During February 2011 Darryl Kralovic and I attempted a 5,321m peak in the Yulong Xueshan. This is the easternmost prominent peak in the northern half of the chain. After hiring a car and driver in Lijiang on the 11th, we traveled to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Park, bought an entrance ticket, and were dropped off at the main drainage below our mountain. That night we walked west up the valley on old native trails, turned north below the peak, and went up another valley to the start of the north ridge, which appears to offer the easiest route to the summit.

We camped in the forest and spent most of next day reaching a base camp above the tree line at 4,100m. It snowed all day, and the wind was gusty, but our vantage point allowed a tantalizing view of the east side of the peaks lining the eastern edge of Tiger Leaping Gorge.

While the snow stopped early next morning, the winds continued to increase until we had no option but to retreat. Descent was by the same route until we could head east to the Yak Meadow tourist destination, from where we trekked straight down to the road.

Mike Dobie, China