Do you feel fit and want to experience extreme sensations? These 3 hikes will let you know if you are able to insure.
Hang in there! The following three treks are considered some of the most difficult and dangerous on the planet. No need to consider the adventure if your workout boils down to the Sunday afternoon stroll and you’re dizzy. Because the paths you will take are all in the mountains and will force you to overlook the void with sometimes a simple wooden board between you and 1000 meters of elevation!
Mount Huashan: some Chinese escape
You have to go to China to embark on the hike considered as the most dangerous on the planet. Its scenery, Mount Hua is one of the 5 sacred mountains of the country. The walk covers nearly 12 kilometers and has a vertical drop of 1000 meters.
The particularity of this trek is related to the narrowness of the boards on which one circulates to reach a summit whose peak culminates at nearly 2200 meters of altitude. They are sometimes less than 30 cm wide. The moment of truth is reached at the “Curved Falcon Bridge”, a passage during which it is impossible to secure. Better to avoid a misstep! If the hiker falls from the bridge, it is the fall into the void and nothing to catch up.
The Camino del Rey: the Spanish vertigo
A little less dangerous than Mount Hua and located in Spain (opening image), this via ferrata, 5 km long, forced hikers to walk on a footbridge on the mountainside for nearly 3 km. Wide of less than a meter, it overhangs a peak of 100 meters.
To get an idea of the difficulty, just take the train between Malaga and Seville. The railway line runs along some parts of this via ferrata, long closed as it was dangerous. Today, the path has been secured, but the 4 hours necessary to descend from north to south are never forgotten, especially when the Andalusian sun begins to hit. The viewpoint can sometimes be used to observe wildlife, including the Egyptian vulture, a large yellow-headed vulture. He is considered one of the most efficient carcass breakers on the planet …
Roche Veyrand: the big thrill at home
This mountain located in the massif of Chartreuse rises to 1429 meters. Better to approach it without having tasted the excellent digestive that the monks distill a few kilometers away. Because the 260 meters of elevation of this Via Ferrata do not forgive the error.
The trek is divided into two parts. The second TD, like “Very Difficult”, is reserved for experienced hikers. After having crossed a bridge of 30 meters long answering the evocative name of “Pas de la Frousse”, one finds oneself quickly on the southern flank of the mountain with 100 meters of precipice under the soles. The journey lasts about twenty minutes. To fix it all, the boards of the bridge can be slippery after rainy days, it is quite cold (about 7 degrees) and the mist can spoil visibility when approaching the top of Roche Veyrand. If the weather is nice, you have access to an unforgettable view of the Cirque de Saint-Même, the Dent de Crolle, the tooth of the Bear …