Shipton Arch – the Tallest Natural Arch on the Planet (10 photos + 1 video)

The world's tallest natural arch is located in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang and is called Shipton's Arch, named after the English climber Eric Shipton who discovered it.





Although the arch has long been familiar to locals, it was not until 1947 that the rest of the world learned of it from Eric Shipton's book The Mountains of Tartary, after he discovered it while serving as the British consul in Kashgar. Shipton made many unsuccessful attempts to reach the arch from the south, but was repeatedly defeated by the maze of steep canyons and cliffs.



Eric Shipton

For many years after Eric Shipton's discovery, the arch was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "tallest natural arch," but when editors went to check its height, they were shocked to find that the formation did not exist. So it was removed from the list.





Almost 50 years later, in 2000, National Geographic sponsored an expedition to rediscover the arch. Armed with the best maps and an electronic navigation system, this group not only managed to find what they were looking for, but also climbed to the top. Having found a suitable route and reached the top, the climbers took measurements and confirmed that this was indeed the tallest natural arch in the world - 457.2 meters high and 366 meters wide.



Shipton's Arch

The arch is about an hour or two's drive from Kashgar, and then another 1-2 hour hike to get there. The area has now been significantly developed, with a visitor center, stairs, and an observation deck.



The Arch Shipton