KAILAS athlete Luo Jing: China’s first female mountaineer to summit 14 peaks above 8,000 meters

Luo Jing, slender and gentle in demeanor, hardly looks like someone who could endure dozens of hours, reach the edge of the stratosphere where helicopters can’t fly, and scale8000-meter snow-capped peaks amid freezing temperatures, thin air, heavy loads, and constant threats of avalanches and falls. But the reality is, she not only completed all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks in about seven years but also set multiple historic records.14Her every step, every footprint, represents heights rarely reached by Chinese women and reflects their transformation. In the international mountaineering community, especially among Chinese female climbers, she has become an unprecedented icon.8000+“Everyone has an

-meter mountain in their heart.”

 Luo Jing is ambitious about mountaineering. “I’ve never climbed any peak8000+in a comfortable way.” Like all great mountaineers, Luo Jing enjoys adding challenges to her climbs—climbing without supplemental oxygen, tackling multiple peaks in one go, organizing her own expeditions… Over the years, she has transformed from a “follower” to a “decision-maker and leader.” She deeply understands that

“Reaching the summit is never the ultimate goal; exploring your own potential is what’s truly exciting.”,At first, Luo Jing thought climbing was just a personal endeavor, but now it has reshaped her values and changed her mindset toward life and death, and many other things.“Everyone has an

-meter mountain in their heart. How to persevere and see every chosen path through to the end—that’s success. You become the director of your own life, and the story won’t be ordinary.”

“I’m not a mountaineer.”8000+Even though she is China’s first woman to have successfully summited

peaks above

meters, Luo Jing doesn’t consider herself a mountaineer. “A mountaineer is someone who dedicates their entire life to climbing, with climbing being their whole existence. I can’t do that—climbing is just a part of my life.”14For Luo Jing, mountaineering is her favorite pursuit, but never a tool for fame or fortune. She climbs one8000+-meter peak after another...

“For me, climbing isn’t simply about0adding1and eventually reaching14and then being done. Every time I climb, it’s not just about reaching the summit. During the climb, I’m also challenging myself, setting goals for myself—like this time I want to take a tough route, next time I want to try an oxygen-free summit.……I challenge myself again and again, making every climb meaningful.”

“But even if the world forgets me, the mountains will remember me.”

For those who truly love exploration,14a number is never the final destination. Where climbing will take Luo Jing, even she doesn’t know. “After climbing14peaks, I definitely won’t leave climbing behind, but I haven’t figured out exactly what I’ll do next. I’ve had some ideas—for instance, I’d like to start an outdoor adventure company, or a mountaineering training class, or a parent-child training class... But I feel these things would only allow me to use one aspect of my value. I hope to find a career where I can realize all of my potential.”

But one thing is certain: Luo Jing’s mountains are not limited to the distant horizon. The snow wind may sweep away every human footprint, but the courage to live facing death will inscribe eternity in the void.

Currently, Luo Jing is on her way back to base camp and will soon return to Beijing, at which pointKAILASKailas will share with fans the highlights of Luo Jing’s2018remarkable climbing journey.