Jia Linchang is a student of 1987 majoring in Industrial and Civil Architecture at Southwest Jiaotong University, a decathlete of the university's track team, a mountaineer, and the winner of "The Most Beautiful Swjtuer" in 2019...

Among his numerous identities is the most special one: the first Swjtuer to surmount Mount Qomolangma and send his blessings to his Alma Mater atop the world’s highest mountain.

Today, he tells us the story of climbing Mount Qomolangma.

On May 25, 2019, I became the first Swjtuer to have scaled the summit of Mount Qomolangma.

Sport is a particular favourite of mine. As a 15-yea-old student at the High School attached to SWJTU, I created a record that I could never surpass. Starting from 500 meters above sea level, I spent 14.5 hours climbing the 3099-meter high Mount Emei and descending, covering a total distance of 105 kilometers. At the University, I was one of the leading players of the football team, the decathlete of the track team, and the record holder of the men's 4x100 meters relay race at the School. For 39 years, I have never ceased playing different sports.

I. Sprouting of original aspiration

1. Climbing three snow- mountains

I did not have much experience when climbing Mount Siguniang in 2005. A year later, I learned climbing techniques at Chola Mountain. In 2007, I scaled Muztagh Ata in Xinjing Uygur Autonomous Region, during which I testified to my physical strength, endurance and perseverance, and got accustomed to surroundings of ice and snow.

2. Recognition of my professionalism

It was at that time when Wanka, a Tibetan mountaineer, recognized my efforts and thought I was capable of climbing Mount Qomolangma, which injected in me great confidence. Thus, the aspiration germinated and in 2009 I wrote the first plan for climbing Mount Qomolangma. But for various reasons, the plan was not put into practice.

3. A decade of preparation

Like sharpening the sword for the final strike, in the past 10 years from 2009 to 2019, I remained true to my aspiration and persevered in the three physiological training of cold resistance, weight bearing and hypoxia.

Moving from Camp 3 of Muztagh Ata, we encountered a snowstorm, squatted there for half an hour, and later found my frightened guide escaped. At the altitude of 7300, the lack of oxygen rendered me dizzy, and my condition was exacerbated since I only wore a quick dry suit.

Confronting the immense snow mountains, I had to overcome two psychologies: loneliness and fear.

When moving downwards, I could hear the sounds of my own breathing and footsteps. I witnessed avalanches, rolling stones and roaming wild yaks in the mountains. I knew how vast the nature is and how small mankind is after falling into a crevasse with only my head exposed.

Over these years, I have climbed over 30 mountains, traversed more than 40 routes, hiked about 1,800 kilometers, suffered from a low temperature of minus 35 degrees Celsius, and bore a maximum weight of 40 kilograms at 4,300 meters.

The past 10 years sharpened my sword and turned me into a professional.

4. Inexhaustible power

In 2014, I was preoccupied in Chengdu and could not make the trip. From 2017 to 2018, I was in Guangzhou and Shenzhen and again failed to realize my dream.

The right moment came in 2019, and I proposed to climb the Qomolangma. Everyone encouraged and supported me including my colleagues and the university's film crew of Si Shi Yang Hua.

I also secured the endorsement of my family members.

My mother said to me in Chengdu, "Did an old man with no legs climb the Qomolangma last year?" I replied, "Yes. His guide is going to serve me this year." She wanted to give me confidence, and I assured her that I would be safe and healthy. My daughter in Canada said, "Daddy, that is great! Cool!" My wife in Foshan wisely advised me, "Eat and sleep well! Control the pace of your move, and don't get excited too early! If you can't make it, quit and come back!"

Before the departure, I left my wife a letter. It is, as a matter of fact, a posthumous paper.

II. Mission accomplished

On April 4, I flew to Chengdu, and I made an expedition statement in the alumni WeChat group and won dozens of thumbs up.

Here's what I wrote:

Qomolangma climbing is highly difficult and time consuming, entailing great risk.

It is the dream that I will never give up!

A decade has elapsed since my first plan was prepared. During the past 10 years, my body has been honed, my mind sharpened, my experience accumulated and my climbing skills upgraded.

As an alumnus of SWJTU and one of the spokesmen for the historical documentary "Si Shi Yang Hua during the period of Emei", I hope this expedition can accentuate the resplendence of my Alma Mater's 123th anniversary.

I will surmount the summit!

Jia Linchang, Engineering of 1983

Chengdu, April 5, 2019

This climbing was divided into five stages.

Stage 1: Start, from April 5 to 13

The airliner that I took managed to land in Kathmandu in Nepal after three attempts, and then by taking a helicopter I reached the foot of the mount. The air trip was quite frightening. After I set my foot on earth, I spent another five days hiking to arrive at the Qomolangma Base Camp.

Stage 2: High-altitude adaptation, from April 14 to 29

We climbed the beautiful Mount Lobuche at the altitude of more than 6000 meters, and the climbing was alarmingly dangerous. We also had two ice-climbing training on Khumbu Glacier.

Besides, we made a trial climb from the Base Camp to Camp 3 and experienced the most terrifying avalanche. At that time, I was on all fours and filmed the video.

After all of these, I wondered what was the meaning in my spending so much money, risking my life and feeling exhausted.

The answer is quite simple, that is, to remain true to the original aspiration and realize the dream of conquering the world's highest mount! This is perseverance!

Stage 3: Waiting, from April 30 to May 16

This year did not grant me a sufficiently long period of good weather, which also directly led to the congestion on Mount Qomolangma later. To avoid the "traffic jam" enroute, we had chosen the different dates such as the 14th, 16th, 18th, and 22nd for the final topping. Finally, it was decided that the 20th would be the time. On the evening of the 16th, we were startled when the leader came in at 8:00 p.m. and said that we would set out at 1:00 a.m. the next day. Without good mental preparation we cannot make it, so we found excuses to delay the trip. Finally, we agreed that we would pass Camp 2 without stop and depart on the early morning of the 17th.

May 8 is my birthday, my Sherpa guide secretly made me a birthday cake, and we had an unforgettable birthday party in the tent.

Stage 4: Surmounting the summit, from May 17 to 20

On the early morning of the 17th, we began to climb the slopes with gradients between 45 and 50 degrees. After going through precarious ice walls and crevasses, we eventually arrived at Camp 2.

On May 18, we reached the Camp 3 in the evening after going through strong winds and heavy snows and scaling ice walls.

On the 19th when crossing the zone mixed with ice and rocks, we spotted the bodies at the roadside, and arrived at Camp 4 at 1:00 pm.

The Sherpa required us to set out at 9:00 p.m. However, I proposed to start our final leg of journey at 12:00 p.m. so that I could stand on the summit at daybreak for better videos. If we had started climbing earlier, it would probably be dark when we hit the highest point at 5 a.m..

The night of topping was quiet and cold. The higher we stood, the stronger the snowstorm was. I kept on looking for a spot at the altitude of 8,123 meters in order to shoot a video to celebrate the 123rd anniversary of my Alma Mater. After 2 o'clock in the morning, I managed to find the place at the height of 8,123 meters.

On my left, froze Nepal in cold tone, on my right, shined Tibet, China in its full glamour under the sun. Above 8,500 meters, snow danced around us in the gale.

After the most dangerous Hillary Step, we were 300 meters away from my dream. When closing the distance of the last 100 meters, I had an illusion of 9 people at the summit and later they changed into a prayer flag. When I ultimately stood on the peak, I found that there were only 4 people.

At the last moment of topping, the experienced guide took over my motion camera, asked me to go first and shot videos for me.

I was the only member of the team who filmed the topping.

I switched on my camera the instant I reached the peak. A reporter once asked me, "What did you think of when you were on the top?" I said, "I thought the film must be done and I was really happy."

I was pleased and satisfied because I fulfilled my dream eventually and reached a new height in my life. 13 clips of videos were shot in one breath.

Surmounting Mount Qomolangma doesn’t mean that I conquered her. Instead, she accepted me. All kinds of blessing videos were taken at the peak, like blessings or congratulations for my Alma Mater, company, family members, relatives and friends, traveling and climbing partners, and newly-weds.

Stage 5: Descending and home

During the long period of photographing, I took off the glasses and oxygen mask from time to time. As a result, my eyes felt cold at the summit and I was in danger.

My vision blurred at 8,700 meters, but I thought it was because of snow and fog. While reaching the 8,500-meter safety zone, I put down my backpack and took off my glasses, only to realize that I was blind. The guide called the leader at the Base Camp via satellite phone, and their decision was to "descend as fast as possible."

Only my guide and me were in the zone then. Time seemed to have frozen! I was calm and had a belief supporting me to return to Camp 3 safely. I had confidence in myself and trust in my guide. Confidence came from my strength, for I was in perfect condition that day, while trust implied that I commended my life to the guide.

In front of me was a vast expanse of whiteness, and I could only see a dark shadow within 5 meters when we started the descending. I followed the guide in the snow with my left hand grasping the rope and the right hand on the ground, and moved downwards half squatting. At the cliff, I fell on the rocks and my down outfit was torn. When changing to a different route rope we gripped along the ridge, the guide would grab it first and then thrusted it into my hand. In front of the 100-meter high hard ice at 8,250 meters, he tied me on the rope and dropped me down to accelerate the descending. I fell into the crevasse at 8100 meters when we changed to another rope, but he pulled me up. Approaching the flat area without route rope, he tied me with his own rope and eventually succeeded in bringing me safely back into the tent at Camp 3.

It cost us over 5 hours to safely descend from 8,500 meters to the camp at 7,900-meters. Because of the emergency, no photo was taken.

On the morning of the 21st, my eyesight restored. I moved down together with the guide. On the first day, we encountered and avoided the “traffic jam”. At 2 p.m., we arrived at Camp 2 and I drank 3 kgs of water at one time without going toilet for 24 hours.

The next day when we passed Khumbu Glacier, the route was completely deformed, and we finally made our way safely back to the Base Camp.

III. Belief and Perseverance

On the flight back to China, looking back at Mount Qomolangma, I had a myriad of feelings: each of us has our own Mount Qomolangma in our mind. The mountain is always there as long as people persevere in their pursuit for their heights of life.

At the airport in Chengdu, I was warmly welcomed by my friends. In Shengzheng, colleagues came to the airport to meet me and called my name from a long distance. I knew, I was home.

Back to the bustling city, I had echoes of the whole climbing process. In retrospect, the trip was extremely tiring and dangerous, and I had no choice but to move upward. To turn my dream into reality, I cling to perseverance and accumulation.

Last but not least, I would like to say that firm belief, strong will, robust body, undaunted courage are what we need on our way to success.

Remain true to the original aspiration!

Source: SWJTU NEWS SITE

Author & Source of Pictures: Jia Linchang