TAIPEI (Taiwan News) —  More than 80 centimeters of snow has covered a cirque near the summit of Xueshan in central Taiwan and snowfall is still occurring in high-elevation areas of Shei-Pa National Park, CNA reported on Monday (Feb. 21).

Shei-Pa National Park Headquarters deputy director Chen Chun-shan (陳俊山) told media on Monday that hikers shared photos on Facebook the previous day of 81cm of snow at a cirque below the summit of Xueshan and snow falling on Crying Slope, a midway point on the Xueshan East Peak and Main Peak route, at altitudes above 3,000m.

As Xueshan faces the Lanyang River in the northeast and the Da-an River in the southwest, it is easy for humidity to converge on the Xueshan area, where chances of snow are “especially high” and snowfall is “especially heavy” during winter, CNA cited Chen as saying.

Continuous low temperatures and wet weather in recent days have led to increased snow cover in the cirque from 50cm to 80cm, and the entire Holy Ridge is now covered in snow, he added.

The Shei-Pa National Park Headquarters urged hikers who plan to climb Xueshan in the near future to keep warm and be well-equipped for snow climbing as some trail surfaces have iced up, per CNA.

(Facebook, Chuang Chou Min photo)

Snow at Crying Slope (Facebook, Tony Hsieh photo)