The Zhangjiajie Sky Ladder: Climbing the Qixing Mountain Via Ferrata
Short answer: The steel ladder from the videos is real. It is the Sky Ladder on Qixing Mountain, 13 km (8 miles) south of Zhangjiajie city: 168 m (551 ft) of steel rungs leaning out from the cliff at 51 degrees, topping out at about 1,480 m (4,855 ft), open since November 2024. It is the last section of the mountain’s via ferrata Route 1, which starts with a cliff climb, crosses a cable bridge and finishes up the ladder onto the ridge, about 1.2 km in all and two to three hours when there is no queue. You are clipped to two steel cables the whole way, with a coach in front. The ticket is CNY 780 and includes the park entrance, return cable car, shuttle, all equipment, a 30-minute briefing and a certificate with your name on it. Climbers need to be 12 or over and at least 1.4 m tall; weight is checked case by case when you register. Only 100 to 150 people climb each day, so it is booked three days ahead, and the last entry is 13:00. Anyone in your party who is not climbing takes the same cable car up and has the glass platform, glass walkway and toboggan to fill three or four hours before you meet for lunch.
Facts checked 13 October 2026: prices, hours and concessions from the park’s own listings; who can climb from our call to the park in August 2026; on-the-ground details from visitors’ reports to October 2026.
Key facts
| Item | Figure | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| The Sky Ladder | Steel ladder 168 m (551 ft) long at 51 degrees, hung outside the ridge; top at about 1,480 m (4,855 ft) above sea level | Jun 2026, operator; Oct 2026 |
| Route 1 (with the ladder) | Cliff climb, cable bridge, short steel ladder, cliff section, rest platform, the 168 m Sky Ladder, then the ridge; about 1.2 km | Oct 2026 |
| Route 2 (no ladder) | Harder: overhangs, an 80 m cable bridge, about 1.1 km; sold as a separate route | Oct 2026, park listings |
| Time | 1.5 to 3 hours without queues; about 5 hours on the 6 October 2026 national holiday; 10 to 14 people on the ladder at a time | Oct 2026, visitors’ reports |
| Safety system | Two 12 mm steel cables, one a lifeline and one linking every rung; two lanyards clipped alternately, one of which needs a tool to open; coaches on the route and a free rescue if you stop | Jun 2026, park general manager |
| Who can climb | Age 12 and over (minors with a parent), height 1.4 m and over; weight checked case by case at registration; not open to people with high blood pressure or heart conditions, pregnant women, or anyone who has been drinking | Aug 2026, our call to the park |
| Via ferrata ticket | CNY 780 for Route 1 or Route 2: park entrance, return cable car, shuttle, helmet, harness and gloves, 30-minute briefing, certificate and medal. Add-ons: ladder drone video CNY 299, a personal coach-photographer for the whole route CNY 1,299 (CNY 1,580 with the drone video), 360 camera hire CNY 148 | Oct 2026, park listings |
| Booking | 100 to 150 climbers a day; booked by name three days ahead; foreign passports accepted | Oct 2026 |
| Hours | Park 07:30 to 18:30, last entry 16:00; via ferrata 08:30 to 17:00, last entry 13:00 | Oct 2026, park listings |
| Weather | Runs in fine weather; closed in strong wind, thunderstorms and ice; we confirm with the park the day before | Aug 2026, park |
| Summit ticket (not climbing) | List price CNY 199: entrance, return cable car, shuttle, the 1520 Eye of Sky platform and the glass walkway. Under 14 and 65 and over: free entrance; 14 to 17 and 60 to 64: half-price entrance; the cable car (CNY 78 return) and shuttle (CNY 14) are paid separately, free under 1.2 m | Oct 2026, park listings |
| On the summit | 1520 Eye of Sky glass platform, 16 m out from the cliff; Picking Star Platform at 1,528.6 m (5,015 ft), the highest point; Ruyi glass walkway 200 m long and 1.9 m wide; 1 km toboggan run, CNY 80; 3 to 4 hours | Oct 2026 |
| Where | Yongding District, 13 km (8 miles) south of the city: 20 to 30 minutes by car from the centre, 30 to 45 minutes from Zhangjiajie West station, 25 minutes from the airport, 20 minutes from the Tianmen Mountain cableway station, about an hour from Wulingyuan | Oct 2026 |
| Since opening | Nearly 150,000 climbers by June 2026, including more than 27,000 foreign visitors from 42 countries and regions | Jun 2026, China Daily |
The ladder in the video is here
Since the spring of 2026 the same clip has turned up on phones everywhere: a steel ladder fixed to the outside of a cliff, climbing into cloud, one person after another on the rungs and the whole valley beneath their feet. That is the Sky Ladder on Qixing Mountain, 13 km south of Zhangjiajie city, across a valley from Tianmen Mountain. It opened in November 2024, and by June 2026 nearly 150,000 people had climbed it, more than 27,000 of them from outside China. The ladder is real and it can be booked. This page sets out what it is, who can climb it, how to plan the day, and what the rest of your party does on the mountain in the meantime.
What the Sky Ladder is: 168 m at 51 degrees
The Sky Ladder is a steel ladder 168 m long, leaning out from the ridge at 51 degrees, with its top at about 1,480 m above sea level. It is not a stand-alone ride but the final section of Qixing Mountain’s via ferrata Route 1. A via ferrata is an Alpine idea: rungs and a steel cable are fixed to the rock in advance, and climbers in harnesses clip onto the cable and work their way along. No climbing experience is needed. Route 1 begins with a cliff climb, crosses a cable bridge, drops down a short steel ladder, takes a second cliff section to a rest platform where you unclip for a breather, and then goes up the Sky Ladder in one push to the top of the ridge, where you ring a bell three times. The whole route is about 1.2 km.
The ladder is the section people remember. It hangs entirely outside the rock, the rungs are narrow, and in wind you feel it move, as you do when others are climbing above and below you. You see the whole valley under your shoes and the outline of Tianmen Mountain across it. Almost everyone who has done it says the same thing: the moment you reach the top, the climb was worth it.
How the safety works
Two 12 mm steel cables run the full length: one is the lifeline and the other links every rung. Each climber carries two lanyards and clips them across alternately at each anchor; one of the two needs a tool to open, so there is never a moment with both unclipped. A coach leads each group, safety staff are stationed along the route, and anyone who wants to stop can call for a free rescue. Before you start there is a 30-minute briefing and a practice wall. As of October 2026 we have found no publicly reported death or serious injury on the Qixing Mountain Sky Ladder in Chinese or English media.
It is safe, and it is physical. Route 1 has stretches of vertical climbing and a cable bridge in open air, and the 168 m ladder is climbed rung by rung on your legs; your forearms and calves will know about it afterwards. Once you have clipped on, the order of climbers cannot change, so when the person in front stops for a photograph, you stop too. The only toilet on the route is at the rest platform. Go knowing this and it is a day of clean, hard, memorable climbing.
Who can climb, and how to book
Route 1 is for first-time via ferrata climbers: age 12 and over, height 1.4 m and over, with minors accompanied by a parent the whole way. There is no single published weight limit; the park checks each climber at registration, and when we phoned in August 2026 for a guest of 105 kg and 1.93 m, aged 47, the answer was yes. Route 2, the “Long Live Wall”, is for people who train regularly: steeper, with repeated overhangs and an 80 m cable bridge, and without the Sky Ladder. Neither route is open to people with high blood pressure or heart conditions, pregnant women, or anyone who has been drinking, and staff ask about health when you register.
The ticket is CNY 780 for either route and covers the park entrance, return cable car, shuttle bus, helmet, harness and gloves, the briefing, and a certificate in Chinese and English collected at the lower cable car station afterwards, with a medal or a crystal trophy to choose from. Only 100 to 150 people climb each day, so the date and time slot are booked three days ahead. We register you by passport, as at every other Zhangjiajie attraction, and you enter by scanning it at the gate. If you want footage of yourself on the ladder, there is a drone video of the ladder section (CNY 299), 360 camera hire (CNY 148), or a coach-photographer who climbs the whole route with you (CNY 1,299, or CNY 1,580 with the drone video); tell us when you book.
How to plan the day
The park opens at 07:30 and the via ferrata starts at 08:30, with last entry at 13:00. Being early pays in a concrete way: the ladder takes 10 to 14 people at a time, and the first groups up hardly wait. A visitor who started at 08:00 on 27 September 2026 was finished by 14:00 and went on to another site; climbers on the 6 October 2026 national holiday spent five hours on the route, most of it waiting below the ladder. Nobody is admitted after 13:00, so this is a morning.
From the city it is 20 to 30 minutes by car to the Qixing Mountain visitor centre. You scan your passport, ride the cable car about ten minutes to the summit station, take the green park shuttle about six minutes to the gear station and walk three minutes to the start. Use the toilet before the harness goes on; then comes the 30-minute briefing, and then you climb. Two to three hours without queues; three to four if you stop for photographs.
What to wear: thick-soled trainers or walking shoes with grip, long trousers and a quick-dry top. Bring a pair of gloves with rubber grip (the park has some, your own fit better), a phone lanyard, a bottle of water and some chocolate in a small pack. The summit is 5 to 8 degrees cooler than the city, so carry a layer for the morning.
If you are not climbing: the summit is worth the trip
The rest of your party does not wait at the bottom. The same cable car takes them to the summit, and the shuttle runs a loop: the 1520 Eye of Sky is a circular glass platform projecting 16 m from the cliff edge, facing Tianmen Mountain and Tianmen Cave; the Picking Star Platform at 1,528.6 m is the highest point of the mountain, with a stone floor that suits anyone who would rather not stand on glass; the Ruyi glass walkway runs 200 m along the cliff at 1.9 m wide; and the 1 km toboggan run takes you back down to the car park in three minutes at a speed you control. The loop takes three to four hours and is all included in the summit ticket (the toboggan is CNY 80 extra), which brings everyone back together at the visitor centre around lunchtime.
The ridge where the ladder tops out is not reachable from the summit paths; the one place to see the ladder from outside is from the Eye of Sky side of the summit.
Getting there, and combining it with Tianmen Mountain
Qixing Mountain is in Yongding District, 13 km south of the city: 20 minutes from the Tianmen Mountain cableway station, 30 to 45 minutes from Zhangjiajie West railway station, 25 minutes from the airport and about an hour from Wulingyuan. Public transport is thin and taxis back are slow to find, so we plan it with a private car: the driver drops you at the visitor centre and collects you at the gate.
Via ferrata and Tianmen Mountain on the same day is not realistic. What works is Qixing Mountain in the morning with the afternoon free in the city, and Tianmen Mountain the next day; or, for a family that is not climbing, the Qixing summit loop in the morning and Tianmen Mountain on Line C in the afternoon. The current Tianmen arrangement is on our Tianmen Mountain cable car page, and the whole mountain is in our Tianmen Mountain guide. We fit it to your train and flight times.
Weather
The via ferrata runs in fine weather and closes in strong wind, thunderstorms and ice; the cable car also stops in high wind or thick fog. We confirm with the park the day before whether it is open, and if it closes we move the climb to the next day or switch to Tianmen Mountain. The clearest mornings come the day after rain, and so do the seas of cloud.
Prices
Via ferrata CNY 780 per person, Route 1 or Route 2, including entrance, cable car, shuttle, equipment, briefing and certificate. Not climbing: the summit ticket has a list price of CNY 199 for adults, covering entrance, return cable car, shuttle, the Eye of Sky and the glass walkway; ages 14 to 17 and 60 to 64 pay half the entrance, under 14 and 65 and over pay the cable car (CNY 78) and shuttle (CNY 14) but no entrance; toboggan CNY 80. Foreign passports can be booked, and we book at the park’s own prices. All Zhangjiajie prices are on our tickets and costs page.
Plan your visit with us
We live in Zhangjiajie and take guests up Qixing Mountain through the year. Tell us your dates and who is coming on our plan my trip page, and we book the via ferrata slot, register your passports, arrange the driver to the gate and back, and plan the summit loop for anyone who is not climbing. Private tours only, with an English-speaking guide and a private driver. Our 3-day Zhangjiajie private tour can take the Sky Ladder as its first morning; for the mountain’s walking trails, see our hiking in Zhangjiajie page.
Thinking about the Sky Ladder? Tell us your date, who is coming, and their height and weight; we book the slot, check with the park and plan the rest of the day.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Sky Ladder in the videos real?
Yes. It is on Qixing Mountain in Zhangjiajie: a 168 m steel ladder open since November 2024, climbed by nearly 150,000 people by June 2026.
Do I need climbing experience?
No. The rungs and cables are fixed in advance, there is a 30-minute briefing and a practice wall before you start, and a coach leads the group.
Who can climb?
Age 12 and over, height 1.4 m and over, minors with a parent. Weight is checked case by case at registration; tell us your height and weight and we ask the park. Not open to people with high blood pressure or heart conditions, pregnant women, or anyone who has been drinking.
Is it safe? Has anyone died?
You are clipped to two steel cables with two alternating lanyards, coaches and safety staff are on the route, and you can call for a rescue at any point. As of October 2026 we have found no publicly reported death or serious injury on the Sky Ladder.
How long does it take?
1.5 to 3 hours without queues, 3 to 4 with photographs, up to about 5 hours on a holiday. The via ferrata starts at 08:30 with last entry at 13:00; the first groups wait least.
Can I stop halfway?
Yes. Safety staff are along the route and can bring you down, and the rest platform before the ladder is a place to pause.
Can I book with a foreign passport?
Yes. We register you by passport and you scan it at the gate. With 100 to 150 places a day, book three days ahead.
What is there for people who are not climbing?
The same cable car up the mountain, then the glass platform, Picking Star Platform, glass walkway and toboggan, three to four hours in all, included in the summit ticket, finishing in time to meet the climbers for lunch.
Can I do it on the same day as Tianmen Mountain?
Not if you are climbing. Non-climbers can do the Qixing summit in the morning and Tianmen Mountain in the afternoon.
Does it run in bad weather?
It runs in fine weather and closes in strong wind, thunderstorms and ice. We confirm with the park the day before.
Sources and data notes
- Ladder length, angle and altitude, the safety system, opening date and visitor numbers: China Daily, 4 June 2026, quoting the scenic area’s general manager; the park’s own material.
- Who can climb: our telephone call to the park on 24 August 2026 (a guest of 105 kg, 1.93 m, aged 47 was cleared); published guides for the age and height thresholds.
- Prices, opening hours, concessions and route names: the park’s own listings on Chinese booking platforms, read 13 October 2026; the summit list price as quoted by the park’s ticket agents in October 2026.
- Booking lead time: our own bookings for guests in September 2026.
- Climbing times, queues and conditions on the ladder: visitors’ trip reports from March to October 2026, including 27 September and 6 October 2026.
- Weather policy: the park, August 2026.
- Opening arrangements and prices change; we check them again for your travel dates.
See also: Tianmen Mountain guide · Tianmen Mountain cable car status · hiking in Zhangjiajie · Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge guide · tickets and costs · 3-day Zhangjiajie private tour · plan my trip.