원정 개요

Nima Tshering of the CTMA was the leader of combined Chinese and Mongolian expeditions:

2006 China Afterhours Expedition to Qomolungma
First Mongolian Women's Expedition (Mongol Altai Mountaineering Club)

They climbed together and shared camps and Tibetan staff.


So Near, Yet So Far - 2006-05-18 Mongol Messenger

To climb a mountain is a glorious achievement; to come close and have to turn back is a bitter one. A Mongolian women's team last week came extremely close to scaling Mt. Everest and stand higher than anyone else in the world - but had to turn back within sight of their goal. Erdene-Togtokh is a smallish Mongolian woman with a charming smile. Everest is a towering giant with a grim face, the highest mountain in the world; they would seem to have little in common. But they have been in intimate contact, because Erdene-Togtokh is one of Mongolia's best mountaineers, man or woman, given the title Master of Sport. She spent most of September in Tibet with three others in a Mongolian women's team, training for the Everest ascent by climbing up and down the 7117m My Tangla mountain - several times. Back from Tibet, they went to Russia to practice on more mountains.

The team was led by B. Gangaamaa and included Ch. Terbish and P. Sarantuya. All members, aged 31-38, have each been climbing for over 15 years. Erdene-Togtokh comes from Dalanzadgad, in the south Gobi, where the local people are better known as cameleers than as Sherpas. Sponsored by Ivanhoe Mines, she was hoping to have her photo taken standing where Tiger Tensing Norgay and Edmund Hillary were the first to pose for a photo, over 50 years ago, on top of the world. Last year the first-ever Mongolian conquest of Everest was achieved by a male team. One of the successful climbers, G. Osokhbayar, was there to advise and help the women. Three of the women started the last stage at 8:30 am May 15, leaving Sarantuya at the last camp. Frustratingly, the team was forced to turn back at various stages. Gangaamaa reached 6400m, Terbish made it to 7900m and only 148m from the top, Erdene-Togtokh was forced to turn back suffering from snow blindness. Osokhbayar went on with a Sherpa and reached the top for his second time at noon Mongolian time (09:45 NST). S. Zaya said, "Our team left Lhasa, at 3250 metres, and went up to 6200 metres to acclimatize on March 29-30." "They were all fit and psychologically prepared. The team was the third generation of Mongolian mountaineers. However, this was their first attempt on Everest." The team has now started back down the mountain and are expected home in about two weeks.