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Speeches

Dr Robert Goh
Team Leader For The Xixabangma Expedition 2002

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Introduction
The Patron of Xixabangma Expedition 2002 and Acting Minister for the Environment and Minister-of-State for Communications and Information Technology, Mr Lim Swee Say, Honorable Guests, our generous Sponsors, Ladies & Gentlemen

Whenever friends ask me about this expedition, I become very excited and tell them that we are climbing Xixabangma - how we plan to climb the world's 14th highest mountain over 8,000m high and that we are climbing it alpine style, without supplementary oxygen and without pre-built camps - they'd say: "Wow, that's great!" But I know they don't quite understand why I am so excited, or how this is different from all the other climbs I have ever done - or for that matter, from all the climbs other mountaineers from South-east Asia have ever done.

Today at last, I have the opportunity not only to tell you but also to show you why this climb is different. And how tough it is going to be.

First let me tell you a little about Mount Xixabangma.

Xixabangma is the highest mountain located entirely in Tibet. Standing at 8027m, it is the ideal mountain to attempt a first high altitude climb in alpine style.

This is the view of Xixabangma from base camp. Incidentally, the base camp at 5000m is already higher than Mont Blanc in Europe. As what they say, where the rest of the world's mountains ends, the Himalayas begins. The Route that we are going to take will follow round the back of this spur to the col and then up the ridge to the summit.

Alpine Ascent
So we come to the style of climbing - the alpine style. The term is coined for the way Europeans climbed the peaks in the Alps. These are relatively low and climbers would ascend and descend within a matter of hours. So there is no need for tents or cooking equipment or oxygen. No need for porters or external support of any sort.

Translated to the high mountains of the Himalayas, however, this style becomes far more challenging and is the frontier of high altitude mountaineering. This is because you would have to carry everything you need on your back and at extreme altitude. To climb with no external support. It is just mountaineer and the mountain. Pure and simple.

Show And Tell
Now with Edwin's help, let me show you one of the differences between climbing the conventional way and the alpine way: Edwin as you may know, is the first climber from Singapore to summit Everest.

The Conventional Way
This is what mountaineers carry when climbing the conventional way. They carry a day pack, which contains some chocolate bars, water and some warm clothings to see them through the day. Helping them with the supplies and equipment are sherpas. They will climb from camp to camp which has pre stored food, stoves, pots and pans, sleeping bags and so on where their packs weights around 10kg.

In The Alpine Method
This is what we have to carry with us. As we are not relying on pre built camps, we have to carry everything on our backs as we climb. The weight is 35kg compared to 10kg for a conventional pack. It's so heavy you have to sit down and get someone to help you mount the sack. (Leong helps Edwin with the sack, walk a few steps, and remove it.). You are invited to come up later to test the weight. You can also see what's inside in our display over there (Show the displayed contents). The Alpine style of climbing above 8,000m is the way to go for the world's top mountaineers, and our team strongly believes that mountaineering in Singapore has reached a high enough standard for us to attempt it. And Xixabangma at 8027m is a good mountain for making a start.

Training
How, you may well ask, does one train for this. The highest in Singapore is Bukit Timah Hill where the air is no different from sea level.

Thus we train for aerobic fitness by doing long-distance running with the help of a heart-rate monitor.

For strength training, we go to the gym to train with weights. We also do stair-climbing with a heavy rucksack in highrise blocks and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The weight of the rucksack is increased progressively from 15kg to the target weight of 35kg - which is the weight of our rucksacks during our expedition.

The Training Climb
For altitude training, we plan to go to Nepal in October where we hope to do a 6,500m mountain, no where near the height of Xixabangma but this is high enough to give us an idea whether our training in Singapore is on track. So when we return we can adjust the training schedule accordingly.

As good fitness is essential to the expedition, we have already begun training and all of us train at least 4 times a week on top of our full time jobs.

Share Experience With The Make It Real! Programme
All this is already a heavy burden in preparation and training. You may well ask why we have taken on the additional responsibility in the Make In Real! Programme.

Let me draw an analogy between climbing and how a community should progress.

When climbing in a team, the ones on top - usually the better climbers - would always let the ropes down to those below to help them get up. That's how the less experienced climbers learn the skills and later become leaders.

That's what we are doing with the Make It Real! Programme. Helping the next generation of climbers to find their footing and become tomorrow's mountaineering leaders.

I also believe this is the way a community should help itself.

Mountaineering As A Sport
A key question asked by many is why mountaineering? Mountaineering is a multi-disciplinary sport that develops many skills such as leadership, planning, management, financial budgeting, training, public relations, fund raising, pushing standards, taking risks, knowledge and skills sharing, teamwork, developing budding climbers, striving towards excellence and finally climbing the mountain. In many ways, mountaineering draws parallels with different facets of the community that we lived in and teaches us discipline, sensitivity and humility that form some of the core attributes of leaders across a varied field. I sincerely hope mountaineering will be a common sport and be appreciated and enjoyed by a wider pool of people in land scarce Singapore."

That's my presentation. Do come and take a look at our display during the refreshment break and ask us any questions you may have.

It leaves me now to say how grateful we are to our sponsors. Without them, there can be no expedition:

• Our Patron, Acting Minister for the Environment and Minister-of-State for Communications and Information Technology, Mr Lim Swee Say, for his great support and enthusiasm
  
  
• The senior officials of Ministry of the Environment, Mr Khoo Seow Poh and his team for their support,
  
  
• Our Summit Sponsor, Singapore Pools, which has been very supportive of our efforts.
  
  
• Our Individual Sponsors, National Youth Council and Singapore Sports Council, who were the first ones on board;
  
  
• National University of Singapore for supporting the "Make It Real!" programme
  
  
• And all our Sponsors in kind who donated equipment and services which are crucial to the expedition - National Computer Systems, Siemens Showa Solar Panels, NERA Telecommunication, Safra, Zen Vision (Oakley products) and Weber Shandwick Worldwide, Singapore.
  

Moving forward, my team and I are appealing to all corporations in Singapore to come forward and give their support to Xixabangma Expedition 2002. The whole expedition is expected to cost S$685,000. We have raised over S$220,000 cash to date and hope that more corporations can help us meet the target. Please email us at xixa@xixa.com.sg for further details. With the support of the media and corporations, we can help make a Singaporean dream a reality for the nation, for the students and for the community.

Thank you.