In April 2016, Mayan Smith-Gobat and Ben Rueck teamed up with China’s renowned climbers Liu Yongbang (Abond) and Xiao Ting for an expedition to explore the Qingfeng Valley, at the boundary of Zhangjiajie, China’s first and largest national park – an endless maze huge sandstone towers. They were first people to be granted permission to set foot on these vertical giants. The team had to draw on all their skills and courage to climb the challenging faces of these freestanding towers and eventually stand on the virgin summits.
