Hong Kong teacher Ada Tsang aims to conquer both Everest and Lhotse in double Himalayan feat
Thwarted by tragic avalanche last year, Ada Tsang now hopes to become city's first woman to climb Mount Everest - before scaling Lhotse
A schoolteacher who failed to conquer the world's highest peak last year due to a deadly avalanche will set out again to tackle Mount Everest in April.
But this time Ada Tsang Yin-hung is eyeing an even bigger prize: to reach the top of the highest and the fourth-highest mountains within 30 hours.
If Tsang succeeds in her challenge, she will become the first Hong Kong woman to conquer the 8,848-metre Everest. If she scales the 8,516-metre Lhotse mountain, she will also be the first Chinese mountaineer to achieve the feat.
"Climbing Mount Everest is my goal," says Tsang, a life education teacher at CUHKFAA Chan Chun Ha Secondary School in Ma On Shan. "I told my students about this goal last year and I want to show them that when you decide to do something, you need to be responsible for your decision."
Tsang was forced to abort her trek last year after an avalanche near the Everest base camp - at an altitude of 5,364 metres - killed 16 Nepalese Sherpa guides in April. She was already in Nepal when the tragedy happened, and she returned to Hong Kong after Sherpas suspended all mountain expeditions.
The avalanche was triggered by a large block of ice breaking off the hanging glaciers. Tsang says there is still a crack on the remaining glaciers, making it possible that another block of ice could fall off.