On New Year’s Eve, 12 college students from mainland China who had no professional gear or mountaineering experience rashly decided to climb to the summit of Mount Zhao Gong, a 2,434-meter-high snow-capped mountain, to watch the sunrise at the start of the new year. However, due to their lack of experience and inadequate equipment, they became exhausted and immobile. While waiting for rescue after calling for help, a team of professional mountaineers climbed up to where the students were. Without mincing words, a member of the professional climbing team said, “Attempting to climb a mountain without experience and dressed like that is simply seeking death.”
But because they were unfamiliar with the mountain paths, they became physically drained, and two college students suffered minor injuries. Eight of the students were stranded on the mountain at an altitude of 2,100 meters. As night fell, rain mixed with snow began to fall, and the temperature dropped below freezing. It wasn’t until the police received the distress call and assembled over 30 rescuers to head up the mountain overnight. They walked for three hours on icy, frozen roads and eventually found the eight stranded students at an altitude of 2,100 meters. Another four students had followed the professional climbers to the summit. The entire rescue operation lasted 12 hours, successfully saving all eight stranded hikers as the new year arrived.
The students said that at the beginning of the climb, everyone was chatting and laughing and moving quickly. The boys in the group took turns walking among the girls, acting as rear guards and providing protection. After crossing the snow line on Mount Zhao Gong, the path became noticeably more difficult. The 12 of them temporarily rented crampons and trekking poles from a nearby Taoist temple and continued on. Due to the lack of professional gear and slippery, snowy and icy conditions along the way, the group grew increasingly fatigued, with some even slipping and getting injured.
The students recalled that it took the professional mountaineers nearly an hour to move the injured to a safe location. Another four students expressed willingness to continue to the summit with the climbing team in search of further assistance. Meanwhile, the remaining eight stayed behind to wait for rescue. After being rescued, the students admitted they felt both guilty and scared, but also expressed gratitude to their rescuers. However, on the way down the mountain, one uninjured female student refused to walk and was actually carried down the mountain on the back of a 60-year-old guide — truly outrageous.