July 8, 2005

Student mountaineers from Beijing's Tsinghua University scaled new heights on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau yesterday.

Fifteen students from the Tsinghua University Mountaineering Association began climbing the 7,117-metre central peak of Mount Nyanqen Tanglha last week in Damshung County, 60 kilometers north of Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Four students reached the top of the 7,117 peak yesterday, a new height for all of them.

The amateur mountain climbers are all undergraduates or postgraduates at Tsinghua, aged between 18 and 33. It is the first expedition for most of them, three of whom are women.

To guarantee safety, they also hired three coaches from the Tibet Mountaineering Association.

They began to make for the peak on Sunday from their 5,300-metre Base Camp in the Nyainqen Tanglha Mountains in northern Tibet.

Good weather enabled them to build Camp 1 at 5,900 meters, Camp 2 at 6,400 metres and Camp 3 at 6,800 meters within three days.

In fact the students rushed ahead of schedule because weather forecasters predict strong wind and snow for the rest of the week.

"We were very lucky this time to reach the peak within such a short time," said Cao Xuezheng, expedition captain and a management postgraduate. "Former members of our association tried to scale the peak in 1999 but were stopped by bad weather."

Though summer is not the best season for mountain climbing because of wet weather in July and August, the students are still keen to meet the challenge.

"Mountain climbing enriches my life and gets me closer to nature," Cao said.

With established climbing routes and an intermediate difficulty rating, Mount Nyainqen Tanglha is one of the best bases for amateurs.

"Altitude is not the ultimate goal of our expedition - experience is more precious than the summit," said coach Gala. "We will always put safety first."

Student mountain climbing has seen fast development in recent years, with many universities and colleges setting up teams. Teams from Tsinghua, the China University of Geoscience and Peking University have won nationwide fame.

Safety is always a top concern.

Five members of the Mountain Eagles Club died or were presumed dead after they were hit by an avalanche when trying to reach Mount Shisha Pagma's 7,292-metre western face in Tibet in August 2002, which cast a shadow over student mountain climbing and outdoor sports.

But members of the Tsinghua University Mountaineering Association will never resist a challenge and a chance to get closer to nature.

Founded in 1994, the association takes summer vacation expeditions every year, along with social and scientific surveys.

China Daily