Ask any MIR member why they joined the club, and they probably won’t be able to answer you. For the challenge? Not always. For an entirely new experience? Yes, but not totally true. For friends you say? Perhaps one, just one, lifelong friend? The mountains can forge friendships as easily as they forge the ridge lines and landscapes. But still, not entirely true.
Day 1 – 17th December
1.00 pm – After a 4 hour flight, you reach Chengdu. This is the beginning of a journey you say, and you walk proudly into the airport, loaded with gear unmistakably representative of a mountaineer. The cold air brushes you slightly in the boarding gate, and it scares you, but its unnerving refreshing. Our instructor, Instructor Kim Boon tells the team to put on more warm clothing. “It’s been pretty cold these few days, fluctuating around 0°C”, he says, and the assistant instructor, Instructor Joanne adds on, “Snow seems to have come early this year, so be sure to have your warm clothing with you.”
Why listen to these people you say?
Joanne’s part of the Women’s Everest Team, and Kim Boon, well, he trained her.
Day 2 – 18th December
The view on the way to Rilong
11.00am – After a night in Chengdu, where you stayed at Sim’s Cozy Hostel and Guesthouse, you see 4 SUVs waiting at the doorstep waiting to bring you into Rilong, a small town 6 hours away from the busy city streets of Chengdu. Halfway through the journey, you reach the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake site-the deadliest earthquake in China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake. A slow remorse overwhelms your vehicle, and no one talks. On the right, a huge boulder the size of two buses lay on top of a pickup truck. 10 minutes later, you see a house, crushed by debris piling up till now. Your friend points to you a boulder 5-6 stories high, and as you reconstruct that very boulder falling from the height of the hills, you shiver.
8.00pm – You reach Rilong at night, local officials caused much delay for you and your teammates, but here you are, 3,000 metres above sea level. Even your accommodation, Deng Shu Ji’s place is so high above, and as you sink in to simple Chinese dishes that taste all so good, you forget about the cold, it’s about -8°C, but the food and the atmosphere masks it so easily.
Day 3 – 19th December
First steps on ice
10.00am – This is ice climbing – Day 1. Temperature, -5°C. After a short tour around Rilong by a local tour guide, you alight from the bus around 11 am. You cross a river, not with a bridge, but with ropes and a fallen tree for support. You trek in snow, snow like you’ve never seen, thick, powdery snow. Your lips are dry, your hands are cold, even with gloves on, you are panting just by walking a few steps. Could this be AMS (acute mountain sickness)? But ice climbing hasn’t even begun yet.
1.00pm- After a mantou (local steamed buns) lunch, Instructor Kim Boom splits up the team, half will follow him, half will follow Joanne. You put on your crampons (spikes attached to the boots so that they can bite into on ice) and your safety harness, and begin your first steps on ice.
Day 5 – 21st December
Instructor Joanne on her Everest expedition
9.00am – This is ice climbing – Day 3. Temperature, -8°C. The days get earlier (day 2 started at about 10am), as instructor Kim Boon plans for more challenging and longer climbs. This is your first ice wall, a waterfall frozen due to the cold of the altitude. It’s an ideal place to learn ice climbing, as you go up a 60° slope with your ice axe and crampons dug deep into the wall. The trek up to the waterfall is no longer as tedious. Perhaps you have acclimatized? Perhaps not. Take a good look at the frozen waterfalls.
8.00 pm – It’s been a tiring day, you want to rest after dinner. But wait, Instructor Kim Boon said there were lessons tonight. Damn. You walk to the living room and snuggle close to the fire. Funny why is it you can’t acclimatize to the cold. But you see Joanne taking the stage instead. The screen on the laptop reads – NATAS Women’s Everest Team.
Joanne gives a presentation about her experiences to the top of the world, from the training to the selection to the summit attempt. She and her team mates have given presentations to various companies and corporations as part of their leadership training, and now you’re getting it. For free.
So much for value for money.
Day 6 – 22nd December
9.00am- This is ice climbing – Day 4. Finally, it’s done. The last day of ice climbing. Today you attempt a near vertical ice wall, once again, formed by a waterfall slowly frozen bit by bit by the winter. Today, perhaps, you graduate. Whatever that means.
Graduation day
11.00am – 3 lanes are set up each with its own route, and your teammates rush to queue up. But wait, isn’t this ice wall of the same difficulty or if not more difficult than yesterday’s ice wall? Nothing has changed, it’s still ice, it’s still your same boots, it’s still gloves, and it’s still the same ice axe? So what’s changed? You?
You cheer your teammates on as they now attempt to speed climb up the ice wall (yes, now they try to dash up a vertical ice wall, a few days ago they were falling on FLAT ice). MIR 10 Best time – 51 seconds. Celebrations ahoy. Instructor Kim Boon goes up. 22 seconds, less than half the time.
He smiles.
5.00 pm – You descend early from the waterfall, have a last dinner at Deng Shu Ji, pack up and leave for another accommodation in Rilong- Ri Ye Shan Zhuang. You’re gonna miss this place, the cosy rooms, the sheep at the backyard, the cute 1 year old granddaughter, the simple meals, and the warm hospitality. But you have to leave. You still have a mountain to climb? Don’t you?
Day 7 – 23rd December
Expedition – Day 1 (Rilong to Base camp)
Altitude: approx 3800m
Er Feng Day 1 - View on the ridge line
10.00am- The team leaves. It’s going to be a 5 hour trek up to base camp, but you’re lucky aren’t you? The local guides use horses to carry the tents and the supplies up the mountain, you just need to carry your bag pack, and it’s not even 5 kg. You ascend up some slopes and hit the ridge, and what greets you is this.
3.00pm – Everyone reaches base camp, the horses are already there, and the guides have begun setting up tents. It’s a small cosy yellow tent, sometimes 2 or 3 people in a tent. There’s ample space, and the view outside is amazing. But wait, the tents keep the wind out, but it doesn’t make the environment any warmer does it? At night temperatures can hit -10°C. Oops. Time to get cosy with your tent buddy then.
Day 8 – 24th December
Expedition – Day 2 (Base camp to high camp)
Altitude: approx 4100m
Er Feng Day 2 - En route to high camp
10.00am- After the brief yesterday, you know what’s ahead of you. Another 4-5 hour trek up to high camp. The road is steeper, and the snow is thicker. But the scenery is better. You’re not going to get this in Singapore anytime soon, so better appreciate it now. Everywhere you look is like a painting, and words cannot describe it. You’ve seen pictures of such mountains, now you’re looking at it, with your own eyes. Nevermind the breathlessness, nevermind the slippery ice paths you had to thread, nevermind the narrow ridges you fell down so many times. It’s all going to be worth it.
4.00pm – You reach high camp around late evening, and after packing your stuff, you go out for some last minute rope work revision by instructor Kim Boon. Make sure you know where to clip your karabiners, make sure your jumar (a device used to bite into rope to ascend) is intact, because when you go up, it’s a whole new world.
6pm – You finish your dinner, and put on your Christmas Hat. It’s party time! The team gathers round for Christmas photo taking, and some Christmas jingles. It’s heartwarming, and despite the cold, everyone gathers round and receives a Kit Kat each. Christmas eve at 4000m, -10°C, Mount Er Feng.
Imagine it.
8 pm- Everyone does last minute equipment checks, and you do the same. You rehearse the equipment you’re using tomorrow. Harness, check. Crampons, check. Karabiners, check. Wait. Are they in the right place? Wheew, they are. Alright, good, good. Tomorrow, Er Feng beckons.
Day 8 – 25th December
Christmas day – Day 3 (High camp to Summit)
Altitude: approx 5200m
The team celebrates Christmas eve
2.30am – Merry Christmas. You couldn’t sleep last night. No one could. You go out of the tent. It’s snowing, white crystals of snow that sparkle as your headlamp shines over them. Snow during Christmas, how apt.
The team breaks up into groups during the ascent. The faster ones go ahead, but with each group there is a guide. The moonlight is bright, but headlamps are still needed to see where one is going. You take this one step at a time, and the snow is at least ankle deep, sometimes a misstep might get you knee deep into snow, a result of a whole night of nonstop snowing.
The temperature is -13°C. And as you go up, step by step, rock by rock, left over right, you pray for the sun to rise, at least to give you some warmth and perhaps some much needed motivation. You look at your watch, its 5.30am, still long way to go. Your teammates are the only reason you’re moving on.
Er Feng Day 2 - Summit day
As each slope passes, they get steeper and steeper, your breathing gets heavier and heavier. This is near the summit, this is all you’ve trained for, but at the same time, it’s like nothing you’ve trained for. Loose rocks pepper the ground near the summit, and as you go higher, the wind cuts into your face, bringing with it small crystals of snow. Small gusts of wind blow together to form little “typhoons” which bring awe as much as fear to you. But you look forward at the line of people in front, and take another step.
You attach your jumar and karabiners to the rope and climb on. By now, the sun has risen. But near the summit, the wind, together with the snow, has severely limited visibility. Instructor Kim Boon, with the guides decide that this is it, this is the furthest you will go, it’s too dangerous to go further. You are approx. 100m from the summit. You look behind towards the back, and tell yourself. This is it.
Its approx. 10 am in the morning. It’s -13 °C. It’s Christmas. And you, have had a taste of heaven.
Christmas day – Day 3 (Descent from Summit)
Campfire with the locals
So you’ve done it. It’s not a real summit you think, but it’s a mental summit. You begin to recall, all the friendships forged during these few days, you’ve seen the worse of your teammates, but you’ve also seen their best. Their very best.
That night you partied like you’ve never partied before. The guides have finished their job, and they too, join in the party. 3 cartons of beer, 2 jugs of local liquor, and a whole roast lamb are yours. Forget turkey and mistletoes, you party Sichuan style tonight. You sing at a campfire with the guides, the very guides that brought you up, you sing with the boss of the inn, 月亮代表我的心, 朋友. Nevermind if your Chinese is bad, you sing, and you sing like you never sang.
These few days you lived with your teammates, you’ve seen their very best, now, as the whole team drowns in alcohol, you see their worse. Their very worse.
So what is mountaineering you say? A challenge? Not always. An entirely new experience? Yes, but not totally true. Mountaineering is about friends? Absolutely. But that’s not it.
Why don’t you answer it yourself.
