More Than A Mountain

Posted on November 11, 2013 by joannesclimb

After returning from climbing Mt Everest in 2009, my team and I were busy catching up with our personal lives. Jane, our team leader, went on to complete the Seven Summits quest and MBA programme; Esther got married and is now a mum of a 18 months old baby girl – Grace; Lihui also got married and gotten her motorbike license, Yihui took up another challenge by walking a 1000 miles across the Gobi-Desert, scaled Denali (one of the Seven Summits), Peh Gee has been busy with her career and have settled into her new home – a landed property. As for me, I had put my career dreams on hold, and now I am happy to own a travel business, climbed Ama Dablam which I long to do so way before my Everest dream.

Perhaps our busy schedule was the main reason why our book took 4 years to realise, almost as long as the time we took to prepare to climb Mt. Everest.

Titled as “More Than A Mountain”, it captures the stories of our 5-years Everest journey. We wrote true and bold stories about what went on before and during the climb. If you would like to grab a copy of our book, you can make purchases at our team website. Books bought in the month of November will be autographed by the team. Each book is priced at S$27.

The book was officially launched on Sun, 10 November 2013 at the POD, National Library Board. Our team patron, Dr Vivian Balakrisnan, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, was the Guest of Honor.

This was taken on the eve of our book launch, the books were fresh from the “oven”. (09 Nov 2013)

We were really amazed that we could feel the book in our hands. (09 Nov 2013)

The team received Dr Vivian Balakrishnan at the POD, NLB (10 Nov 2013)

Our very charismatic patron, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, gave a short speech to our guests. Dr Vivian has been with us since the team was formed in 2004. He was very supportive of us (I believe he still is) and gave us much encouragement when we met with sponsorship disappointment.

We really felt like we were celebrities at the book autograph session.

We really felt like we were celebrities (though we are really far from it) at the book autograph session.

Friends came forward to help us out for one more time.

Over the years, friends are the one who helped us made things happened. The book launch was the same.

My climbing mates of Ama Dablam came to support our book launch.

Hong Kong Trail Walker Team (2013) will be leaving for Hong Kong on 14 Nov. Nice to prepare ourselves for more photo taking together 😀

This photo has achieved more than 250 “Likes” on my Facebook post when I announced the launch of our book. Jaeden is definitely the real celebrity here.

The Stok Kangri team (Aug 2013) came to support our book launch too.

There were so many friends who came to support, but I just didn’t have much time to catch up or to take a photo with. Here are a few who came:

Wenn joined our SWET EBC trek and was at the base camp to support us during our climb. She also joined me for Island Peak climb in the autumn of 2011. Most hard-working supporter LOL

June has been very helpful in our planning. She got her school (Ngee Ann Poly) to agree to let us store our bulky logistic items before we sent them off to Kathmandu. She also helped us out at our Aspiring Mountaineers Programme, and part of the volunteer team to organise our send-off at the airport. As a personal friend, she made a video that comprises all the well wishes from my family and friends, it was sent to the base camp via the EBC support trekkers, it was meant for me to view it when I get bored. But it sent tears to me instead. A resourceful supporter haha 🙂

Juansa and Dean got married on the day I flew out to Kathmandu to climb (21 March 2009). I missed their wedding, and they could not see me off at the airport too. Now, they took time to attend our book launch with their children. Most enthusiastic supporters

I am really thankful to my friends who not only came to support, but also continue to volunteer their time to ensure our launch was seamless. These lovely friends are Jack Chen, Pazel Chen, Vinnie Tan, Karen Go, Joyce Low, Carmen Lee, Cherly Lim, Chin KK, Clarence Yap, and Catherine Siew.

Here is a preview page of my chapter.

Penning our thoughts was just one part of the process in getting this book out. Putting it together – 6 members’ chapters into one, getting the right illustrator to design our book, agreeing to the photo on the book cover, choosing the photos for the chapters, and many more; it felt like climbing another Everest. We are glad that we are able to share our story with more people now.

I had spent many hours writing my story, but a hard disk clashed sent all my writing to no-where-to-be-found. I had to re-write everything, but definitely not able to re-write all that I had written earlier. A friend gave me an idea to write another book to document my experiences! I could not imagine doing it without my teammates, so I shall put the idea on hold – indefinitely.

Island Peak turned Extreme Cold

Posted on November 1, 2013 by joannesclimb

It was supposed to be an autumn climb, but it turned out to be more like a climb in the winter. The weather was good when we started our trek from Lukla to Thengboche.

Everest view point near Namche

Clear day at Thengboche (3860m a.s.l.)

When the cyclone hit the Bay of Bengal which affected the eastern parts of Nepal, we had arrived at Pheriche (4200m a.s.l). According to the reports from The Himalayan Times , ” It rained at some places in the eastern Nepal, and the Kathmandu Valley also witnessed a drizzle this morning and afternoon.” The lower lands experienced long hours of rain, while at the Everest region, we experienced two full days of snow that painted the villages white. It was like a dream winter-land overnight and, Christmas arrived earlier than expected!

Pheriche on 14th Oct 2013, after more than 12 hours of snow fall.

Team posed outside the Himalayan Rescue Association and the Everest Memorial Monument at Pheriche (4200m a.s.l)

The journey after Pheriche was tougher than my previous climb. It was colder, and the trail was covered with icy snow that made every steps heavier on the legs. Our team wore the double boots to trek from Dingboche to the base camp.

The trail in Chhukung leading to Island Peak base camp

Trekking to the base camp

When I saw the snow field near Chhukkung, my heart sank. I had suspected that the summit climb could be impossible to even attempt. That night, a team that went ahead of us to the base camp had turned back to Chhukung, in view of that, we stayed at Chhukung for another night. When we eventually made our way to the base camp, we also met many disappointed climbers moving out of the base camp, most had barely gone beyond the high camp on their summit attempt.

Nevertheless, we made use of our rest day at the base camp to practice some rope works like abseiling and handling the ascenders.

Abseil practice at the base camp (5007m a.s.l.)

The base camp that filled with knee-deep snow, some of the tents were still buried in it.

The mood at the base camp was gloomy; we saw teams leaving with heavy hearts, and new teams arriving with much less hope. We certainly felt the depressing atmosphere, however, we still prepared ourselves for the not-so-hopeful summit attempt.

We left the base camp at 2.30am, aiming to get as far as we could.

The air was still, but it got colder as we moved away from the base camp. It was in fact a perfect morning for a summit climb. As we climbed towards the high camp, we noted that the teams ahead of us were not progressing any further. At this point, my hands were freezing cold; I had to change to my down mittens. I decided to turn around as I felt excruciating pain on my chest earlier, and as I ascent, the pain became more apparent and unbearable. So, I turned around while the rest proceed. After 30mins or so after I made my descent, our team also decided to return to the base camp as the teams ahead were making no progress. Our climbing guides eventually brought news to us that a team had arrived at the “crampon point’ but could not establish a decent trail up the glacier.

We gathered back at the base camp at 6am, after some rest and food, we made our way back to Dingboche. For me, it was a relieve to be able to descend soonest as I had feared that my chest pain would deteriorate if I stay any longer at that elevation.

Base camp at dawn after returning from the high camp

A group shot at the base camp before descent to Dingboche.

A group shot at the base camp before descending to Dingboche.

As we left Pangboche, the snow trail were melting and it brought out a majestic Ama Dablam in the background.

As we left Pangboche, the snow on the trail were melting and it brought out a majestic Ama Dablam in the background.

We stopped at Khumjung and Namche, then to Lukla to catch our flight back to Kathmandu. Though we did not get close to the summit, the trek had given my team the opportunity to practice snow walking with crampon and abseil on snow slopes, and to experience the extreme weather patterns in the Himalayas. There will always be another climb, because the mountain is always there.

View of Khumjung and Kunde

Khumjung Gompa

The newly wed couple jumping for joy!

NAMASTE.

Trek with Joanne to Everest Base Camp

Posted on January 12, 2013 by joannesclimb

View of Mt Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam enroute to Everest Base Camp

2013 marks the 60th anniversary of the first ascent on Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary. It was a momentous event in history when they took their triumphant steps onto the top of the world on the 29th May 1953. Since then many climbers have followed in their footsteps, including climbers from Singapore – a little red dot on the world map with no mountainous landscape.

Four years ago, together with a team of Singaporean women, I followed the path of many aspiring mountaineers to scale Mount Everest. The life at the base camp is still very vivid to me. At the base camp, we could hear the ice tumbling down to the glacier floor, and the noise of avalanches was blasted out like a home surround sound system. It was scary yet the environment emitted a surreal sensation that everything was under control. The glacier moved little by little, change was constant. The sleeping tent that I slept in was sinking into the shape of my back. I had to adjust my tent to avoid sleeping on hollows. Despite all these, Everest Base Camp remained to be an attractive place. The camp was filled with the voice of prayers, sherpas’ chirpy chats, and best of all, a common goal that all individuals shared – the summit, and a safe return.

I climbed up an ice wall to have a broader view of the Everest Base Camp

To commemorate the 60^th Anniversary of the memorable moment of the 1^st ascent of Mt Everest, I am reaching out to you to form a team with me to embark on a 20 days expedition to the Everest Base Camp (EBC). This expedition hopes to expand the story about ordinary people achieving extraordinary results by tracing the footsteps of the Everest climbers to the Base Camp.

The 20 days expedition will also give the team a rare chance to spend a night at the Everest Base Camp (approx 5300m a.s.l.) to experience life at the Base Camp where every Everest ascent expedition teams stay for 4 – 8 weeks to acclimatize to the altitude and prepare for their summit attempts.

Expedition Dates: Sun, 7 April to Fri, 26 April 2013

Everest Base Camp trek is one of the best adventure trekking destinations in Nepal. The experience on the trek is everything an adventure traveler could asked for. The breath taking views of the snow-capped mountain ranges are simply undeniably attractive, and the experience of the daily routine of high altitude living offers individual an opportunity to discover the inner strength hidden within. The unique one night stay at the Everest base camp will allow us to witness the life of an Everest climber, the support crew, and the climbing sherpas – the unsung heros of the world’s tallest mountain. We are expecting to arrive at the base camp on the 18th of April, it is exactly at the hype of Everest expeditions acclimatization phase . You get to witness climbers leaving the camp for their acclimatization climbs (or we called it the rotation climbs), and some would have returned to the camp to rest. By the early month of May, almost all climbers will be getting ready for the summit push. Guess what, this will also be the first time for me to return to the base camp after having spent a good 6 weeks of my Everest expedition there 4 years ago.

Brief Itinerary

Day	Dates	Location
1	Sun, 7 Apr	Singapore – Kathmandu
2	Mon, 8 Apr	Kathmandu
3-11	Tue, 9 Apr – Wed, 17 Apr	Trekking starts from Lukla
12	Thu, 18 Apr	Arrive at EBC
13-17	Fri, 19 Apr – Tue, 23 April	Leave EBC, return trek to Lukla
18	Wed, 24 Apr	Contingency day
19	Thu, 25 Apr	Kathmandu
20	Fri, 26 Apr	Kathmandu – Singapore

The expedition is also supported by some of the original local Nepalese crew of the Singapore Women’s Everest Team

The base camp came alive with the puja (prayers) ceremony. Climbers also brought out climbing gear for blessings.

Contact me at joannesclimb@gmail.com for details of the trek. Or, simply leave a message here.

Naya Kanga Next

Posted on August 13, 2012 by joannesclimb

I have made an attempt on Naya Kanga in December 2008, I didn’t reach the summit. I was just 200m below the peak, about 2hrs away. The main reason was we didn’t have sufficient rope to get up. I was confident to climb without rope, but I wasn’t confident that my climbing mates would be as competent without rope. So, I made the call to abort the climb. I didn’t want to summit by myself, as I fear that if I proceed, I would insinuate the rest to push on. I believe I made the right call. The mountain is always there. So, I am planning for a repeat climb. I hope to close up 2012 with a climb in Nepal, and Naya Kanga came to my mind.

Naya Kanga from Kyangjin Ri

Naya Kanga, also known as Ganjala Chuli, is situated in the region of Langtang, a beautiful remote valley north of Kathmandu, bordering Tibet . To get to the closest village to start our trek, we will need to take a bus ride from Kathmandu to Sybrus Bensi. The bus ride should take about 8hrs. In the same region, there is a popular lake called Gosainkund Lake. We will need about 18-20days to climb Naya Kanga (5,844m), and to include Gosainkund Lake, we will need another 3-4days.

Looking into the mountain range of Tibet, and Kyanjin Ri from the North-East ridge of Naya Kanga

The point on the North-East ridge where I had to turn around. Just about 2hrs away from the summit.

I am planning to climb it in December 2012, more like a winter ascend. Got to start my planning soon. Now I have a goal. Climb On! =)

Joanne's climb

Tales of a Mountain Tortoise

Tag Archives: Nepal

More Than A Mountain

Island Peak turned Extreme Cold

Trek with Joanne to Everest Base Camp

Naya Kanga Next