Woman who first scaled Qomolangma remembered

[Photo/China Daily]

Alpinist Phentog, the first Chinese woman to ascend to the peak of Mount Qomolangma (known in the West as Mount Everest), died of complications from diabetes in a local hospital in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on Monday.

Phentog, born in 1939 in Gyamda county in the Tibet autonomous region, reached the summit of Qomolangma (8,848 meters above sea level) from the north slope at 2:30 pm on May 27, 1975, accompanied by eight men, becoming the first woman in the world to top the summit via the challenging north route.

Brought up in a serf family, Phentog started her mountaineering career in January 1959 after she was picked by the China Female Mountaineering Expedition because of her outstanding physical condition while working at Lhasa's Qiyi Farm.

On July 7, 1959, Phentog built her reputation by successfully climbing up the 7,546-meter Mount Muztagata in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Her ascent broke the then world female climbing height record of 7,456 meters, held by a French female mountaineer.

Phentog graduated from the Minzu University of China in 1965 before being elected the deputy captain of China Mountaineering Expedition in 1974.

In 1975, when the Qomolangma-climbing plan was initiated, Phentog was 36, and the mother of three children, but she trained hard to pass all the required physical tests calling upon her extraordinary mental toughness and was elected the team's deputy commander.

Beginning the expedition on May 17, 1975, the team had to replace two female and seven male climbers, who began suffering from serious altitude sickness, after reaching the base camp at 8,300 meters. Phentog was the last remaining woman and started her final climb on May 26.

She eventually made it to the peak and became known as the "tallest woman in the world".

After retiring from the national team, Phentog followed her husband Deng Jiashan to his native city of Wuxi and worked as the deputy director of the Wuxi Sports Commission.

Phentog started to focus on youth development in her new position and inspired more female mountaineers to challenge themselves.

Phentog attended the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as one of the eight bearers of the Olympic flag. She was also honored in 2009 as one of the 60 most influential Chinese athletes since 1949.

The Chinese mountaineering world mourned Phentog's passing.

Wang Yongfeng, current captain of Chinese National Mountaineering Team, says Phentog was the role model for all Chinese mountain climbers. "She fully invested herself in mountaineering in China and made a great contribution to educating the younger generation with her rich experience and humble manner," Wang says.

Nyima Tsering, head of the Tibet Mountaineering Team and president of the Tibet Mountaineering School, says Phentog's death was a big loss to the world mountaineering community. "She should be remembered by the entire mountain-climbing world," he says.