One of the most talked-about movies during China’s “Golden Week” National Day holiday is *The Climbers*, which is inspired by the 1975 expedition when the Chinese mountaineering team conquered Mount Everest, stood atop the summit, and made the first official measurement of its height. The film focuses on Xia Boyu, who was part of the team back then. Despite not reaching the summit due to severe weather, and losing both legs while saving his teammates, the “Chinese Ladder” he and his teammates set up on Everest’s north slope has helped many mountaineers.
Born in 1949, Xia Boyu is now 70 years old. At the age of 26, he was selected for the national mountaineering team and began challenging Everest. He said that on May 25, 1960, a Chinese team first conquered Everest and reached the summit, proving that the highest point of the mountain lies within Chinese territory.
On the north side of Everest, at an altitude of about 8,600 meters, this team encountered a nearly vertical cliff around 30 meters high, known as the “Second Step.” The climbers at the time had to pass it by forming a human ladder.
In 1975, Xia Boyu and his teammates climbed Everest with the mission of installing a climbing ladder on the “Second Step.” In the oxygen-deprived, freezing environment, they successfully erected what came to be known as the “Chinese Ladder,” helping over 1,300 climbers realize their dream of reaching the top of Everest.
Although they managed to get past the “Second Step,” the team was unfortunately hit by a blizzard and had to retreat due to exhausted supplies. A teammate who had lost his sleeping bag and fallen ill was given Xia’s own sleeping bag, resulting in Xia suffering from frostbite so severe that both his feet had to be amputated below the knees.
Xia Boyu did not give up on his dream of conquering Everest. Wearing titanium prosthetic legs and leaning on trekking poles, he attempted the summit three times without success. At 47, he was diagnosed with lymphoma, and at 67, he developed thrombosis—but nothing stopped him. On May 14, 2018, he finally achieved his goal, becoming the oldest Chinese person to summit Everest and the first to do so with prosthetic limbs.
The plot of *The Climbers* recreates the process of Xia Boyu and his teammates building the “Chinese Ladder” and reaching the top of Everest. Xia jokes that the characters in the movie are all using aliases, and if you want to know which actor played him, you’ll have to buy a ticket and watch the film in theaters.