| Jade Dragon Snow Mountain | |
|---|---|
 Jade Dragon Snow Mountain towering over nearbyLijiang | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 5,596 m (18,360 ft) |
| Prominence | 3,202 m (10,505 ft)[1] Ranked 71st |
| Listing | Ultra |
| Coordinates | 27°05′54″N100°10′30″E / 27.09833°N 100.17500°E /27.09833; 100.17500[1] |
| Geography | |
  Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, Yunnan | |
| Parent range | Yun Range |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | 1987 by Phil Peralta-Ramos and Eric Perlman[2] |
| Easiest route | East side: snow/rock climb[2] |
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (simplified Chinese:玉龙雪山;traditional Chinese:玉龍雪山;pinyin:Yùlóng Xuěshān;Naxi:Jingv'lv orNgv'lv bbei jjuq) is a mountainmassif or small mountain range inYulong Naxi Autonomous County,Lijiang, inYunnan province, China. Its highest peak is named Shanzidou[3] or Shan-Tzu-tou[4] (扇子陡) and it is 5,596 m (18,360 ft)[4][5][3] above sea level.
The Chinese name, Yùlóng Xuěshān, translates directly as Jade Dragon Snow Mountain; it is sometimes translated asMount Yulong orYulong Snow Mountain.[6] The mountain'sNaxi name isMount Satseto.[7]
The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain massif forms the bulk of the largerYulong Mountains, that stretch further north. The northwestern flank of the massif forms one side of theTiger Leaping Gorge (Hǔtiào Xiá, 虎跳峡), which has a popular trekking route on the other side. In this gorge, theJinsha (upperYangtze) River descends dramatically between Jade Dragon andHaba Snow Mountain. The Yulong Mountains lie to the south of theYun Range and are part ofSouthwest China's greaterHengduan Mountains.[8]
Settlements surrounding Jade Dragon Snow Mountain includeBaisha Town to the south,Longpan Township to the west,Daju Township to the northeast, andJade Water Village at the foot of the mountain to the east.
Marie Byles, the Australian lawyer, feminist, conservationist, and mountaineer, led an expedition to the mountain in 1938 accompanied by five others who includedDora de Beer, Mick Bowie and Marjorie Edgar-Jones. They failed to reach the summit due to bad weather.[9] Byles was bitterly disappointed by this failure, and she subsequently became a Buddhist.[10][11]
Shanzidou has been climbed only once,[12] on May 8, 1987, by an American expedition. The summit team comprised Phil Peralta-Ramos and Eric Perlman. They climbed snow gullies and limestone headwalls and encountered high avalanche danger and sparse opportunities for protection. They rated the maximum technical difficulty of the rock atYDS 5.7.[2]
The Austro-American botanist and explorerJoseph Rock spent many years living in the vicinity of Mt. Satseto and wrote about the region and theNaxi people who occupy it. An interest in Rock later drew the travel writerBruce Chatwin to the mountain, which he wrote about in an article that appeared inThe New York Times[13] and later, retitled, in his essay collectionWhat Am I Doing Here?.[14] Chatwin's article inspired many subsequent travellers, includingMichael Palin,[15] to visit the region.
The view of the massif from the gardens at theBlack Dragon Pool (Heilong Tan) inLijiang is noted as one of China's finest views.[citation needed] The mountain is part ofYulong Snow Mountain National Scenic Area and National Geological Park, anAAAAA-classified scenic area.[16] The Park operates a tourist cable car that climbs to an observation platform at an elevation of 4,506 m (14,783 ft), and there is also another higher observation platform, one of the highest in the world, at an elevation of 4,680 m (15,350 ft) for close views of the snow peak. Due to the extremely high elevation, many people become oxygen starved and carry cans of compressed oxygen to help. Some[who?] have criticized the cable for accelerating the melting of the snow and reducing the water retention by the mountain.[citation needed].
The mountain was featured on Episode 4 ofThe Amazing Race 18.[17]
[Jade Dragon], also called Satseto in the Naxi language, takes its name from the God of War in the Dongba religion.