Chutian Metropolis Daily (Special correspondent Chen Bolei reporting from Everest Base Camp, correspondent Cao Zhikai)
The "Summit Four" team from China University of Geosciences, who had originally planned to return from the 6,500-meter advance camp to Everest Base Camp today, changed their itinerary temporarily—yesterday evening at around 6 p.m., the team leader Dong Fan returned to the base camp with Deqing Ouzhu and Ciren Dandar, while Wuhan girl Chen Chen remained at the advance camp for rest.
It turned out that, worried about team matters, Dong Fan descended first despite physical fatigue. The team members who stayed at the base camp quickly presented the flowers and hadas they had prepared in advance. Knowing that Dong Fan loves his hometown’s spare ribs and lotus root soup, they specially stewed a whole pot using a pressure cooker.
The hardest part was being hit by a rock above 8,300 meters, but luckily no serious harm was done
Dong Fan, back at the base camp, looked utterly exhausted. Recalling the entire Everest climb, he said the hardest and most dangerous part was the final push—above the 8,300-meter assault camp. That stretch of just three to four kilometers took the summit team a full seven hours to traverse because the path was entirely smooth rock faces covered with ice, making every step slippery and falls a common occurrence. “The scariest moment was when I got hit by a rock,” Dong Fan said, still shaken by the memory. Apparently, while waiting to pass below the “Third Step,” a rock the size of an egg rolled down and hit him square on the head. At the time, Dong Fan felt a jolt and some pain, but with no time to dwell on it, he simply rubbed the spot and continued climbing upward.
After retreating to the 6,500-meter camp, Dong Fan quickly had his teammates check the injured area: it was red but not swollen. “Luckily I was wearing a thick down hat.”
Brushing past a 73-year-old Japanese woman, the “Third Step” was blocked for 30 minutes
Yesterday, there was some hot news: on the morning of the 19th, 73-year-old Japanese woman Tamae Watanabe, accompanied by three Sherpa guides, successfully summited Everest from the north side, breaking the world record she set for herself at age 63 in 2002.
That same morning, as Dong Fan and others were summiting Everest, Deqing Ouzhu told reporters that it was precisely because they were waiting for this elderly woman that the “summit team” was blocked for nearly half an hour under the “Third Step” at 8,800 meters.
It turns out the “Third Step” is like a traversing rock face, where climbers have to navigate a very steep, icy and rocky path only about 30 centimeters wide, with only a protective rope on the left-hand rock wall to hold onto, and a sheer drop on the right. “At the time, the elderly woman was crawling on a rock, unable to move and blocking the way. We waited more than 20 minutes with no movement,” Deqing Ouzhu explained. With no other option, he climbed up first, asked the woman’s high-altitude guide to change her oxygen bottle, and then moved her slightly so the “summit team” could pass by on the side.
Stayed at Everest summit for 15 minutes, practiced summit declaration before the climb
What does it feel like to reach the “Third Pole” of the world—the summit of Everest—after enduring so much hardship? After thinking for a while, Dong Fan replied: not as exhilarating as imagined, his mind went blank, and his actions and reactions were somewhat sluggish. The “Summit Four” team stayed at the summit for about 15 minutes. During that time, they also used walkie-talkies to collectively send blessings to their alma mater, college students nationwide, and the citizens of Wuhan. So synchronized was their “summit declaration”—had it been written on paper and read aloud?
Deqing Ouzhu “revealed” that while resting at the 8,300-meter assault camp, everyone was worried they might not be able to think clearly at the summit, so Teacher Dong specifically instructed them to think in advance about what to say at the top and to practice it together. Deqing Ouzhu also mentioned that as they climbed from the 6,500-meter advance camp upwards, the four of them frequently overtook commercial team members, which gave them even greater confidence in their physical ability and the summit attempt. “As long as the weather holds, everything else is fine!”
Hiked continuously at high altitude for 20 hours to return to the advance camp, nearly exhausted
From setting off toward the summit at 1 a.m. until descending back to the 6,500-meter advance camp around 8 p.m., the “Summit Four” team hiked continuously for about 20 hours. Dong Fan explained that along the way, they only ate energy bars and instant food, with the main replenishment being boiled water provided by support team members and Tibetan guides at each camp.