Auyán-tepui is the largest of all the tepuis at around 700 square kilometres of summit plateau, and the one that carries Angel Falls off its western face. From below it presents a continuous black wall of vertical sandstone rising over a thousand metres straight out of the rainforest, often half-hidden by cloud. The Pemón name means "Devil's Mountain", and the surrounding people traditionally avoided going up.
Climbing to the summit is a serious 7- to 10-day expedition, technically harder than the more popular Roraima trek and requiring specialist operators. Most visitors meet Auyán-tepui from below — the flight in from Ciudad Bolívar usually banks along the cliff line, and the boat trip up the Río Churún runs for hours through the canyon at its base before reaching Angel Falls.