Our general guide to travelling at altitude in China makes one point above all others: the variable that matters is sleeping elevation, not the high point you touch in the afternoon. Every one of the seven climbing routes we guide is built around that same rule. The itineraries do not fit the height in around the sights — the sights fit around the height. On the Reddomain page the acclimatisation days are described exactly as what they are: the schedule, not the spare time.
The rule every route shares.
Climb high in the day, sleep lower at night, and never make the big jump in a single move unless the itinerary has already paid for it with a rest day. Each route puts the hard altitude into walking days bracketed by deliberately conservative nights: a hotel first, then a low valley camp, then base camp, then — on the longer routes — a camp a day upward with no skipped steps. Nothing on these pages asks your body to sleep 1,000 metres higher than the night before without a reason and a rest day attached.
Seven routes, seven ladders.
| Route | Days | The night ladder | Summit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erfeng, 5,276 m | 5 | Hotel at 3,100 m → camp 3,700 m with a full acclimatisation day → base camp 4,200 m | Pre-dawn, non-technical |
| Yamu, 5,374 m | 5 | Hotels at 3,400 m and 3,800 m → road-end camp 4,200 m → the high camp below the face | Roped upper face |
| Wukuchu, 5,518 m | 6 | Hotel 3,400 m → village 3,700 m → off-road base camp 4,300 m → Camp 1 at 5,000 m | Glacier and mixed ridge |
| Nama, 5,588 m | 6 | Village 3,400 m → gompa 3,750 m → base camp 4,100 m → Camp 1 at 4,700 m | Scree, then 30–40° snow |
| Reddomain, 6,112 m | 13 | Village 3,100 m with a full acclimatisation day → camp 3,800 m → base camp 4,600 m → Camp 1 at 5,200 m with its own rest day → Camp 2 at 5,700 m | 60–70° final approach |
| Jinyin, 6,410 m | 10 | Road end 1,500 m → base camp 3,750 m with a full rest day → Camp 1 at 4,900 m → Camp 2 at 5,500 m → Camp 3 at 6,100 m | Crevasses and ice towers |
| Zhongshan, 6,886 m | 14 | Walk-in begins at 2,350 m with three acclimatisation days before the climbing days — 36 km and 4,500 m of ascent — and two flexible days held back for the weather | Full snow expedition |
Read the Reddomain line twice, because it is the purest example of the logic. The itinerary gives Camp 1 at 5,200 metres its own rest day — a full day spent at the height most itineraries would sleep through once. That single day is why the 60–70 degree summit morning works.
Rest days are the schedule, not spare time.
A rest day at base camp is not an empty box on the page. On Jinyin, the full day at base camp follows the route’s biggest single altitude jump — and the itinerary says so plainly: it is the acclimatisation the jump pays for. The day has content: gear checks, an easy higher walk with light packs, early nights. The same shape repeats on Erfeng, where the camp at 3,700 metres gets a full acclimatisation day before base camp, and on Reddomain, whose village day is called the first deliberate altitude day of thirteen.
The one deliberate jump: Jinyin.
One route breaks the gentle-ladder pattern on purpose, and it is worth understanding why. Jinyin’s road end sits in a hot river valley at just 1,500 metres. From there the walk to base camp at 3,750 metres gains 2,250 metres — the biggest single jump of any of the seven routes — made on foot, in one long walking day, by design. A jump like that is only defensible because of what follows: a full rest day at base camp, and then a camp a day up the mountain, 4,900, 5,500, 6,100, with no skipped nights on the way to the 6,410-metre summit. Even the summit day descends all the way to Camp 1 at 4,900 metres, sleeping far below the height the day touched.
What this means for you.
The practical conclusion is that the altitude logic is already in the itinerary — your job is the parts only you control. Come with the fitness from an honest eight-week training block, follow the first-days rules from the general altitude guide, and be honest with us about your altitude history when we plan the route. If the 5,000-metre ladders still look like a big step, they are a step Dafeng can prepare you for — and the progression from there is mapped in Your first 6,000-metre peak.
Read the ladders in full?
The Reddomain expedition: thirteen deliberate days
The Jinyin expedition: the big jump, paid for
Altitude changes the route: the general guide
Training for the passes: eight weeks