National Parks of Taiwan

To protect the fragile geological scenery, for the safety of climbers and to maintain the completeness of a mountain that is sacred to the aborigines, the Forestry Bureau removed the iron ladder that climber used to reach the peak and announced a ban on climbing to the peak of Mt. Dabajian in 1989. Mt. Dabajian is one of the two landmark mountains of She-pa National Park and anyone who has seen its photograph will say that it is an unusual shape, looking like a huge rock wine barrel. This “barrel” is made of meta sandstone. Sandstone has good anti-erosion properties and can easily retain a flat topped peak and precipitous terrain. The shape of the mountain is not just connected to the nature of its rock it is also closely related to the numerous joints in the rock. Water easily seeps into the rock through these joints and exacerbates the effect of weathering. When the water freezes the increase in water volume creates pressure and accelerates the disintegration of the rock. To protect the geographical scenery on July 23, 2010 a ban on climbing the peak of Mt. Dabajian was announced.

Translated by：Kevin Lax
Source：Shei-pa National Park Headquarters