Xueshan (Snow Mountain)

Xueshan rises to 3,886 metres in Shei-Pa National Park and is the second highest mountain in Taiwan, usually climbed on a two-day route from the Wuling trailhead. The first day climbs steadily to the 369 Cabin below the treeline; the second starts in the dark and crosses the Black Forest, a dense stand of Taiwan hemlock so shaded that little grows beneath it, before emerging into the Cirque, a broad bowl scooped out of the mountain by ice during the last glaciation and one of the clearest pieces of glacial evidence on the island. The final climb up the bowl to the summit is loose and steep, and the view runs the length of the central range.

What you actually see

• The Cirque - a wide glacial bowl below the summit, scooped out during the last ice age.
• The Black Forest - a dark, dense stand of Taiwan hemlock crossed before dawn on summit day.
• 369 Cabin - the mountain hut below the treeline where the route breaks for the night.
• The summit ridge - the central range running away in both directions above the cloud.

When to go

October to April is generally driest and clearest, but the upper mountain holds snow and ice in midwinter and then needs crampons, an ice axe and a winter permit. Summer typhoons close the mountain repeatedly. Cabin beds are the bottleneck and are allocated in advance, so applications need to go in months ahead.

Honest expectations

The permit and cabin allocation is the hard part and many applications fail. Weather closes the route at short notice with no transferable dates. It is high enough for altitude to affect fit people, the summit push starts around two in the morning, and the last section is loose scree. The cabin is basic, cold and crowded, and the trailhead is a long drive from anywhere.

Nearby

Wuling Farm is at the trailhead and Hehuanshan is along the high mountain road to the south.