Hiking Yushan (Jade Mountain): Taiwan's Highest Peak

I get it. I completely understand how people who have never hiked before suddenly become altitude junkies within a year or two of living in Taiwan. The little island, about half the size of Virginia, is home to over a hundred 3,000m+ peaks and the most popular one to start with is Jade Mountain, which gets everybody hooked. Along with being Taiwan’s most popular hike, Jade Mountain is the highest peak in Taiwan and Eastern Asia. With a height of 3,952 m (12,966 ft.), it’s also the 27th most prominent mountain in the world, and my first experience with high altitude hiking.

I trained for one month and hike regularly, but knew the game had changed when one of our group members mentioned that he had just spent a week hiking around Everest’s Base Camp and the GIRLS who had gotten altitude sickness. (Thanks for that by the way, it made me feel so much better.) Obviously, he was one of the first to summit and I was one of the last, but the fact remains: I DID THAT and there must be something wrong with me, because I’m already planning my next high altitude ascent.



Jade Mountain is great for beginner altitude climbers, because it can be spread comfortably across two days and only requires hikers to carry 10-12 kg (22-26 lbs.). The mountain has two lodges, so tents aren’t necessary and neither are sleeping bags, which can be rented on site. Portering companies, also, send food and kerosene up the mountain daily so hikers can purchase meals at the lodges.

Serving more hikers than any other trail, the Jade Mountain lodges are revered as the best on the island. Instead of sleeping bags, the first lodge rents out weighted blankets and pillows (ACTUAL PILLOWS). I slept like a baby. For $300 NTD ($10 USD), the second lodge gives out nice down sleeping bags and fleece blankets. Interestingly, the second lodge is completely off the grid. Water is pumped in from a nearby river and the lights run on solar power. I was able to drink tap water for the first time in two years. In addition to this, it’s rumored they’ll be setting up some wind turbines in the near future.



Access to the summit is limited to 90 people a day and, of course, everyone needs two permits, which can be extremely difficult to come by. Also, the permits, lodging, meals and sleeping bags all have to be booked separately through different companies. For example, the food has to be booked directly through the portering companies and isn’t included in the price of the lodge. The sleeping bags are rented directly from the lodge, but as a separate transaction, so you have to remember to book it with your bed. Also, if you don’t get a receipt number, your reservation and money might be conveniently lost. Complete disclosure, just writing about it is giving me a headache and I’m super glad we joined a group instead of trying it alone.

There are lots of different organizations and people offering trips up the mountain. Trips are expensive (about $300 USD), but everything is included (even transport from Taipei) and they do all the paperwork, which (as mentioned above) is a huge pain. Ours was organized by trekking author, blogger and expert Richard Saunders, but lead by Mark Roche, the owner of Blue Skies Adventures and Saunders’ boss.



It was Roche’s 42nd trip up the mountain, so he was prepared for everything and full of good advice, such as how to ward off altitude sickness with ginger tea. (I love ginger tea, so this was great news.) Roche also has a favorite dead tree named Freddy, after Freddy Kruger. Again, I was usually bringing up the rear, so I got to talk with Roche more as he always tried to be the last one off the trail.

In addition to Roche and Saunders, other trekking companies organizing Jade Mountain trips include: Taiwan Adventures and Taiwan Adventure Outings. Yes, they are two separate companies. Taiwan Adventures has been around longer and has a good reputation for high mountain climbs, especially Snow Mountain. Taiwan Adventure Outings is a newer outfit that just took their first trip up Jade Mountain this year. That being said, the pictures from their trip looked great and I don’t think anyone died.



Speaking of dying, that happens. According to Roche, people die every year on the mountain. He alluded that the deaths were mostly older hikers and could be contributed to heart failure. Regardless, this climb is easily the scariest and most beautiful thing I’ve ever intentionally done to myself. Once you get over the scary, it’s an awesome (the original meaning) hike with mountain landscapes and shaded forests to keep you company.

The high altitude terrain is littered with firs, pines, hemlocks, mountain laurel, rhododendron, and edelweiss. This was the first time I’ve smelled pine needles since moving to Taiwan. Being as homesick as I am, the stupid things almost made my eyes water, as did the view on multiple occasions. (It’s unfair really, because in novels the girl who cries at beautiful things is such a romanticized idea, but in practice it’s awful, especially when the girl is trying to pretend to be a badass mountain climber, which she is not, and tears are not going to help the image.)



In distance, it’s not a very long hike, just 11 km from the trailhead to the summit. It’s the elevation that gets you and it literally takes two hours to hike what a person normally runs in ten minutes. There are two rest areas on the trail at the 1.5 and 5 km markers. They’re great places to have a snack and catch your breath. The summit lodge is at 8 km. If attempting a sunrise summit hike, most hikers stop here to sleep and eat before continuing on at two or three in the morning.

The final 2.4 km leading to the summit is a steep scramble with lots of windy cliffs, but there are chains and cages in place that make it feel relatively safe. A plus to doing the sunrise hike is that you can’t see how far you have to fall until on the return trip. It’s hard to believe that human beings actually do this for fun: "Let’s relax by standing two inches from certain death in the dark on the side of mountain almost 4,000 m above sea level.” You know what the stupidest thing is… I’d do it again.