerous hiking trail to the summit.
Huashan Mountain has five peaks, which when looked from a certain angle make the mountain look like a flower (“hua” in Chinese). From the North Peak, a series of paths rise up to the four other peaks: the East Peak (Facing Sun Peak – 2.100 m), Middle Peak (Jade Maiden Peak – 2.042 m), West Peak (Lotus Peak – 2.038 m), North Peak (Cloud Terrace Peak – 1.613 m) and the South Peak, the tallest and most dangerous of them al – 2.160 m. There are three ways up to Huashan’s North Peak, the lowest of the mountain’s major peaks. The most popular is the also the original route, which winds for 6 km from Hua Shan village to the north peak. There is also the cable car, as well as a path that follows the cable car to the North Peak. If you’re brave and lucky enough to reach its summit you are rewarded with an incredible view of the whole mountain complex.
The trail that leads to the South Peak from North Peak is on a cliff face, and it is known as being extremely dangerous. The spread and popularity of the story was aided by many videos showing the most dangerous parts of the trail. The most perilous part of the Huashan Trail is considered to be the “Changong Zhandao” a 13 feet long, 1 foot wide plank path along a vertical cliff, where just one false step means falling in the abyss below. There is also a chain around the cliff so, if you plan to take this path, pack a mountain-climbing harness and strap yourself to the chain. There are also portions of the trail where climbers only have a chain and some footholds in the rock as support.
The steep, practically vertical Heaven Stairs are no breeze to climb either, if someone were to slip and tumble down the people behind him would be in terrible danger as well, because the staircase is very narrow.
Mount Huashan proudly lives up to its reputation through its incredibly dangerous hiking trail. That’s what you have to keep in mind if you plan to tackle this beast: Huashan Trail is not about mountain climbing but hiking. As such, you don’t get to use special equipment that could save your life – it’s just you, the mountain and if you think ahead, a pair of gloves.
The people who accept the mountain’s hiking challenge are usually young daredevils using this opportunity to show-off their “mad skills”; unfortunately many of them have fatal accidents. Although many speak of around 100 deadly accidents on the Huashan Trail every year, “thanks” to Chinese censorship there are no official records of any such incidents.
Looking at the photos and the video I can’t help wondering how they managed to build that plank path and what happened to the people who built it…
Robin takes off to China to find the source of one of the web’s most amazing photos, and see if Mount Hua is indeed the world’s most dangerous hike.
The walkway has now gone many years without maintenance, and is in a highly deteriorated and dangerous state. It is 1 m (3 ft) in width, and is over 200 m (700 ft) above the river. Nearly the entire path has no handrail. Some parts of the concrete walkway have completely collapsed and all that is remaining is the steel beam originally in place to hold it up and the wire that follows most the path. One can latch onto the wire to keep from falling. Many people have lost their lives on the walkway in recent years. After four people died in two accidents in 1999 and 2000, the local government closed the entrances; however, adventurous tourists still find their way into the walkway.
Recent reports say the Chinese authorities have made considerable progress in making the Huashan Trail safer. Perhaps they’ve realized it was too dangerous for people that didn’t have the proper physical condition to pass certain parts of the pass. Extreme weather conditions don’t make a traverse any easier either. If you want to skip the harrowing Huashan Trail ordeal, you can just take one of the cable cars directly to the North Peak and enjoy the breathtaking view. Then again, you won’t be able to brag about conquering the world’s most dangerous hiking trail.
steve roper
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Here’s a video I found featuring the Huashan plank walk on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nq0vtU-LVc
Lucia Reich
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Thank you Steve for the link. Another proof that is absolutely impressive and incredible how difficult and dangerous that path it is. And so amazingly beautiful to look down from up there!