Liu Moqing summits the sacred Native American mountain Shiprock, marking China’s first ascent

Sponsored by Kailas, athlete Liu Moqing, together with Taiwanese female climber Yi Siting, reached the summit of Shiprock in 10 hours. This marks the 519th recorded ascent since the tower's first documented climb in 1939. As they carefully signed their names in the summit logbook, they added another language to the record of ascents on this sacred Native American peak—Chinese.

Driving south from Colorado, just after crossing the state line into New Mexico, you see a prominent protrusion on the distant horizon. This is Shiprock, the striking rock formation in the desert. Once you lay eyes on it, you can’t look away—not because it’s particularly beautiful, but because in this flat, expansive wilderness, there’s almost nothing else to see besides Shiprock: dry soil, gleaming shards of glass, and the drought-resistant shrubs and thorny plants unique to the desert climate, all hugging the low horizon.

 Wang Song, the protrusion seen at the state line: Shiprock

Sacred Native American mountain
Aside from being an extraordinary desert tower, Shiprock is also steeped in numerous mysterious legends.

In the 90 years since its first recorded ascent, only about 500 people have summited Shiprock. This isn’t due to its high difficulty level, but rather because of its unpredictable weather, complex geological structure that adds uncertainty to climbing, and its deep reverence among the ancient Native American tribes.
TseBai Ai is what the Native Americans call it, roughly translating to “the winged rock.” This not only describes how it abruptly rises from the desert like a giant stone that has flown in from elsewhere, but also reflects the awe and worship the tribe holds for it.

For traditional Native Americans, Shiprock is a place of gods and death. It is said that Native Americans once lived on the highlands, connected to the fields at the mountain’s base by a steep path. One day, when the men went down to work in the fields, a sudden storm destroyed the path. The women and children left behind on the high Shiprock perished on the mountain.
Even today, Native Americans hold Shiprock in reverence. They believe the bones of the women and children may still lie somewhere on the mountain. There are many such legends, but the general takeaway is that this is no ordinary mountain.

 Wang Song, Shiprock at dusk

First stop: Reconnaissance

When our vehicle could go no further, everyone got out to assess the route. While happily marveling at how accessible Shiprock was, we also carefully searched for the best path. Since we had parked on the east side of the rock face, we initially chose the eastern route, but Liu Moqing and Yi Siting decided it wasn’t suitable for climbing—the wall had almost no cracks. We then moved around to the north side and decided to ascend from the north toward the west wall.

 Wang Song, the reconnaissance journey

However, the accessibility turned out to be somewhat of an illusion. No matter how close it looked, it always remained the same distance away as we climbed. Gradually ascending, the vegetation changed—low thorny bushes gave way to white clumps of plants, and the sandstone began to be covered by large amounts of basalt boulders.

Even before reaching the base of the cliff, you already get the feeling of standing atop a mountain overlooking the vast surroundings, with the flat desert and the distant lights at its edge all coming into view, inspiring a sense of openness.

 Wang Song, overlooking the land from halfway up the mountain

Although the Shiprock climbing route is listed among the top 50 classic tower climbs in North America, due to various historical reasons, the route hasn’t been climbed in a long time, and the rock has become very soft from prolonged weathering. Since it was their first time at this location and there were no detailed route guides, the two climbers decided, out of caution, to wake up early the next day to gain more time for safety.

That evening, Moqing and Dave sorted through the climbing gear: lightweight backpacks, cold-weather clothing, and simple trail food.

Wang Song, the night before Kailas-sponsored athlete Liu Moqing’s climb

Departure for Shiprock

Up at 5:00 AM. Unlike previous climbs, I woke up almost instantly, with no reluctance to leave the sleeping bag. After a quick breakfast of eggs and toast, Liu Moqing and the team got ready to set off.

Although Shiprock’s main body is less than 300 meters tall, the climbing route is nearly 600 meters, with much of it involving traversing. Before setting off, Liu Moqing told me they would depart at 5:50 AM, expecting to finish in 10–12 hours, aiming to reach the summit by 4:00 PM. If they didn’t return by evening, there was no need to worry—I should sleep peacefully. They might choose to bivouac on the wall if they hadn’t finished. If they weren’t back by 10:00 AM the next day, then action would be needed.

Siting also left me the phone number of a local Native American contact we had communicated with earlier, in case of any interference or prohibition from the Native community. Shiprock is geographically isolated from other towers and located within Native American territory, so prior to the climb, Siting had already gone through repeated communications and confirmations with them.

Watching Liu Moqing and Siting discuss everything so seriously, I suddenly started to feel a bit nervous.
At 5:50 AM, before dawn had even broken, not even a glimmer of light on the horizon, I watched the faint glow of Moqing and Siting disappear into the darkness.

Number 519, China’s first ascent

The solo campsite was incredibly peaceful, with only the occasional presence of small animals like birds, geckos, and snakes. It was mostly just me talking to myself.
At 5:00 PM, I suddenly heard a sound coming from the direction of the tower. Looking toward the noise, I saw nothing. Continuing to scan the rock face, I suddenly noticed what appeared to be a small bump at the summit. Using my telephoto lens, I instantly got a rush—it was clearly a person, kneeling with a backpack on. Then I spotted another one on the side.

Cai Pangpang, a small bump on the mountaintop

At 16:59 local U.S. time, Liu Moqing and Yi Siting reached the summit from Shiprock after a 10-hour climb!

This marked the 519th recorded ascent of the tower since it was first climbed in 1939. But when they carefully signed their names in the summit logbook, they added a new language to the records of this sacred Native American mountain—Chinese.

Dave Anderson, Liu Moqing, and Yi Siting at the summit of Shiprock

Salmon, Shiprock summit register

When asked about her feelings upon reaching the summit, Liu Moqing said, “I’m so tired, but I finally made it!” It’s easy to imagine that after 12 hours of hiking and steep climbing, with the ever-changing desert weather, the main concern was a safe descent. Let the joy of the summit be shared after she gets back down.

Salmon, descent scenery

Salmon, resting on the way down

Reminder from Kailas-sponsored athlete Liu Moqing
The West Face route of Shiprock has approximately 16 pitches. Although the difficulty rating isn’t very high, long-term weathering has added a lot of unpredictability to the route.

1. The first few pitches consist of rather crumbly rocks that feel loose to the touch, and stepping on them causes loose stones to scatter noisily. Extreme caution is required. “Often, rocks as big as fists get dislodged when you grab them, and to avoid affecting the rest of the climb, you have to put in the effort to push them back into place.”

2. Near the top, there is a continuous slope of over 70 meters at around 30 degrees, featuring many holes and irregular cracks. However, these holes and cracks are all quite shallow, making them ideal for using Kailas Totem series cams. When weighted, they become smaller, facilitating easier entry into the cracks and adjustments. Once expanded, they create more contact surface with the crack, offering greater reliability.

3. Since this section of the route is relatively long, it's crucial to set up protection anchors promptly based on rope length and route conditions. If you can't find a suitable spot to build an anchor before running out of rope, you may have to descend to find a better location. Alternatively, a riskier approach is if the lead climber believes a better anchor spot might be nearby, they will inform the belayer how much rope they need. The belayer then begins ascending to provide more rope, allowing the lead climber to continue upward and set up the anchor. Once the belayer starts climbing, they must leave the original anchor—but without rushing, as that could cause both to fall together. This coordination requires great flexibility and extremely close teamwork.

Essential climbing gear and their functions

Kailas TOTEM Mechanical Cam: Its patented design allows all four cams to independently and evenly bear weight, giving the TOTEM superior holding power. Additionally, just three cams of the TOTEM can bear weight independently, and its built-in spring makes the cam head smaller—features that are especially suitable for the shallow cracks and various-sized holes found here.