Hong Kong climber urges respect for environment and humility when scaling world’s highest peaks, instead of going for glory
- In light of Everest deaths, Wong Wai-kin, who scaled the nearby Mount Lhotse, warns the ill-equipped and unprepared to think twice before endangering not only their lives, but those of others
At 7.45am on May 21 in Nepal, Wong Wai-kin reaches the peak of Mount Lhotse and breathes a huge sigh of relief.
The feat on the fourth-highest mountain in the world is one he would never forget, not least for surviving a scare on the way up.
Just shy of the 8,516-metre summit earlier, his oxygen bottle failed him. His warm breath got trapped in the filter and became frozen. But he improvised by removing the mask when exhaling and putting it back on when inhaling.
When he is not scaling new heights on the world’s most treacherous peaks, Wong, 47, who is married with a six-year-old son, works as a sports training consultant in Hong Kong.
Other mountains he has climbed include Mount McKinley, or Denali, the highest peak in North America, and Mont Blanc, the highest in the Alps.
As someone with a keen interest in the environment and climate change, Wong, who is among the first from Hong Kong to conquer Mount Lhotse, has also been a volunteer with Greenpeace since 2003.