Snow Tiger Mountaineering Team in Tibet

ZHOU ZHEN, LOBSANG DAWA & CHENG TIANLIANG

Gathering Holy Fire Atop Qomolangmo

When the 6th Ethnic Minority Sports Meet was to be held in 1999, the fire for the flame that would burn throughout the period of the games was first ignited on the top of the worlds highest mountain, Qomolangmo. The task was assigned to a team of 15 Tibetan mountaineers, headed by Sangzhu and including two women, Guisang and Gyigyi. Base Camp was established at an elevation of 5,200 meters, the Advance Base Camp at 6,500 meters, Camp.1 at 7,028 meters, Camp 2 at 7,790 meters, and Camp 3 at 8,300 meters. At 3:00 on the morning of May 17, eight team members, including the two female mountaineers, left Camp 3. Six hours later, Cering Dorje, Benba Zhaxi, Renna, Gyiabu, Lhoze, Ngakebu, Lhaba, Zhaxi Cering, Guisang and Gyigyi had reached the summit, where they stayed a total of 138 minutes to kindle the holy fire.. They then returned to Camp 1, apart from Benba Zhaxi, who went directly to the Advanced Base Camp.

Dainzin Norgyai of the Sharba ethnic group assisted a Swiss climbing team that reached a height of 8,600 meters in 1952. On May 29, 1953, he joined hands with Sir Edmond Hillary of New Zealand as they finally stood on the summit of Qomolangmo. For this, he won the nickname of "Himalayan Snow Tiger". The "Snow tiger" we portray here, however, does not mean Dainzin Norgyai. It is used, instead, to honor the China Tibet High Mountain Exploration Team.

Three Generations of "Snow Tigers."

Chinese mountaineers first conquered Qomolangmo in 1960. The team included Gongbo, Mima, Soinam Dorje, Lhaba Cering, Dorjipu, Mima Zhaxi, Yundain and Dorgyia. Born and brought up in the Himalayan area, they were strong enough to cope with the extremely thin oxygen content and bitter cold. In 1975, a Chinese exploration team reached the top of Qomolangmo for the second time. Its members included Sangzhu, Soinam Norbu, Lobsang Deqen, Cering Dorje, Garqug, Norze, Ngaboqen, Lobsang Gyaincain, Changcog and two women－pamdo and Guisang. In February 1992, China set up an exploration team to climb all the Himalayan peaks higher than 8,000 meters, and within seven years they had accounted for 11 of them. Mountaineers of the Tibetan ethnic group played a big role. They joined hands with Nepalese female mountaineers to climb the 8,012-meter Xixabangma in 1981, with Japanese mountaineers to climb the 7,543-meter Changtse in 1986, with the Japanese and Nepalese mountaineers to climb Qomolangmo in 1988, with American and Soviet mountaineers to climb Qomolangmo again, and with the Japanese mountaineers to climb the 7,782-meter Namjabarwa in 1992. During their cooperation with foreign mountaineers, the Tibetans learnt only five mountaineers from Italy and Poland had conquered all 14 peaks over 8,000 meters high, and they vowed to match this feat within 10 years.

Scaling the 10th and 7th Highest Peaks.

On March 15, 1993, the Chinese Tibetan mountaineers flew from Lhasa to Kathmandu, Nepal, for the first time in history. In nine days, they were taken to their base camp at an elevation of 4,340 meters. The team included Sangzhu (team leader), Wanggyia (deputy leader), Cering Dorje (head of climbing), Benba, Zhaxi, Dachimi, Renna, Daqoin, Lhoze, Ngakebu (concurrently photographer), Zhang Mingxing (interpreter), Lobsang Yundain (medical doctor), and Cheng Tianliang (coach). According to the decision made by Coach Tian Liang and Team leader Sangzhu, the group was divided into two. Group A moved out at 3 a.m. on April 26 from Camp 3 at 6,700 meters and reached the summit of the worlds 10th highest peak, Annapurna (8,091 meters) at 18:45. This marked the first time the Chinese had climbed above 8,000 meters. Excited, they unfolded a five-star red flag in the teeth of a howling wind. However a snow avalanche defeated Group B. On May 30, the team was divided into two groups again to climb the 8,172-meter Dhaulagiri, the worlds seventh highest peak. Group A made the climb in 10 hours. Group B reached the top the following morning. The success reinforced the confidence of the Tibetan mountaineers in overcoming the remaining peaks above 8,000.

On April 25, 1994, the Tibetan mountaineering team sought to climb the worlds 14th highest peak, Xixabangma (8,012 meters), with which they were familiar as they had previously climbed together with mountaineers from other countries. All the team members reached the Advance Camp Base (ABC), the transitional camp between the Base Camp and the High Mountain Camp 1, used mainly to supply materials to the mountaineering team and treat anyone injured. Camp 1 at 6,300 meters was set up on May 3, and the Camp 3 (6,900 meters) on May 6. At 2:30 on the morning of May 7, the team set out from Camp 3 for the top. At 12:55 Beijing time, nine team members reached the summit, including Wanggyia, Cering Dorje, Benba Zhaxi, Renna, Gyiabu, Dachimi, Daqoin, Lhoze and Ngakebu. The Tibetan mountaineers climbed to the top of the worlds sixth highest peak, Cho Oyu (8,012 meters) on September 30, 1994, and conquered two other peaks over 8,000 meters in 1993 and 1994. Climbing Gasherbrum I and II. In 1995, the Tibetan mountaineers decided to scale the worlds 11th and 13th highest peaks, Gasherbrum I and II, both of them just over 8,000 meters. They set out from Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, for Daskardu, where they employed 170 porters. After walking for seven days, they reached Gasherbrum I Base Camp on the 29th, where they joined mountaineers from the United States, United Kingdom, Republic of Korea, Japan, Poland, Czech Republic, Canada, Germany and Pakistan, who had arrived earlier. The Tibet mountaineers decided to first conquer Gasherbrum II in two groups. Group A was composed of four people－cering Dorje, Benba Zhaxi, Lhoze and Ngakebu, who were charged with the pioneering work, including building roads and determining camp sites. Group B comprised Wanggyia, Gyiabu, Renna and Daqoin, who were charged with transporting materials and building the camps. The Tibetan mountaineers set out from the camp on July 6, and set up Camps 1 and 2, and built roads along the way. On the 9th, they built the final camp from where Group A began attacking the peak at 4:40 on the morning of the 10th, reaching their destination at 14:22 the same day. Group B also succeeded in reaching the top at 16:55 on the 11th. On the 20th, the two groups set up Camp 2 at 6,900 meters, but their sortie against Gasherbrum I encountered snowstorms over the next two days. Team leader Sangzhu decided to retreat to the Base Camp. However, the snow continued to fall for five more days, and faced with drifts of more than one meter, the Chinese team decided to give up on August 9.

Second Setback.

In 1996, the Tibetan mountaineers planned to climb the 8th highest peak, Manaslu (8,156 meters) and the 5th highest, Makalu (8,481 meters). The mountaineering team was airlifted to the foot of Manaslu, but they found climbing conditions extremely difficult. On the 30th, Group A built Camp 2 at 6,170 meters, from where they continued their journey and found two foreign mountaineers almost frozen and close to starving to death in their tent at 6,500 meters. They rushed the two down the mountain and, fortunately, both survived. The two Tibetan groups reached the top of Manaslu Peak at 14:50 on May 3 and 12:20 on May 4 respectively. They returned to the Base Camp on the 5th and to Lhasa on the 15th. On August 20, the mountaineering team moved toward Makalu in the teeth of a gale. In 11 days, they reached their Base Camp, and built Camp 2 in early September. In mid-October, Group A reached Camp No.3, where their progress was halted by howling snowstorms and snow slides. Some of the group members lost their way, but fortunately were saved by mountain folks. They decided to give up on November 2 and return to Lhasa. Sino-Pakistan Joint Effort. In May-June 1997, mountaineers from China and Pakistan formed a joint team, with 11 members from China and four from Pakistan. It was scheduled to climb Nanga Parbat Peak, which, at 8,125 meters, is the 9th highest in the world. Before this, the Chinese and Pakistan mountaineers formed a joint team to climb Qomolangmo in April-May 1997. Three of the joint team came from Tibet and 11 from Pakistan. The Sino-Pakistan joint mountaineering team built their assault camp, No.4, at 7,480 meters on June 14. On the 15th, they divided into two groups, which set out at five in the morning. In nine hours, the two groups of eight members reached the top at 14:15 and 14:30 respectively. Chinese mountaineers who reached the top included Cering Dorje, Benba Zhaxi, Renna, Gyiabu, Lhoze, and Ngakebu. At 13:34 of May 9, 1998, the Tibetan mountaineers, including Cering Dorje, Benba Zhaxi, Ngakebu, Renna, Daqoin and Lhoze, conquered the worlds 3rd highest peak, Kanchenjunga (8,598 meters), which straddles the border of Nepal and Sikkim.