Record-breaking female Mount Everest climber: ‘you have to aim high’
Kathmandu, May 30 (EFE).- Former teacher and climber Ada Tsang Yin-hung has achieved the record for the fastest female ascent of Everest in just 25 hours and 50 minutes, a challenge she set herself four years ago because in life “you have to aim high.”
“I have always shared with my students and my friends that if you aim high and expect high, you can achieve high,” the Hong Kong native told Efe on Sunday following her arrival in Kathmandu, after she had to delay her return to the Nepalese capital due to bad weather.
And what greater challenge than becoming the fastest woman to climb the world’s highest mountain, an ascent of 5,300 meters from the base camp to the summit.
“I’m happy,” said the climber and ultramarathon runner, who added that such an achievement “requires mental strength and teamwork and, of course, luck.”
When she was 10 years old, Ada moved from mainland China to Hong Kong, where she used to run in the mountains. It was there that her passion was born: “I love nature, I love mountains,” she said.
Ada climbed Everest a week ago in 25 hours and 50 minutes, starting the race to the summit at 1:20 p.m. on May 22 and finishing at 3:10 p.m. on May 23, Gyanendra Shrestha, the Nepalese government official who registered the feat, told Efe.
Phurba Tenzing Sherpa, who led the Dreamers Destination Treks and Expedition that accompanied Ada to the summit, explained to Efe that the first summit attempt was made on May 12, but that “due to extremely severe weather, with strong winds and knee-deep snow,” they decided to turn back when they had climbed 8,750 meters, of the total 8,848.86 meters.
The record previously belonged to Nepal’s Phujo Jhangmu Lama, who between May 15 and 17, 2018, had completed the ascent of Everest on the south face of Nepal in 39 hours and 6 minutes, according to the official Guinness World Records website.
In the men’s category, the fastest ascent was by Nepalese Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, who on May 26, 2003 reached the summit in 10 hours, 56 minutes and 46 seconds. EFE
sp-mt/ks
