A sheer granite wall on one side, hundreds of metres of air on the other, and only a line of narrow wooden boards in between. The Mount Hua plank walk in China is one of the most famous exposed paths on Earth, and this first-person video, shared by Rumble Viral in 2014, puts the viewer right on the boards.
Mount Hua, China's sacred Western Mountain
Mount Hua, or Huashan, rises near the city of Huayin in Shaanxi province, about 120 kilometres east of Xi'an. It sits at the eastern end of the Qinling range and is the Western Mountain among China's Five Great Mountains, the sacred peaks of Chinese tradition. Its nickname says it all: "the steepest mountain under heaven".
Huashan has five main peaks. The South Peak is the highest at about 2,155 metres, followed by the East Peak (about 2,096 m), the West Peak (about 2,082 m), the Central Peak (about 2,042 m) and the North Peak (about 1,615 m), the lowest.
The mountain has been a religious centre for more than two thousand years. Daoist temples have stood at its foot since at least the 2nd century BC, and Daoists count it among the five holiest sites of their faith. From the 1230s its temples were run by the Quanzhen School. The Tang dynasty was a golden age for Huashan, and visitors over the centuries included the First Emperor Qin Shihuang, Emperor Taizong of Tang and Sun Yat-sen.
The plank walk on the South Peak
The plank walk clings to the southern face of the mountain near the South Peak, the highest and most popular part of Huashan. The boards are only about a foot wide, some of them old and weathered, and the drop below is often quoted at around 1,000 metres.
Filmed from the walker's point of view, the video shows why the path is so famous: the rock fills one side of the frame, the boards run ahead and the valley falls away on the other side.
Every walker wears a safety harness with two clips attached to the safety line, and the rule is simple: never unhook both clips at the same time. Short ladders up the rock, the so-called sky ladders, give walkers a way to pass one another.
How to climb Huashan today
The climb to Huashan's peaks has long been called one of the world's most dangerous hikes, but the main routes are far better protected than they once were. Railings, stone steps carved into the rock and one-way sections have made the paths much safer, though crowds and winter ice still demand care.
- By cable car: the easiest way up, built in the 1990s, runs to the North Peak.
- On foot: the traditional Hua Shan Gorge trail climbs about 6 kilometres from Huashan village to the North Peak.
- Between the peaks: the narrow Canglong Ling ridge was once the only way on to the other summits; a bypass trail opened in 1998.
The plank walk is an optional detour near the South Peak, so plan time for it on top of the main route. Crowds are the biggest everyday challenge on Huashan's steps, so an early start makes the climb more pleasant.
Legends of the mountain
Huashan's cliffs are wrapped in legend. One story tells how the giant Juling Shen split the mountain away from the surrounding range with an axe. Another tells of the hero Chenxiang, who split the Axe-Splitting Rock on the West Peak to rescue his mother, Huayue Sanniang.
For a different high-mountain visitor viewpoint, explore Aiguille du Midi through Jakub Polomski’s camera. For another film whose perspective intensifies exposure, see Robbie Maddison’s Drop In.
Related reading
- Mount Hua’s Plank Walk: A Dramatic Clip and Its Limits
- Huashan: Planning a Mountain Visit Beyond the Plank-Walk Story
- Yading: Mountain Scenery within a Tibetan Cultural Landscape
- Tiger-Killing Reports from 2014: Images, Attribution and Wildlife Crime
- Baishuitai: White Water Terraces below the Haba Snow Mountains
- Shiniuzhai’s Early Glass-Panel Bridge: A Historical Photo Sequence
- Tianmen Mountain: The Glass Walkway and the Wider Route
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