Flashback to Hua Shan

Mount Hua Shan, with its famous Plank Path, is billed as one of the most dangerous hikes in the world. And I've been itching to climb it since I first heard about it 10 years ago!

However, since that time, a few things have changed,

1. There are now stairways all over the place with railings
2. They give you harnesses at the start of the plank
3. I had taken up rock-climbing in the intervening years

So the entire experience wasn't as scary as it would have been even a few years ago. But even without the element of danger, Hua Shan was my favourite experience in China, edging past some tough competition from the Great Wall and Tiger Leaping Gorge!

The Plank Path may be safer these days, but it's still a looooong way down!

Looking down on West Peak from the trail to the South Peak

Information about hiking Hua Shan (in English) was a little difficult to come by when we were researching our trip. This blog post on tynan.com was the most informative at the time, and it answered a lot of my questions about the Plank Path.

In addition, here's what I'd share with anyone who asked me about Hua Shan. No one actually has, of course, but that's never stopped me from preemptively chiming in about anything...

Trails to the Summit

There seem to be two ways to hike up to the top. One route is directly under the North Peak Cable Cars. And the other one follows a stream up the valley.

We chose the valley route for two reasons:

1. We thought it would be more peaceful without cable cars overhead.
2. It was very close to where the bus dropped us off and laziness won out :)

The 5 Peaks of Hua Shan.
Bus/Taxi drop-off points marked in green

We had hoped to return by the other route, but sadly, ran out of time and needed to pick up our bags, which were in storage at a hotel near the bus stop.

It sounds like the North Peak route may have been more exciting. We ran into some hikers on our way down who told us that the North Peak trail had more of the original stone steps and had not been modernized like our trail had been. But no worries, we still got our share of excitement on the Plank Path and Sparrow Hawk Cliff!

NOTE: The orientation of the map takes some getting used to, as South is at the top and East is to the left.

The Plank Path

The Plank Path is one of two Via Ferrata style side trips you can do in Hua Shan. No prior rock-climbing experience is required, but you will be using standard climbing equipment.

Via Ferratas are basically a series of cables bolted to the rock along a climbing route. You clip into the cables (with both of your carabiners) as you walk/climb along. When you get to a cable anchor point, you need to move your carabiners to the next section of cable. When doing this, move the carabiners one at a time.

For those unfamiliar with rock-climbing, this is the equipment you'll be using

We observed a lot of people using the two-carabiner system incorrectly. The guy who checks your harness does give clear and correct instructions on how to do this. But it was quite brief and I think a lot people were too excited/nervous/both to pick up on the key point: stay clipped in at all times!

Many were moving both of their carabiners at the same time, leaving themselves with no safety line whatsoever. The whole point of having two carabiners is that you'll always have a fail-safe. We even saw people doing this when they had to pass individuals going the other way (when you have to step around each other). Not a good idea IMO.

If you use the equipment as you are instructed to, the plank path is completely safe and a whole lot of fun!

Sparrow Hawk Cliff

View of the Chess Pavilion from the main trail

Sparrow Hawk Cliff may be the lesser-known Via Ferrata in Hua Shan, but it makes up for it by being more exciting!

There are no planks, just holes in the rock. But the holes aren't deep enough for your entire foot, so your heels hang over the edge! A little freaky, but totally awesome! This is much closer to what it's like to go rock-climbing outdoors. We loved it!

But what really makes Sparrow Hawk Cliff special is the final destination. The path takes you to the incredibly picturesque Chess Pavilion. The pavilion even has a real chess board! Too bad we didn't bring any chess pieces.

Misc Notes

Definitely a lot hazier in the afternoon!

Getting to the top of East Peak in time for sunrise seems to be a popular thing to do. There were at least 150 people at the summit when we got there at 5:30am. Maybe more! So if you want a good spot, get there early!

Unfortunately, the sunrise itself turned out to be a disappointment, as the cloud cover (or pollution?) blocked the sun. In fact, the pollution/haze situation got much worse in the the afternoon. There is quite a difference between the photos taken in the morning, and this picture we took on our way down.