Hong Kong mountaineer, 67, on climate change, the moment he conquered Everest, and his next adventure
- Chung Kin-man looked down at Hong Kong from the top of Lion Rock aged 10 and was hooked. He’s been a mountaineer all his life, but still craves adventure
- He talks about never taking unnecessary risks, the tragedy of climate change, and his goal of climbing one or more 8,000-metre peaks in the Karakoram Range
At an age when most people’s ambitions stretch little further than going out to eat and spending time with friends and family, 67-year-old Chung Kin-man is making plans to scale one or more 8,000-metre peaks in the rugged Karakoram mountain range in Central Asia.
Chung – one of Hong Kong’s most committed adventurers – has a high achiever’s CV. He has climbed the world’s highest mountain and reached the North and South poles, and risked his life on several occasions. Yet he remains modest and unassuming.
“Almost throughout my life, I’ve achieved what I set out to do, and I’m very content – you can’t ask more than that,” says Chung, who lives with his wife, Ann Chan, in a village house in Sai Kung, in Hong Kong’s New Territories.
He had an epiphany when he was just 10 years old, on a hike up Lion Rock, a distinctively shaped peak on the Hong Kong skyline north of Kowloon. He lived down below in Diamond Hill, and had been intrigued by the sight of climbers heading into the hills. Once he went hiking above Kowloon himself, his grasp of the beauty and mystery of high places was instant and all-absorbing.
Chung took up climbing, but soon became frustrated by the lack of challenging ascents in Hong Kong. He read books on mountaineering in the nearby public library, and was drawn to their illustrations.
“I moved to Brussels to study graphic design – but I admit Europe and its mountains had captivated me, and Belgium was only a train ride away from the Alps,” says Chung, who still speaks French fluently.