Wearing a striking bright red down jacket, adjusting his hat, gloves, and hiking boots, and carrying a heavy backpack while gripping trekking poles, Tsering Wangdue — with his adorable baby face — looked dashing and confident. He moved effortlessly and smoothly along the rugged and narrow mountain stone path, leaving other hikers, who were panting and struggling, in awe.
Tsering Wangdue is one of the eighth batch of students at the Tibet Mountaineering School, the youngest group ever enrolled. After more than a year of hard study and training, nine of these students participated in the 11th Tibet Mountaineering Conference this autumn, mainly responsible for transporting supplies from the base camp at an altitude of 4,300 meters to the advance camp at 5,200 meters. This was their “debut” in an official mountaineering activity.
Eighteen-year-old Tsering Wangdue was born into a farming and herding family in Nyalam County, Tibet, surrounded by mountains, including the 8,012-meter-high Shishapangma, the world’s 14th highest peak. During the mountaineering conference, Tsering Wangdue, like other young trainees, often had to carry dozens of kilograms of equipment up and down the mountains, sometimes even helping those suffering from severe altitude sickness to descend safely.
Their professional performance, exceptional abilities, and enthusiastic attitude won recognition and praise from fellow mountaineers. “In the future, I want to become an excellent high-altitude guide and climb peak after peak!” Tsering Wangdue told reporters.
Established in 1999, the Tibet Mountaineering School is China’s first and only institution dedicated to training professional mountaineers, with students mainly coming from farming and herding families in the Himalayan region. Over the past 14 years, the school has trained about 200 outstanding high-altitude service personnel. As batches of students graduated, trained, and gained experience, the monopoly of Sherpas on mountaineering services in the Himalayas has gradually been broken, and the life paths of these farming and herding youths have also changed dramatically.
Tashi Tsering, who stands before the reporter, is not tall and has a slim build. He is modest and unassuming in demeanor, and at first glance, it seems hard to connect him with a mountaineering expert. However, he is not only a top-tier high-altitude guide but has also successfully summited Mount Everest ten times, holding the domestic record for the most ascents of the “roof of the world.” His client list includes well-known Chinese entrepreneurs, couples, foreign one-armed adventurers, and oxygen-free climbing challengers...
“When herding, you often have to climb up and down mountains, so I guess that gives me an advantage in stamina!” Born into a farming and herding family in Gyangtse County, Tashi Tsering was among the first batch of students at the Tibet Mountaineering School, which marked the beginning of his deep connection with the mountains. He now lives in Lhasa with his beautiful wife and lovely children. “I love mountaineering. It not only brings honor but also allows us to showcase our strengths and values, and to see the wider world. I will keep going and continue to be a qualified high-altitude guide,” he said.
Beyond mountaineering, Tashi Tsering is also an accomplished high-altitude photographer, with works that have won awards in photography competitions. “I can reach heights that ordinary photographers cannot. I want more people to see the scenery there, to feel the wonder and incredibility of nature, and to sense the communication and harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.”
Nyima Tsering, Deputy Director of the Tibet Autonomous Region Sports Bureau, stated that the continuous development of mountaineering in Tibet should benefit the farmers and herders living near the mountains. Students from the mountaineering school are gradually becoming the backbone, embracing the mountains and the world; meanwhile, mountaineering also leaves opportunities for those who stay behind, allowing them to broaden their horizons and gain knowledge.
Dingri County’s Dejiu Village sits at an altitude of nearly 5,000 meters, with remote access and inconvenient transportation. The villagers rely on animal husbandry for their livelihood. Arranged by the Tibet Autonomous Region Mountaineering Management Center, during this year’s mountaineering season in Tibet, six villagers from Dejiu Village left their village to work at the base camps of 8,000-meter peaks such as Everest and Cho Oyu, providing services to mountaineering teams.
Pingcuo, an 18-year-old villager from Dejiu, worked twice at the base camp this year. Over two months, he earned 6,400 yuan, which his family used to buy food and renovate their house. Pingcuo told reporters that his main tasks at the base camp involved cooking, washing dishes, and cleaning. “It’s not too hard — much better than herding yaks and sheep. Not only is the food better and the pay better, but I also get to see more of the world!”
Although Dejiu Village is not far from these world-class peaks, the valuable job opportunities allowed these villagers to visit the base camp “international village” for the first time, to gaze up close at the famous mountains, and to live alongside people of different nationalities, ethnicities, and languages.
“At the base camp, I saw mountaineers from all over the world and heard different languages. It felt really novel, and I’d really like to learn (foreign languages) so I can talk to more people in the future,” Pingcuo said, touching his cheek shyly. “I also want to work at the base camp again. After earning some money, I want to go out, explore, and start a business!”
Zhang Mingxing, Director of the Autonomous Region Mountaineering Management Center, said that involving villagers in modern mountaineering services not only provides them with certain economic income and improves their financial situation, but more importantly, offers them opportunities to interact with the outside world, broaden their horizons, promote updated thinking, and encourage them to pursue a better tomorrow. (Reporters: Wang Yunjia, Huang Xing)