Leo Houlding
has made the first ascent of the challenging 600m west face of the
stunning sacred mountain of
Huashan
in China.
Huashan, one of
five sacred mountains in China
Climbing with fellow Berghaus climbers Carlos Suarez and Wang Zhi Ming,
Houlding took 13 hours to complete the technically difficult climb
after being granted special permission by the Chinese government to
attempt the route on the previously unclimbed face.
Houlding has named the route 'Celestial Masters' and says that the
ascent was less classic rock climbing and more 'vertical tree
wrestling' due to the extremely overgrown nature of the cliff. Leo had
to fight through thorns, trees and brambles to eventually make it to
horizontal ground and finished the climb with multiple flesh wounds as
a result.
Leo, Carlos and Wang left no gear fixed in the face, remaining faithful
to a pure style of climbing.
Houlding on the
west face of Huashan
Leo commented: “It was a much harder climb than we anticipated, but
even in the most severe and dangerous times we all kept smiling and
enjoyed the adventure. Motivation is the key to success and it was a
pleasure to climb with such positive guys as Carlos and Wang.
“China is blessed with an incredible variety of amazing
mountains and other climbing destinations. I hope that our
expedition to Huashan will inspire more people from China to explore
the outdoors around them, and encourage others to visit the country.”
Apparently Huashan is shaped like a massive gold ingot and is famous
for being the birthplace of Taoism. It's one of five sacred mountains
in China and it's extremely rare for anyone to be granted permission to
attempt it by any route.
More information on the climb at Leo Houlding's blog at
www.berghaus.com
where the name of the route is explained and Leo described a
near-revolt by the porters.
