Support team cheers on the brave adventurers
At 7 a.m. on June 9, eight hiking enthusiasts from the "Zhongying Kuafu" group in Yulin City set off fully equipped from Yulin, embarking on a journey toward Qinghai's Yuzhu Peak. They are expected to arrive at the C1 base camp at an altitude of 5,600 meters in three days, and after a brief rest, will attempt to summit Yuzhu Peak at 6,178 meters.According to Cao Pidong, the leader of the climbing team, “A total of eight members are on this expedition, including two women. All team members have prior mountaineering experience above 5,200 meters. Preparations for the climb have been thorough—we began planning at the end of 2011 and underwent a one-month intensive training session before departure, which included long-distance running and weighted stair climbing.”
Liu Hui, one of the female participants in the climb, expressed great excitement: “I’ve always been a hiking enthusiast and have climbed many peaks before, the highest being Haba Snow Mountain at 5,379 meters. Climbing Yuzhu Peak this time is quite challenging for me due to the high altitude and low oxygen levels—I’m concerned about potential altitude sickness—but I’m still very confident.”
Yuzhu Peak, also known as Kekesaijimen Peak, stands at 6,178 meters above sea level. It is located 10 kilometers east of the Kunlun Pass, 160 kilometers south of Golmud in Qinghai Province, and is the highest peak in the eastern section of the Kunlun Mountains. The southern slope is gentle while the northern side is steep, with the glacier terminus on the southern slope at around 5,100 meters. The summit is covered year-round in snow and ice, with no exposed rock faces, though the icy slopes are relatively moderate. Yuzhu Peak features a glacier below the firn basin; due to high annual temperatures, rapid melting, low precipitation, and greater ablation than accumulation, it is classified as a receding continental glacier. There are no recorded incidents of avalanches or crevasses on Yuzhu Peak, making the southern slope a very safe route for climbing.
To date, no professional mountaineering team from Yulin has climbed Yuzhu Peak. The climbers are expected to reach the summit on June 13 and return on June 19.