Introduction

Gangga Range is part of Shaluli Range in western Sichuan. It is located 700km west to Chengdu and just south to a town called Ganzi. It is a 80-km range runs from northwest to southeast, east to Chola Mountains. Highest mountain of Gangga Range is around 5500 meters and most of the mountains here are unclimbed virgin peaks. It has relatively easy access to get to from Chengdu.

The Kawalori Mountains are included here although from some resources the Kawalori Mountains are part of Daxueshan Range. Due to the short distance and same access by road, these mountains are recorded here as part of Gangga Range.

Mountains in Gangga Massif have been explored long ago and from 2014 there are a few attempts til 2016 and then afterwards it gets quiet. It didn’t draw much attention from domestic climbers and will likely to stay quiet in the future.

The town of Ganzi is 2 days drive from Chengdu and is usually where climbers use as a stopover place or even the base camp. The national highway G317 goes from its north side from east to west. From Ganzi it is only a couple of hours to get to Chola Mountains. The Ganbai Road goes through Gangga Range from its east part to Baiyu via the famous Nunnery Yarchen Gar. The Yalong River comes from its northwest and cutting through the mountains, seperating Gangga Mountains and Kawalori Mountains.

How to get there

From Chengdu via Kangding, then over Zheduoshan Pass and then from Xinduqiao to Dawu, then pass Luhuo and to Ganzi Xian. Note this Ganzi is a Xian (County) not the Ganzi Zhou (Prefecture), Ganzi Zhou refers to a larger area of the whole Garze Prefecture including Kangding, Ganzi Xian and many other counties. From Chengdu to Ganzi Xian it is usually 12 hours drive and 650km. It takes one long day to get back to Chengdu from Ganzi Xian but longer days coming in as it is good to stop by the towns along the way for acclimating. Ganzi Xian is at 3400 meters. Kanding is at 2600 meters, Dawu is at 3000 meters, Luhuo is at 3200 meters.

Climbing Season

Good climbing seasons include April to May, and October to November.

Mountains

From the road pass before arriving Ganzi Xian one can see most part of Gangga Range from east to west are the Kawalori Mountains, Molan Cheji and Dechok Phodrang, Zizizhuo, Gangga 1, 2, 3 mountains. The range goes really long westwards. By its western part there are Zhala Mountains and many other peaks around 5500 meters. There are by far, many peaks in Gangga Range that we have not get their names yet. Gangga Range is considered to be an unexplored wildland.

Kawalori Mountains are the highest at 5992 meters. It is not considered to be part of Gangga Range.
Molan Chejie Mountains are the rock mountains by south part of Gangga that are over 5600 meters next to the Ganbai road pass Zhuodala.
Zizizhuo is a very prominent rock mountain that can be seen from many sides. Zizizhuo means Knife Mountain.
Zhala Mountains are the mountains at around 5500 meters by western range of Gangga Massif.
Then there are the Gangga Main peaks including Gangga I, Gangga II and Gangga III.

Approaching

Approach from all sides one needs to get to Ganzi first. Gangga is a very good place for exploring style trips: you have good hotels to rest and to get comfortable and you can also quickly get back into the mountains where you can drive high and get to many peaks quickly by driving within 2-3 hours.

Ganzi is the base for climbing trips to Gangga Mountains.

List of Peaks in Gangga Massif