Chinese college mountaineering team reaches peak of South Pole

World Today

Members of the mountaineering team of China university of Geosciences (CUG) reached the peak of South Pole. (Reuters)

A Chinese college mountaineering team ascended the peak of the South Pole on Dec. 25, 2016.

All the team members were said to be in good conditions and they extended from the South Pole their best wishes for the new year to all the Chinese people.

The 6-member team, from the Chinese University of Geosciences, ascended the highest mountain of the South Pole, thus completing their feat of “seven plus two”, meaning highest mountains on the seven continents and the south and north poles.

It took them only four years for the amateur them made up of students and teachers to complete the feat, a world record as such.

The mountains they have conquered include the Qomulangma Peak (known as Mount Everest in the west) in China, Mount Elbrus in Europe, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Kosciuszko in Australia, Mount Aconcagua in South America, Mount McKinley in North America and Mount Vinson in Antarctic.

After returning to their university in the city of Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, the team members recalled the hardships they experienced in scaling Mount Vinson in South Pole.

“Once wind arose, it blew we three that were tied to the same rope off our feet, jumping left and right as if dancing,” said He Pengfei, member of the CUG mountaineering team.

The extreme cold caused the facial mask to form a thick layer of ice on it. A slight removal of the mask would get frostbitten.

“I just pulled down the mask to reveal my nose for about ten minutes of free breathing, my face was frostbitten on both sides,” said He.

Story by Reuters