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Mountaineering / Haba expedition
Private expedition · guided
Five days to a real 5,396-metre summit: a village approach in two hours, one night at base camp, a rope-and-crampon snow route to a genuine summit view over the Yangtze's first gorge — and a spare day in the plan, because mountains do not keep schedules.
Ask about this itineraryHaba's upper snow slope · 5,396 m, north-west Yunnan
Haba summit — directly opposite Yulong (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain) across the Tiger Leaping Gorge
your own dates and group, one climber upward, local guide ratios fixed by county rule
crampon and ice-axe territory above the moraine — a true first snow mountain, not a walk
the two settled windows between the winter winds and the summer rains
Why this mountain
Haba is the mountain a lot of climbers should start on, and fewer do than should — because it sits two hours from Lijiang, it is often treated as a quick box-tick. Taken properly, it is better than that: a real expedition in miniature, with a base camp at 4,100 metres, a rope-and-crampon summit morning on snow near thirty-five degrees, and a summit ridge that looks straight across the Tiger Leaping Gorge at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain's 5,596-metre face.
The county's rules make the experience what it is: every team climbs with licensed local mountain guides at a fixed ratio, which puts deep route knowledge into every rope team. We build five days instead of the usual three — the fourth is a genuine weather and acclimatisation buffer — and we keep the group private, so the pace is yours.
Route Briefing
Lijiang in, Haba village for the approach, one camp on the mountain, summit day and a built-in buffer, out through Shangri-La or back to Lijiang. Five stages, one rope team per two climbers.
Along the way
Haba stands in a corridor of big mountains and old roads — the approach is half the trip's story.
The drive · the climb · the view
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Haba village · the exit road
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Day by day
Short approach, honest acclimatisation, and a spare day most operators sell you separately.
Lijiang → Haba village, 2,600 m
Meet in Lijiang and drive north-west along the upper Yangtze, the road winding above the Tiger Leaping Gorge with Jade Dragon Snow Mountain across the void. Haba village at 2,600 metres is walnut groves and whitewashed courtyards under its own white peak.
Afternoon gear check with the mountain guides: boots, crampons, harness, ice axe — everything tested at village altitude while the body starts adjusting. Early night.
Village → base camp, 4,100 m
A steady morning's climb from village fields through forest to the moraine benches of base camp at 4,100 metres — packs carried by the support team, the walking kept conversational. The afternoon is camp life and technique: crampon fit and stride, ice-axe self-arrest practiced on the practice slope the guides pick out.
Dinner in the mess tent as the temperature drops, and an early night at the highest sleep of the trip — the point of day two is tomorrow's body.
Summit day, 5,396 m
Out of the tents between two and three in the morning, headtorches on, tea first. The route climbs moraine to the snowline, where crampons go on and the rope teams close up. Above, the slope holds near thirty-five degrees through two benches — never technical, never casual — to the summit ridge.
The top at 5,396 metres looks straight across the gorge at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, and down both sides of the Yangtze's first gorge. Photos, and then the discipline of the descent — most mountain accidents happen going down — to base camp by afternoon.
Buffer day
If day three climbed, today is a slow walk out and a village afternoon. If weather closed the mountain, today is the summit window — and the reason this itinerary is five days and not three.
Either way, the night is back in the village or in Shangri-La depending on the exit road, with the altitude behind you and the pace gentle.
Out
Exit either south to Lijiang through the gorge country, or north to Shangri-La to connect the plateau — the natural pairing is our Tacheng monkey valley or the Napa Hai wetland for the winter months.
Trip ends on arrival, with a summit photo set worth the alpine start.
Private departures
This expedition runs privately between late October and mid-December and from April to June — no fixed join-in dates. The price per person falls as the group grows; every departure runs with licensed local mountain guides.
| Group size | Per person | Booking type |
|---|---|---|
| 1 climber | CNY 16,800per person | Private only |
| 2 climbers | CNY 12,800per person | Private only |
| 3 climbers | CNY 10,800per person | Private only |
| 4 or more | CNY 9,800per person | Private only |
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What's included
A short list for a short expedition. The left column is arranged before you leave; the right column is either yours or a question we are glad to answer.
Arranged and paid before departure.
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Yours to arrange, or we quote it.
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Enquiry
Tell us your dates and your climbing history. We will come back with the guide roster, the weather pattern for your window, and a written outline with a price.
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