玉山主峰 Jade Mountain Peak

玉山 Jade Mountain is the highest peak in northeast Asia. In 1900, after the annexation of Taiwan by the Japanese, two Japanese anthropologists, Torii Ryūzō and Mori Ushinosuke, became the first people to have been recorded ascending 玉山 Jade mountain. They gave the mountain the name Niitakayama (新高山) literally the "New High Mountain", because it was even higher than Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan.
Mid-morning on our second day we nearly reached the peak when fierce winds and hail made progress very difficult. We met a few other hikers who had given up and advised us to turn back. We did not have crampons for the ice that was on the trail and the last kilometer was very sheer. Ken said "Let's just go as far as we can." Lorie decided to stay put until we came back. In her defence she had already made it up one of the steepest parts of the trail and was less than half a mile from the top. In only a few hundred more meters I suggested to Ken that it was probably getting too dangerous with the ice on the trail and the chain that guides the way to the top, as well as the stinging hail which made it difficult to see. Again he said "Let's just go as far as we can." and I realized that what he meant was "We will make it to the top or perish in the attempt! Damn the ice and hail! Forward and on to glory!" When we saw this sign however, (it reads 玉山主峰 Jade mountain main peak .2 Km) I agreed with him. Really if it was so close I figured we could make it through anything. I actually enjoyed beating the ice off the chain so that we could get a decent grip. Once we had made it to the peak my camera took only this one photo of the peak without us in it before it froze and stopped working. Ken's camera also stopped working. It was very cold and the strong winds were sending the hail straight across the peak at high speeds. It was like being hit with a fully automatic BB gun. There wasn't much for us to see because of the storm, but we were proud that we made it. I joked that the spirit of the mountain must have heard me say what a pleasant and easy hike it had been to climb the mountain, that it was much easier than described by others, and had decided to show us how tough he could be.