Region: China and Tibet

John Arran with Anne Arran (July-August 2004)

This husband and wife team was also attracted to the delights of Sichuan, their aim being to explore and make first ascents of big walls and rock spires in the Mt Siguniang National Park. Unfortunately, as they are now painfully aware, July and August are the wettest months of the year. Nevertheless, despite experiencing rain on two out of every three days, they were successful in making first ascents of two peaks - Niuxim Shan (or Heart of Cow) Peak, (4942m) and Mi Mi Shan, (5016m) - from the Shuang Qiao Gou Valley with technical climbing up to E4/5, 5c. Future parties planning to visit the area should be aware that the best months for rock climbing are March and October, with January the best for ice climbing
[For further information see website: www.thefreeclimber.com]