As usual, the guides were there early to set up the rope for us. This time, we had the opportunity to try lead climbing.

At the top of the waterfall, the village where we spent the last 4 nights looked tiny. If you notice, the roofs are square in shape. It seldom rain in Rilong, and they follow closely the Tibetan style of architecture.

We were also able to see and admire the beauty around the region. There’s this Five Colors Mountain, which consist of various types of rocks and minerals, oxidized, exposed, etc. And that is how the mountain got it’s name, and also the name of our lodge.

Towards the end of the day, our instructor Kim Boo challenged us to a speed ice climbing contest. We had to scale the frozen waterfall and reach the anchor in the shortest time possible. We managed to climb up in about 1-2 minute, the fastest was about 51 seconds. And when it was Kim Boon’s turn after much persuasion, he did it in about 20 seconds! That was the difference between the master and the students.  Look at the size of the waterfall compared to a human.

One interesting thing that we encountered in the mountain is the ability to adapt to any surrounding, especially when nature calls. Some facilities may not be accessible, there may not be any running water (like the frozen water pipes in the village). So we have gotta prepared to use any available means to get the things done, in this case a public toilet. The makeshift toilet seemed wobbly, any mis-step will send you plunging down the slope. Of course, what is great is the wonderful view. Can’t find it elsewhere.

This wraps up our last day of ice climbing.

It has been almost 18 months since my trip. And a year since I last blogged. A little rusty in my writing. I just managed to revive back the blog after several hacks. Been a tiring process to import everything again. Hopefully things will be peaceful for a while. I will also start documenting down my various trips over the last few years. Thought that it might be useful to share with others. Till then.

As we moved to a new climbing location, we were treated to an equally astonishing view of the Shuanqiao Valley. The clear blue sky and the snow covered mountaintop.

We hiked up to the frozen waterfall and soon after, began our ice-climbing again. This time we were more knowledgeable and able to scale the waterfall better, and faster too. More confidence in using ice-axes and crampons.

This was our former MIR Chairman working his way up the steep wall. At each time, only three climbers allowed since there were only three ropes available. Each track was different so we took turns to try out all three.

The height of each climb was about 15-20 meters up the wall. The climbers looked so small compared to the size of the waterfall. Can’t imagine how this place would look like in spring/summer.

This is the view of the valley from where the climbers are. You could see the where the water would flow down.

And to take this shot, I had to properly secure myself first before I brought out my camera. There were three anchor points securing the rope and a karabiner to my safety harness. The ice axes were also placed properly on the anchors. Even my camera bag was secured to my safety harness and my camera secured to my bag.

A self portrait shot before I made the descent.

This was the group photo of our instructor and his team of local guides who helped to set up the rope. They were very nice and amazing bunch of people!

After a long day, we went back to the village to get ready for dinner. Opposite our lodge, we could see someone scaling the waterfall. The magnificient size of the waterfall from afar compared to the size of a man made us appreciated our climbs even more.

A smile on the face after a good climb! Smile and the whole world smiles with you. Peace.

I found that the lodge was slightly better than expected. We actually had proper beds, with heat blanket. No other form of heater in lodge except for the fire stove in the cook house. The toilet was minimal, with no running tap water. So we had to rely on alcohol disinfectants. We didn’t have to flush either, because the water was channeled from the river so it flushes continuously 24/7. That would mean that it was also the start of our shower-free week!

It was really very cold. Temperature was about -8 to -10 C every morning and only rose to slightly above freezing temperature when the sun is at its peak. Man, it was really freaking cold!

Anything that you leave outside overnight will freeze the following day. Even the water dripping from the mop. Things won’t get dry, it’ll just freeze. Oh, if you want to eat ice cream, you’ll just bring it out from the fridge. And if you want to drink water, you better leave it in the fridge!

A typical breakfast at the lodge. Anything that’s hot is good, in this case, the plain porridge!

We left our lodge at about 10am for our first day ice climbing training. A frozen lake along the way.

This is the eagle’s beak mountain. Don’t think anyone has climbed to the beak before.

The first task was to cross the river! A little challenging given that that was our first time walking with the snow boots.

We had to trek up the river bed covered with ice and snow to our destination. It was definitely not easy trekking along the river bed, considering such a thick snow and at about 3,500m elevation. Along the way, you can still hear water streaming beneath the ice and snow. So we had to watch our steps or risk stepping into freezing cold water!

When we were about to reach the waterfall, we had to put on crampons, after we had our lunch: cold, tasteless buns.

Preparing to climb our first waterfall

It wasn’t too steep, about 15-25 degree slope. But still, it wasn’t that easy.

Holding on to the rope with an ascender while climbing upslope for the first time! By the time we reached the top, it was almost 4pm so we had to descend down again before sunset.

While resting on top, I had to say that I found this photo really funny. NUS flag, NUS Lion and it just happened that the outerjacket and helmet that I borrowed are the same colour scheme. I definitely looked like an ambassador for NUS!

On the way down, I saw a nice view of a waterfall nearby. And boy, sure it looked surreal!

An enjoyable first winter climb!

A huge rock that fell off the mountain during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

During the 6 hour journey, we had nice mountainous views. The moon was rising too. The highest point we reached was about 4,400m before driving back down to about 3,200m at Rilong village.

The sun about to set behind the mountains at this time.

We saw lots of yak along the way too. They literally roam freely along the steep slopes.

Finally, we saw the mountain that we would attempt in a week; Siguniang or Four Sisters’ Peak. The mountain is the second peak from the left, which was also the third highest, at about 5,300m. Our group photo for participants in the ice-climbing technical mountaineering course with Kim Boon. One of our seniors joined us again because he wanted to get more ice-climbing experience.

An exciting journey ahead of us.

Day 0
The last night before departure was spent checking through the equipment and going through the check-list to make sure that I did not leave anything important behind. Lots of essential items to bring along in the backpack, leaving almost no space for my personal belongings. I only brought 2 sets of t-shirts for the 2 week expedition. The seniors said that we won’t be showering in the mountains because it would be too cold to do so. Probably, I thought. Well, we would also want to minimize the backpack weight as much as possible.

Taking up the most space was the down-sleeping bag, almost half my space. It’s quite amazing to see the full size sleeping bag being fit nicely into the small compression bag. Three layers of clothing; baselayer, fleece and outershell. Actually, in the end, 4 layers were just alright. Helmet, check. Karabiners, check. Harness, check… Ready to go!

We have to bring the boots and the crampons too! They were heavy, almost a kilo each side. You’ll only know its usefulness when you start walking on ice, or climbing up the frozen waterfall. I brought along a birthday gift companion, fit perfectly for my adventure.

And off we go to Chengdu on the 4 hour flight. Anxious, excited and definitely looking forward to the whole new experience. As we walked out of the airport, with a backpack loaded with mountaineering gears, it definitely felt different. The ground temperature was 2°C. That was really cold for Chengdu in Dec. Our instructor, Kim Boon came to pick us up, together with the assistant instructor Joanne. They told us to keep ourselves warm as it was quite cold those few days and snow came early. We stayed at Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel in Chengdu for a night. The place was really cozy; quite affordable (as low as RMB35 for a dorm bed), good facilities (hot shower, bar, restaurant, luggage storage, friendly front desk, etc). Here’s the front view:

And here’s the living room near the front desk! One of the maps was actually prepared by the owners based on their traveling experience in China.

Sim and Maki, the owners, (or rather ex-owners. the place is now managed by new partners) have been very welcoming hosts. A sumptuous night’s dinner in a nearby restaurant before we went to Carrefour nearby for last minute shopping. Bought sachets of Milo so that I can have hot drink up in the mountains. We also bought Christmas hats for everyone because we would be on the summit on Xmas Day! Anyway, this picture is of a cleaner at Carrefour. I don’t know why they are called ‘Bao Jie’. Maybe they do everything (bao ga liao)

Airline: Silk Air was our choice. About S$750 from Singapore to Chengdu. There were other options like AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur to Chengdu. It was cheaper but we had to fly to KL first. So paying more for the convenience.
Accommodation: Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel. Totally recommend this place! Click here for more details.

Over 2 months now and I’ve been training regularly with the group. Pretty intense at times but it was fun hanging out with them. Lots of unexpected trainings mooted out by our ever hyperactive and funny training instructor, GEW! Also being taught the technical mountaineering stuff by Jon. Re-learned all the knots that I used to do back in my scouting days. We do long distance runs, short intervals and carry load trainings. And probably one of the craziest things that I never thought I would do was to climb up a 40 storey HDB flat with a 10kg load. Not once but five times! And we are doing all these trainings to prepare ourselves better when we try to attempt a summit end of this year in Siguniang, Sichuan. Like one of the seniors said, you will appreciate the trainings when you are up in the mountains. Yup, so right now, I am making it real. Hopefully in December, I will be able to say aloud “I’ve Made It Real”.

“A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn’t care if your rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he’ll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?” ~ John Grogan (Marley & Me)

Santa Cruz, a beach located on the northern edge of the Monterey Bay, about 72 mi (115 km) south of San Francisco. It’s less than an hour’s drive from Sunnyvale if you head south on 101, 880 and then 17. This place is well-known for watersports such as sailing, diving, swimming, paddling, and is regarded as one of the best spots in the world for surfing.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is California’s oldest amusement park and a designated State Historic Landmark. Home to a National Historic Landmark, a 1911 Charles I. D. Looff Carousel and 1924 Giant Dipper roller coaster, the Boardwalk has been owned and operated by the Santa Cruz Seaside Company since 1915.

It’s supposed to be a place where we can go very often since it’s so nearby. But in the end, this was the first time and last time that I ever been there. Perhaps I should have tried surfing at Santa Cruz but oh wells, the water is too cold.

I was lost in transition. I think it wasn’t a straight forward decision. When you reach a crossroad in your life, you gotta take some time to think hard, as each path leads to a different experience.What is important is that you enjoy what you are doing! A friend wonders, “How many people actually know what they want in life and what’s important to them?” I told another, “If you don’t know what you want, the least you should know what you don’t want!”

There will always be times when it will occur to you that how you wish you can turn back time and restart all over again. Things didn’t went well as what you expected. When the whole world seems to be facing their backs on you and when you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place! But do also remember that the world won’t stop revolving just for you. Things change, circumstances change, people change. And you may even change too!

I’m now racing with a philosophy not to regret what I do, meaning, not to cross the finishing line and think I could have done better. I think it’s very true that when you change your thoughts, you change you world. I’m now setting aside a four year marathon. Let’s see what doors it’ll open for me when I reach the next cross road. In the mean time, gonna enjoy the journey. So far, I’m really excited on the things that I’m going to do! And hopefully things will sail smoothly.

I saw a quote my friend’s post which read “The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” This is what I’m planning to do now in the midst of my other responsibilities. To set sight on things that I may have taken for granted. Gonna travel around places every week (hopefully), rather than keeping myself in the routine. The world is at my feet for me to explore, dream and discover. And I hope to get a 7D soon. Time to really get a replacement, to accompany me to see the world.

Now, with this new year, have you written down your resolutions or perhaps “bringing forward” some of your unchecked resolutions? Regardless, here’s a little something to ponder:

“Some people hate,
Some people love.

Some people are procrastinators,
Some people act now.

Some people love to point fingers,
Some people love to extend their hands.

Some people question every answer,
Some people have an answer to every question.

Some people hate to lose an argument,
Some people love to win hearts.

Some people want a change,
Some people want to be the change.

Some people are blind except to their own colour,
Some people are colour blind.

Some people are proud to belong to their race,
Some people take pride in belonging to the human race.”

Quoted from Petronas ad

Happy New Year everyone, wherever you are! ^_^