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Send-off at Changi for 3 off to scale Tibet's highest peak.
The Straits Times - 18 March 2002
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Team to attempt to climb Mount Xixabangma with no conventional aids, though only $400,000 of $685,000 needed is raised so far.

FRIENDS, family and well-wishers gathered at Changi Airport early yesterday morning to wish three intrepid mountaineers good luck as they flew off on their expedition to conquer Tibet's highest peak.

They will climb Mount Xixabangma Alpine-style, with no conventional aids such as extra oxygen, Sherpa porters, pre-built tents or pre-laid ropes.

'It's pretty audacious,' said expedition leader Robert Goh, 36, an aeronautical engineer.

'Fewer than 1 per cent of all climbs are done this way,' he told The Straits Times on Friday night.

Others who are climbing include Dr Mok Ying Jang, 34, deputy expedition leader and general practitioner, and Outward Bound Singapore trainer Edwin Siew, 32.

The three climbers will be accompanied by base-camp manager Lulin Reutens, 55.

After landing in Nepal, the team will trek overland to Tibet with 35-kg backpacks strapped to them.

The long route will give them the necessary time to get used to the thin air and gruelling terrain, before attempting to scale Mount Xixabangma at 8,027 m.

At 8,000 m, the team enters the death zone - so called because nothing can live at that altitude.

This au naturel style is not without its risks. Without porters and pre-set base camps, the team has to carry all its food and equipment in the backpacks.

But even as the team prepared for its walk in the clouds, Dr Goh's mind was still on a very down-to-earth problem: How to raise the $685,000 needed for the expedition. So far, they have raised about $400,000.

A Straits Times story last Tuesday about the team's financial needs spurred NTUC Income to give $15,000 so that nine university students could join the main team at the Xixabangma camp in May.

Said Dr Goh: 'We are trying to help this next generation of climbers grow with the sport and experience their first big peak.

'We are very thankful to NTUC Income, Singapore Pools, Singapore Power and the list goes on...Their sponsorships go a long way to help us conquer this peak.'

The team is still hoping to raise the money to pay for air-time if they need to communicate via satellite from the mountain and to hold an exhibition and produce a book when they return home.