Xueshan is situated in Xinzhu County, in Xueba National park. Its height is 3886 meters. So…would be great to have company for climbing this mountain. I plan to go there by scooter and then on foot. Probably during Chinese New Year. Any suggestions?
I’m going there with my brother, if you want to join. We’re about to arrive on 8th Feb in the morning to Wuling. The plan is to go from there via 369 hut to the top and back. We have everything reserved and so only if you want and will be able to go with someone on that exact date (I don’t know about the current situation with the applications, might be full already).
The final kilometer or two at the top is exposed and, at this time of year, very icy. Take heel-crampons or sharp-tipped walking poles at least. Also, don’t get lost in the black pine forest on the way up if you go before dawn; use a good headlamp.
Best of luck: it’s a great walk.
Wouldn’t one have had to apply for a permit by now in order to make it for a CNY hike? It is one month in advance, correct?
If I remember correctly, one needs to register and book a bed(s) in some of the cottages, but the registration opens one month before the date, so it’s not a deadline, and it goes until there are some places left in the capacity. The registration itself took just a few days (two or three I guess), but the capacity in the huts will be actually reserved as soon as you submit the online form. Just it seems someone needs to read it and press “approve”.
As I wrote sooner, I’m already registered for 8th Feb entry (10th leave).
[quote=“urodacus”]The final kilometer or two at the top is exposed and, at this time of year, very icy. Take heel-crampons or sharp-tipped walking poles at least. Also, don’t get lost in the black pine forest on the way up if you go before dawn; use a good headlamp.
Best of luck: it’s a great walk.[/quote]
Thanks. As for weather, we’re counting on it and will definitely have some equipment handy. Actually I believe the winter scenery will make it even better! Haha, can’t wait already. 
We did the hike a couple of weeks ago and the day before we arrived there was a snow storm. The snow was 50-100cm deep from 369 hut onwards. Proper crampons and poles are definitely needed. Even then you need to be really careful when you get to the cirque as the path will most likely be buried under a few feet of snow.
I always though crampons were more for ice…I guess it is important in the more exposed parts, but certainly not for the snow…
Heel crampons are little dinky sets of four short spikes that strap onto the heel of a normal walking boot and stop you falling on your ass on ice (which can be bad if you then slide off a mountain, or even just if you twist a knee or ankle). They’re not a full foot cover for hard ice and mixed conditions, just backup for a walk that gets icy. You’d ruin a good pair of crampons on Xueshan, probably.
Very handy in case the path you are on gets icy. That path up on the last approach to Xueshan does get very icy in winter. Even in times when it has snowed a couple of feet, the exposed top track there will likely as not have no snow (it gets blown off) and a thick crust of ice instead. Sure, the rest of the place will be knee deep in snow, which has its own problems. but the ice is the danger.
I can only comment on the experience that we had up there a few weeks ago, but 4-spike crampons were not cut out for that trip. They were fine on the icy bits of the trail, but once we got out of the forest and into the cirque they just weren’t adequate. The entire trail, from the forest to the peak was buried in a few feet of snow. There were patches of ice though, where the 12-spike crampons that the volunteer trail-blazer who was with us was wearing came in useful. He managed to make it to the peak with those. We had no chance with our 4-spikes.
You’re kidding! Wow.
When I went in March, the top was covered in slushy ice with a few sections of verglas where the wind had done its stuff. Passable with heel crampons.
I don’t even own any crampons anymore. What are Footfangs going for in Taipei these days?
God, but I’d like to do some winter climbing. Its been far too long. But you do need at least 8-pointers. Even on snow once it gets windpacked it can be a right mess to get over without them. But its all on trails here, right? Not too much opportunity for actual ground-breaking? Footfangs would probably just keep tripping you up.
You should see some of the stuff going on in Scotland right now. Utterly amazing climbing happening there in the last few weeks. Alpine extreme. My brother in law had a 200-foot fall just last week and walked out unassisted. No more than a bruised kidney. Well, not counting the shattered ego, but trust me, that’s a good thing, for him.
I cairn handle the pressure, lads.
[quote=“sandman”]God, but I’d like to do some winter climbing. Its been far too long. But you do need at least 8-pointers. Even on snow once it gets windpacked it can be a right mess to get over without them. But its all on trails here, right? Not too much opportunity for actual ground-breaking? Footfangs would probably just keep tripping you up.
You should see some of the stuff going on in Scotland right now. Utterly amazing climbing happening there in the last few weeks. Alpine extreme. My brother in law had a 200-foot fall just last week and walked out unassisted. No more than a bruised kidney. Well, not counting the shattered ego, but trust me, that’s a good thing, for him.[/quote]
Speaking of ‘the stuff going on in Scotland…’
Thought you’d like to read this one, Sandman:
[quote=“BBC”]Adam Potter: “Every now and then I would go over a cliff”
A climber who survived a 1,000ft (305m) fall from a mountain peak says he is planning to return to the hills soon.
Adam Potter, 36, from Glasgow, plummeted down the near-vertical eastern slope of Sgurr Choinnich Mor near Ben Nevis after losing his footing.
[…]
“I was slipping down on ice and snow and I tried to lose some speed at that point but it was very difficult - my speed gathered pace very quickly,” he said.
"But then every now and then I would go over a cliff edge and any speed I had lost immediately came back because I was just free-falling at that point.
"And then I would hit more snow, another slope, so I would go with that slope for a while and then go over another cliff…and it went on and on.
[…]
Mr Potter said he ended up resting against a rock. A rescue helicopter crew from HMS Gannet at Prestwick said they found him standing looking at a map when they arrived at the scene.
[…]
Mr Potter added that he felt well, apart from some cuts and bruises and three “minor fractures” to his back.
Asked if would go back to the mountains soon, he replied: "Yes, hopefully very soon. I was hoping to go again next weekend but I think that will be cancelled. But maybe in a few weeks - I’ll see how the injuries go.
“It was just a little slip which led to a lot more slips… but I could slip on the doorstep at home,” he added.[/quote]
Sounds like a Roadrunner & Coyote cartoon: slip, arrrrr… thump! slide, arrrrr… thump! tumble, arrrr… thump!