Sun Bin, a former national climbing team coach who once aspired to be a chemist and the founder and principal of Peak Outdoor Sports School. From1997the year he got into rock climbing and mountaineering, Sun Bin’s footprints have covered the globe, having nearly completed three rounds of the world’s famous mountains and rivers. From a young chemistry major at Peking University back in the day to now a seasoned climber who can tackle high-altitude peaks across all seven continents, Sun Bin has profound insights into mountaineering as an outdoor activity. At this year’sISPOBeijing exhibition, Green Field was honored to invite Sun Bin to discuss this outdoor activity that is both familiar and unfamiliar to the public.
It’s familiar because mountaineering has become very “commonplace” nowadays—whether individuals or clubs, when it comes to outdoor activities, the first thing that often comes to mind is climbing. But it’s unfamiliar because, in China, consumers and organizers actually haven’t developed a deep understanding of the activity. Sun Bin said that you don’t even need to look at every individual to see this; the huge gap between domestic and international guides shows that mountaineering in our country is still at a superficial stage of development.
“First, we need to understand what the role of a guide is? Ordinary people hire professional guides because regular climbers are unfamiliar with the routes and destinations, and lack confidence in outdoor conditions. That’s when the role of the guide becomes crucial: from planning the itinerary and route, to providing risk management, to offering trip support—the role of the guide is immense. Yet the current reality in China is that most guides fail to do these things. Many guides don’t have a deep enough understanding of the outdoors, mountaineering, or even their own role, and they can’t prepare adequately or assess risks during a trip,” said Sun Bin, a guide with rich professional knowledge and outdoor experience, pinpointing the shortcomings of domestic guides. “This phenomenon is partly because a professional mindset hasn’t yet been formed, and also because the risk response systems they possess aren’t comprehensive enough. In reality, when reaching the summit, a professional guide often carries many packs because they need to anticipate various contingencies and bring enough gear to handle those risks. In contrast, some guides in China even take off their packs at the summit to go light—that’s absolutely unacceptable.”“Extensive mountaineering experience, accurate risk judgment ability, strong risk management capability, a high sense of responsibility, and most importantly, a deep understanding of mountaineering—these are the essential qualities an excellent outdoor mountaineering guide must have,” Sun Bin said.
In addition, Sun Bin pointed out that there is another major gap between domestic and international guides in terms of the logic of mountaineering. Most domestic guides still lack a clear understanding of what mountaineering is. When international guides consider leading a trip, the order in which they think about things is: first, safety; second, enjoyment; third, reaching the summit. That is, safety is absolutely the top priority—nothing else should be considered first. Next is to bring joy to the climbers, and only then is successfully reaching the summit. But most domestic guides, and even climbers, often put reaching the summit first. This fundamentally reflects a difference in understanding of what constitutes a ‘reward’—“Why do we climb mountains?” Sun Bin’s answer is: to enjoy the activity itself, not necessarily to successfully reach the summit. “That’s also what I often say—whether you’re a climber or a guide, first, you need to understand clearly: why do I climb mountains?”
First, climbers still judge mountaineering by the standards of the traditional tourism industry: the organizer is just guiding me along a route like a tour guide, so why should they make so much profit? Such a consumer environment forces organizers to engage in price wars, ultimately creating a vicious cycle where “bad money drives out good,” and organizers can only attract consumers with low prices.
Sun Bin said that the root of this problem is actually a lack of risk awareness on both the part of consumers and organizers. For organizers, from route design to the end of the climb, they are required to have highly professional knowledge, including risk management, activity support, and helping consumers achieve their expected outcomes—all of which require long-term accumulation and hold great value. Why shouldn’t that be recognized by consumers? The same goes for consumers—they don’t realize the “intangible contributions” organizers make during a climb, and thus are unwilling to pay more. This is a problem on both sides and requires a fundamental shift in mindset from both consumers and organizers. Without such a change in perspective, the dangers and poor user experiences associated with cheap commercial climbs will ultimately deal a devastating blow to the climbing activity.
His deep insight into this issue is also one of the motivations behind Sun Bin founding Peak Outdoor School. Only by exposing more people to more professional outdoor training and services can outdoor activities be popularized to a deeper level, thereby steering the outdoor industry toward a positive developmental trend. At the end of the interview, Sun Bin also offered some advice to outdoor enthusiasts: “I hope all outdoor adventurers can re-evaluate this sport. The outdoors is a risky activity, and every outdoor enthusiast, while considering the rewards, should also consider the risks. The foundation of avoiding risks lies in judgment. There are no shortcuts to improving risk judgment—it can only be accumulated through continuous practice. I hope everyone who enjoys the outdoors will always remember the phrase ‘progress step by step.’ Take climbing as an example—start with easier mountains and gradually increase the difficulty; that’s a process of accumulation. Along the way, some climbs may be successful, others not, but each is an experience. Success boosts your confidence, failure helps you learn lessons. Enjoy the process—the success of reaching the summit isn’t what matters. So—in the end, it’s still that question: why do we climb mountains? For joy, not so-called success.”
Thanks to all the outdoor brand sponsors for their strong support of this event: the leading outdoor brand safeguard—Mountain Outdoor Mall, capture the most beautiful scenery along the way—ROXOR Stabilizing Camera, exclusive agent of world-class travel gear brands—UTC Travel Gear, global travel concierge—Huwanshi, NICRON outdoor flashlight, Yunhu Times MFOX