At 1.35pm Singapore time, (11.20am Nepalese time), the Singapore Xixabangma team summitted the mountain after ascending in alpine style! Robert Goh and Edwin Siew reached the Central Summit which is the normal summit when climbing the north-east (Chinese) route.

This makes them the first South-east Asian team to summit an 8000er in alpine stye. They are also the only team this season to climb Xixabangma in this manner.

Said team leader Robert: "We are absolutely over the moon! But we know we could not have done it without the support of our patron, Minister Lim Swee Say, our sponsors and our families and friends.

"You may think it is a cliche to say this, but believe me, sponsorship and moral support play a big part in our motivation."

Our guys reached 6800m last night after a 7-hour climb. They were moving faster than the previous day, which is a good sign. We couldn't talk to them this morning because the walkie talkie connection was bad as they were on the other side of the ridge. But from last night's conversation, they are likely to move from 6800m to about 7300m today.

This will be a most gruelling climb which will take them up a 70-degree ice slope. With the 35-kg weighing them down, this will be one of the toughest stretches of their climb.

Meanwhile, four Make-It-Real students have arrived at Advanced base Camo, together with their instructor. This is the first time they are experiencing not only such a high altitude, but also base camp life.They are here for four days, meeting climbers from the other camps, learning about cooperation among the different camps and the communication needs, and generally what makes a base camp tick. Another four students are now on their way to climb a modest mountain in Nepal.

We are a little concerned here because this morning, the mountain is shrouded in thick clouds. In a walkie talkie call, the guys reported very low visibility and it's very cold.

The only consolation is that Met Services of Singapore has reported low wind speeds up till Friday. This is good news because that means, if necessary, they can afford to delay their summit assault by a day

4 May 2002, Saturday
After a week and a half of strong winds and heavy snowfall, the weather improved sufficiently for the team to resume their acclimatisation. They left at 6am to take advantage of the warm sun and light winds in the morning before the stronger winds start blowing in the afteernoon.

MOK AND ROBERT FALL INTO CREVASSES
While descending from the mountain on 22 April, the visibility was very poor. The climbers were roped up when crossing a particularly treacherous section where there were many hidden crevasses covered by snow.

Suddenly Robert saw Mok disappear into the ground with only his head and arms sticking out. Robert immediately dropped to the ground and anchored himself with his ice axe so the rope between him and Mok would prevent him from falling right in. Mok looked down and was shocked to find himself in a bottomless crevasse. It was so huge he could not find a foothold. He quickly recovered from a state of near panic and plunged the ice axe he was holding in one hand into the surface ice and managed to roll himself out of the gaping hole.

Just minutes after they resumed their descend. Robert felt the ground fall away from under him. "It was really scary," he recalled. "If we weren't roped together, it would have been almost impossible to rescue one of us from a bottomless crevasse." He yelled out for Edwin who couldn't see him but instinctively anchored himself to the ground to tighten the rope that was tied to Robert. Robert whacked his ice axe as far beyond the edge of the crevasse as he could and rolled himself clear.

The trio quickly recovered from the ordeal and continued down the mountain in extremely low visibility and whiteout conditions.

16 - 22 April 2002, Tuesday
The three climbers left today to start the 10 to 15-day acclimatisation climb. They will be climbing up and down Xixabangma, staying in tents at progressively higher altitudes to help them adjust. This acclimatisation process is the most important part of the preparation for the alpine ascent.

The scheduled acclimatisation was unfortunately affected by bad weather. High winds and heavy snow prevented them from moving to higher altitudes and the team had to cut short their plans.

15 April 2002, Monday
An elaborate ceremony was conducted on Monday April 15 in the early morning to please the mountain gods. This is important before the mountaineers can begin their climb. An altar was built with rocks, and offerings of drinks and food were placed on it. Prayers were chanted as the team members sat behind, taking part in the ceremony. Edwin, a Bhuddist, also offered some of his gear to be blessed.

The hour-long ceremony ended with everyone's faces smeared with flour for good luck.

The Singapore Xixabangma Team after
the puja ceremony. Each of their faces
was smeared with flour for good luck.

11 April 2002, Thursday
The group finally arrived at ABC on April 11. The camp is nestled in a valley with a magnificent view of Mount Xixabangma at one end. At 5.800m, the nights are colder although the sun was out most mornings. The first few days were spend sorting our gear for the acclimatisation climbs. Life is basic at ABC with each team member assigned a tent which is home for the next couple fo months Meals are taken in a huge dome-shaped tent -- mostly dahl and rice, vegetable stew and sometimes a little meat.

8 April 2002, Monday
The good weather didn't last. On April 8, the day the team left BC for the two-day trek to ABC, there were high winds and cloudy skies. By the time they approached the intermediate camp, it was snowing heavily. The camp was blanketed in thick snow the next morning. The yaks which had been carting much of the load were having difficulty walking in the deep snow. The entire group had to stay put for 3 nights instead of the original one. The unexpected delay had a positive side -- it gave the team more time to acclimatise to the altitude, which is crucial in their preparation for their alpine ascent.