Editorial | Everest feat serves as an inspiration to all
- A Hong Kong climber is believed to have made the fastest ascent of the world’s highest peak by a woman and given the city reason to look beyond the gloom of the Covid-19 pandemic
Ada Tsang Yin-hung won accolades four years ago when she became the first Hong Kong woman to scale the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest. She now has risen to even greater acclaim with what is believed to be the fastest ever ascent to the summit by a female climber.
Her time of 25 hours and 50 minutes, if verified, would beat the previous record by more than 13 hours. Inspiring feats of determination and success are exactly what we need as we look for a way beyond the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions that have changed lives so much over the past 18 months.
The coronavirus was surely on Tsang’s mind as she trained for and set out on her ascent. Nepal is battling its worst spike in cases and two teams among the scores given permits this climbing season have already cancelled expeditions due to outbreaks among members.
She was also only too aware of the risk of altitude sickness and avalanches on the mountain, which is 8,848.86 metres (29,031.69 feet) high.
Her first two attempts to scale Everest in 2014 and 2015 were defeated by rock and ice falls that each time killed more than a dozen fellow climbers; in the second, she suffered a fractured skull.