He is an internationally acclaimed mountaineering athlete active in the climbing community; he is a Communist Party member who puts danger on himself and uses his life to protect his teammates; he is the main organizer and climber behind the team that set the world record for being the first to summit the world’s 14 peaks above 8,000 meters. He is none other than Tsering Dorje, the current captain of the men’s team of the Tibet Mountaineering Team.
For this Tibetan man, conquering one towering, majestic snow-capped peak after another is the pursuit of his life. Those lofty snow peaks are like his beloved, embodying a lifetime of love and devotion.
For over 20 years, Tsering Dorje has trained rigorously, mastering excellent mountaineering skills. Together with his teammates, he has persevered through an extraordinarily tough climbing career with unyielding determination and self-improvement. He has successfully summited 14 of the world’s peaks over 8,000 meters. Among them, he reached the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at 8,844.43 meters, twice—in 1988 and 1999.
The most unforgettable moment came in 1988, during the China-Japan-Nepal joint expedition to traverse Mount Everest. Initially serving as a support climber, Tsering Dorje was exceptionally promoted to a main team member due to his outstanding performance. To achieve the first-ever double crossing and summit meeting of Everest, he demonstrated tenacious fighting spirit by becoming the first Chinese climber to reach the summit from the North Ridge. At the summit, where temperatures dropped below minus 30 degrees Celsius, Tsering Dorje waited for the other climbers for 99 minutes before descending successfully from the South Ridge. Breaking human limits and setting a world record at the time, he was hailed by the Chinese, Japanese, and Nepali press as the “First Man to Traverse Everest.”
As a Chinese athlete, the team motto “Serve the motherland, bring honor to the country, and add glory to the Five-Star Red Flag” has been his spiritual pillar throughout his long and perilous mountaineering career.
In the spring of 1991, as the first Chinese athlete hired as a technical advisor by foreigners, he participated in a Belgian expedition to climb Mount Shishapangma. He fully assisted the Belgian team in camp setup, route selection, and the execution of their climbing plan. Under his organization and leadership, five climbers—Chinese and Belgian—successfully reached the summit. While descending from 7,800 meters via a steep ice slope, the Belgian team leader suddenly slipped and dragged another teammate down rapidly. A major accident seemed imminent. At this critical moment, Tsering Dorje rushed forward, forcefully plunging his ice axe—attached to a safety rope—into a crevasse and holding it down with his body to prevent disaster. Deeply moved, the Belgian teammates gave him a thumbs-up, exclaiming, “Chinese, amazing!” Time and again in life-and-death situations, Tsering Dorje always put himself in harm’s way.
In the autumn of 1991, during a China-Japan expedition to Mount Namcha Barwa, Tsering Dorje led the way, clearing paths for his teammates. When they reached 7,400 meters, a sudden massive snowslide poured down due to the extremely steep terrain. Fully aware that the oncoming avalanche could be fatal for the five teammates behind him, he didn’t hesitate for a second. Without a thought for himself, he used his body to block the snowslide and shouted, “I’ll hold it here—get to safety quickly!” Tsering Dorje remained buried under more than 1.6 meters of snow without moving, knowing that any shift could loosen ropes or dislodge ice screws, endangering his teammates’ lives. One hour later, all five teammates had safely evacuated, but Tsering Dorje suffered severe frostbite in the deep snow. Eventually, two of his toes had to be amputated.
After the formation of Tibet’s “World 14 Peaks Above 8,000 Meters Expedition Team,” despite being a second-degree disabled climber, Tsering Dorje led the team as captain. From 1993 to the present, they have summited Annapurna I, Dhaulagiri, Shishapangma, Cho Oyu, Gasherbrum II, Manaslu, Nanga Parbat, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Mount Everest, Broad Peak, and Makalu. On July 27, 2004, along with his teammates, he conquered K2—the world’s second-highest and most technically challenging peak at 8,611 meters.
Internationally recognized as a mountaineering expert and a true pioneer, Tsering Dorje never flaunts his achievements in daily life, nor does he care for fame or gain. In 2008, to assist new team members in completing the torch relay for the Beijing Olympic Games on Everest, he voluntarily gave up the opportunity to carry the torch and quietly worked behind the scenes on security duties.
Faced with various accolades and awards, Tsering Dorje always says, “I just did my job, yet the Party and the country have given me so much honor. I will continue to uphold the mountaineering spirit, keep scaling new heights, and repay the nurturing of the Party and the country.”
