It’s not just dizzying heights that make these the most dangerous hikes in the world. Prepare to contend with extreme weather, erupting volcanoes and dangerous wildlife on these hair-raising hikes.
Just back from Ethiopia, we thought we’d update the most dangerous hikes in the world to include our latest vertigo-inducing adventure, hiking Abuna Yemata Guh.
ABUNA YEMATA GUH, ETHIOPIA
Biggest danger: narrow ledges, deep chasms and hiking in bare feet
This rock-hewn church in the Gheralta region of Ethiopia is carved into the side of a vertical spire of rock with 200m (650ft) drops on all sides. To reach it, hikers must scale a sheer wall of rock and inch along a precipitous ledge, all in bare feet as footwear is not allowed in Ethiopia’s holy places. In fact, Abuna Yemata Guh is said to be the world’s least accessible place of worship.
The first part of the hike is relatively gentle: steep but perfectly doable. However, soon enough, hikers encounter a sheer section where ropes are required. It’s here that climbers must remove their shoes. Finally, a precariously narrow ledge which dips into a hole in the cliff face must be overcome before entering the world’s least accessible church with triumph.
VIDEO
SHACKLETON’S ROUTE, SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND, SOUTH ATLANTIC/ANTARCTICA
Biggest danger: exposure, crevasses and a very remote location
On 20th May 1916, Sir Ernest Shackleton and two others stumbled into the whaling station on South Georgia Island, starving, exhausted and suffering from extreme exposure. They had just made the first ever crossing of South Georgia Island. Shackleton and his team’s classic story of survival has come to symbolise this period of heroic Antarctic exploration.
Today, guided expeditions retrace one of the most dangerous hikes in the world traversing this treacherous, windswept and mountainous remote island. The trek comes in the form of a “self-contained” expedition where clients must carry their own clothing, food, fuel and tents. No sherpas here!
In the footsteps of legends on South Georgia Island
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