Mount Everest: Vietnamese to Conquer 

On April 6 four young Vietnamese men will go to Nepal to conquer the world’s roof, Mount Everest, which is 8,850m high.

To take this journey, organised by the HCM City Television Station (HTV), Lasta and Number One, four amateur mountaineers – Nguyen Mau Linh (31), Le Ba Cong (30), Bui Van Ngoi (25), and Phan Thanh Nhien (23), who come from Hanoi, Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau – won out over several thousand competitors in qualifying rounds.

They underwent a six-month training course and conquered other mountains of varying heights: 3,143m Fansipan in Sapa, Vietnam; 4,095m Kinabaru in Malaysia; 5,895m Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; and 6,160m Island Peak in Nepal.

During the upcoming journey to the peak of Everest, the four men will have to experience 60 harsh days with many challenges.

Sherap Sherpa, who has climbed Everest four times and is a guide for the four Vietnamese mountaineers, said: “I followed the Vietnamese mountain-climbers on the trip up Island Peak and I think their health conditions and climbing techniques are good for climbing Everest.

But they still move slowly because of a lack of experience, poor resistance against cold and especially fear of heights. With determination and further training, I believe that they will all succeed.”

Mount Everest or Chomolungma, 8,850m high, belongs to the Himalayan range. In 1921 a group of British explorers failed to conquer this mountain.

On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary (New Zealand) and Tenzing Norgay (Sherpa, Nepal), became the first to successfully reach the peak of Everest.

So far, more than 2,000 mountaineers from over 20 countries and territories have reached the summit of Mount Everest.

In 1975, Junko Tabei (Japan) became the first woman to stand on the peak of Everest.

In 2001, Erik Weihenmayer (the US) became the first blind person to reach the Everest peak.

In Southeast Asia, there have been only three female mountain climbers from the Philippines who conquered Mount Everest on May 17, 2007, Noelle Wenceslao, Karina Dayondon and Janet Belarmino.●