This Is the Most Dangerous Hike in the World

5 min read

This is an experience like no other. For one of the most unforgettable views in the world, you’ll have to navigate slippery staircases, terrifying vertical ascents and an extremely hazardous plank trail constructed hundreds of years ago. You better hold tight to that rope because you’re about to find out why they call this the most dangerous hike in the world.

One of the five sacred mountains in China, Mount Huashan has not one, but five peaks. Each peak is filled with its own different obstacles and dangerous trails. If you decide to scale the South Peak, its highest, you’ll find yourself 2,160 m (7,087 ft) above the ground. And as you climb those unstable steps, keep this in mind. Every year Mount Huashan is rumored to claim the lives of at least 100 hikers.

What’s the safest route to the top? Why are these trails a deathwish in certain months? How could taking a selfie kill you?

Step 1. Know the Language

This might be one of the world’s most perilous trails, but the danger starts long before you’re on the mountain.
Mount Huashan is located in a remote area. The nearest city is Xian, and we use the word ‘near’ loosely since it’s still about a 120 km (74.5 mi) trip. To make the journey from Xian to the mountain, you’ll have to take a bullet train and then catch a ride to get you the rest of the way.

It is a long and challenging trip, especially if you’re not familiar with the regional dialects. Make sure to have a translator app on your phone to help you communicate with locals. This is a place where you want to make sure everyone you talk to knows exactly what you mean.

Step 2. Choose Your Walking Season Wisely

Of course, you want to reach the highest of the mountain’s heights. Besides being the tallest, the South Peak also features the infamously narrow plank walk constructed of beams only 30 cm (12 in) wide. These are precariously stapled to the sheer cliff walls, and with only three of these planks crammed together to form a walkway space is pretty tight.

Trust us, you will want to wait for the warmer months to make the trip. In winter, the mountain can be covered in snow and ice. During the rainy season in July and August, it’s incredibly slippery. To lower the risk of taking a wrong step and falling to your death, April to June and September to November is when to plan your adventure.

Step 3. Don’t Remove Your Harness

First, you’ll climb down the cliff on metal rod stairs. You’ll be wearing a backpack-like harness with climbing ropes around your torso attached to carabiners clipped to a safety cable along the mountain wall. The carabiners you’re outfitted with might not look pretty but never take that harness off. In 2019, a university student decided to take a selfie to document her hike. She lost her footing and tragically died when she fell off the trail, in part because she decided to remove her harness for the photo.

Step 4. Prepare for Contact/Close Encounters

Remember those precarious, narrow stairs that we showed you? We forgot to mention one tiny detail about them that could complicate things for you. The stairs and the entire plank trail is a two-way route. While you’re headed down, returning tourists will be coming up. This means you’ll have to maneuver over and around them. Carefully.

Slowly inch over to allow other hikers to squeeze past you. This isn’t an easy task. Moving your carabiner over theirs can be pretty scary. Some daredevils take the carabiner off and walk across without it, but it’s safer to just keep it on. Especially when the wind picks up.

Step 5. West Is Best

If you want to take this once-in-a-lifetime trip but you don’t want to risk dying on planks and steel stairs, you might consider hiking on a different part of the mountain. While the North Peak and South Peaks feature the most intimidating and exhilarating trails, the West Peak is the quickest and smoothest hike.

You can walk around this area toward the center of Mount Huashan and take a cable car back to the base of the mountain. You made it to the end of the most dangerous hike you’ll ever attempt. Now, imagine doing that on the highest mountain on Earth. Only this time you’ll be carrying the gear of several other climbers. Could you handle it?