There is not a challenge on this planet too great for Zhang Hong, who became the first Asian person who is blind to scale Mount Everest on Monday.
The 46-year-old Chongqing native from southwest China, who is the third visually impaired mountaineer to complete the 8,849 metre-high Himalayan feat, described the feeling of euphoria after reaching the world’s highest summit.
“Though I’m blind, I’ve always felt I could face any challenge in my life,” Zhang said upon returning to base camp alongside mountain guide Quang Zi and native Sherpas Lhakpa Sherpa, Dawa Wongchu Sherpa and Samden Bhote.
“When I’m in the mountains, I’m in awe of nature although I still can’t see. Overcoming the death zone and the summit made me want to humbly embrace being part of mother nature.”
Zhang spent much of the journey holding on to Qiang’s arm as the pair shared an ice pick. The pair recalled the most tiresome and risky areas were the so-called “death zones”, ice-walls and icefalls at around 8,000 metres. Qiang even gave up his own oxygen tank so that Zhang could finish the final parts.
“It was scary. I thought I was ready but when I arrived in Nepal for training, Qiang told me I wasn’t,” Zhang said. “I didn’t believe him at first but I soon realised things could get dangerous once we did the ice-climbing amid a snowstorm. I cried during the first trip to base because it was much harder than I expected.
“I couldn’t believe it when I arrived [at the summit]. All these years of hard work and sacrifice paid off. It’s almost impossible to describe the feeling, but I’m glad that I showed if I can do it, anyone can face their toughest adversity.”
Zhang etched his name next to American Erik Weihenmayer and Austrian Andy Holzer, who completed the feat in 2001 and 2017, respectively, as the only three blind mountaineers to have climbed Everest.
This historic achievement comes after decades of sacrifice looking after his father and uncle, who both lost their sight in rural Chongqing. Zhang himself lost his sight aged 21 and spent much of the proceeding years working as a masseur with his wife in a hospital.
“I want to thank my family, my guides, the people at Fokind Hospital and Asian Trekking who have been extremely supportive of my journey,” said Zhang, who started training for Everest after learning of pioneer Weihenmayer’s story years ago.
After months of government- and cyclone-induced postponements, Covid-19 tests and quarantines, and exhausting summit training, he returns home with the knowledge that his own story will have likely inspired several Chinese climbers, impaired or otherwise.
Zhang now turns his attention to the “Seven Summits” – the highest peaks from the world’s continents – as his next major milestone. “This is only the beginning,” he said over the radio.
I summited Everest!
I would like to thank my family, my guides, the folks at Fokind Hospital, and @asiantrekking who have been extremely supportive of my journey.
This is only the beginning as I would like to climb the #SevenSummits #Everest2021
More pictures coming soon! pic.twitter.com/RlpFH29DoP— Blind Mountaineer Zhang Hong 张洪 (@Zhang_Hong_76) May 25, 2021
“I’m still in the middle of the Himalayas so I’m not sure what the next step is now. I need to get back to family first then keep training. I’m already 46, but this year 75-year-old [American] Arthur Bennett Muir managed to climb Everest. So I think I have some time left to climb all seven summits.”
Additional reporting by Alice Lin
