First Ascent of Beautiful Peak in China

Published November 12, 2013 04:16PM

11/12/13 – American Dave Anderson and his Taiwanese and Chinese partners made the first ascent of a 17,000-foot peak in Siguniang National Park, China, in September. In recent years, Anderson and various partners have done several first ascents of granite peaks in Sichuan Province, including 19,259-foot Kemailong last autumn. Below, his brief report on the latest:

“An international expedition completed the first ascent of Mt. Dayantianwo (17,126 feet) in the Shuangqiao Valley of Siguniang National Park in Sichuan, China. On September 15, Chaohui Zheng of China, Szu-ting Yi of Taiwan, and American Dave Anderson climbed the 2,000-foot southwest face at 5.10 R/X. The three climbers had been part of a larger expedition organized by Zheng that attempted the peak earlier in the month, but were forced to abandon their initial attempt after a series of storms covered the rock peak with several feet of snow.

“After a week-long period of good weather that melted most of the snow, the three climbers, along with Tibetan climber Laoyao Xu, returned to their high camp at the base of Dayantianwo. The next day they started climbing two seperate routes on the southwest face. After seven pitches, the two teams’ routes intersected, Xu decided to descend, and Zheng joined Yi and Anderson to continue to the summit. They rappelled in the dark, retuning to their high camp in a 16-hour round-trip. Yi and Anderson named their route Three Sheep Bring Prosperity for the bharal mountain sheep (a.k.a., Himalayan blue sheep) that ran past them through fifth-class terrain near the summit. Zheng named his variation Top of a Dream.

“Also in the Shaungqiao Valley, Yi, Anderson, and Chinese climber Yunching Liu established Playing with Fire (1,500′, 5.10-) on the south ridge on Seerdengpu. The trio completed the route [to a prominent point partway up the ridge] on August 25, with one bivy during the descent.”