Seventy-year-old Xia Boyu has made five attempts on Everest. On his first, he suffered severe frostbite and lost both feet. He was later forced to have his lower legs amputated after being diagnosed with blood cancer. Clearly not one to be put off by setbacks, he has returned to Everest 43 years after that initial tragedy to try again for the summit.
Xia Boyu’s 2016 Everest attempt fell just 200m short of the summit. Photo: CEN
For a while, it seemed that Xia Boyu lost his chance to make another attempt on the mountain: Last fall, the Nepalese government introduced controversial new regulations, prohibiting blind people, solo climbers and double amputees from scaling Everest.
Fortunately for Xia Boyu, the ban has since been revoked and he has elected to join Imagine Climb for this latest attempt. The Imagine Climb expedition includes 8 foreign clients alongside a team of 11 Sherpas, led by Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, fresh off his five 8,000m peaks in 2017.
Mingma G. Sherpa climbed K2 with Vanessa O’Brien in 2017.
Mingma Gyalje Sherpa arrived at Everest Base Camp on April 9 and the group is now acclimatizing. Half of the team completed a climb of Lobuje East on April 14. On April 20, all eight foreign clients set off from Everest Base Camp to Camp 1. They will push to Camp 2 and then Camp 3 over the next few days, before returning to Base Camp for scheduled rest.
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Mingma Gyalje Sherpa: Passion and Humility
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K2 2017 Interview with Vanessa O’Brien
