Tushuk Tash ("Shipton's Arch") - The Highest Natural Arch in the World
VideoFor many years the Guinness Book of World Records had this listing for the highest natural arch in the world:
The highest natural arch is the sandstone arch 25 miles west-southwest of K'ashih, Sinkiang, China, estimated in 1947 to be nearly 1,000 feet tall, with a span of about 150 feet.
This listing was later dropped when Guinness editors could not locate the 1947 reference and also visited the area and could not find the arch. The arch was re-located by westerners and reported in the December 2000 issue of National Geographic in an article entitled "Journey to Shipton's Lost Arch." The arch was first reported in the west by British mountaineer Eric Shipton in his 1947 book Mountains of Tartary. The arch is not sandstone but a very crumbly conglomerate, and is located not west-southwest but west-northwest of K'ashih (Kashi).
The National Geographic team measured the arch at 1200 feet high, certainly the highest ever reported and almost certainly the highest in the world. They did not measure the span. Shipton estimated the height at 1000 feet and the span at 150 feet. If this estimate for the span is increased proportionately by the same amount as the actual measurement for the height, the span would be about 180 feet. We would be most interested in obtaining a measurement of the span of this arch. The arch is called Tushuk Tash ("Pierced Rock") by locals.
Our international arch hunter, NABS member Ray Millar, visited this arch in 2004 through Snow Lion Expeditions and took the photos on this page. He writes: "We got as far as the grassy hill mentioned in the National Geographic article, probably about 50 feet or so from the arch. The first view looks like any other very large arch (see photo below). After climbing up to the top of the grassy slope you then get the full effect as the opening continues down toward the bottom, which can't be seen. The top of the slope is very deceptive and drops dramatically away into the canyon. The area consists of very loose rocks so if you take more than a step or two too far from the top you could find yourself past the point of no return. No photo does this arch justice. You just have to be there."
Above: Shipton's Arch, first view
Below: setting up ladders on the way in
