Students to Conquer MountainDespite several mountaineering accidents in May, which killed six climbers, students from Beijing University (Beida) still plan to climb the 6,590 metres high Sangdamkangzang Mountain in Tibet's Nagqu County today."We have taken every precaution to prevent an accident," said Li Zhun, captain of the 12-member climbing team, from Lhasa. Li is a third year electronics student and is an experienced climber. The only female climber on the team was also a member of last year's team, which climbed Sichuan Province's Xuebaoding (Snowy Peak) Mountain. In May, accidents on Qinghai Province's Yuzhu Mountain killed two members of a non-professional mountaineering team from Beijing, and three members of a team from Guangdong Province. After these accidents, many people tried to persuade the students to call off their trip. "But climbers will not stop because of accidents and mishaps," Li said. He stressed that although his members are all Beida students, they have all climbed at least once in winter conditions and they have all received survival training. "We are trying to show that we are brave enough to confront anything, but we're not doing it for the 'adventure'," Li explained. There are several quasi-professional climbing teams from universities in Beijing that have been mounting expeditions for more than a dozen years. |
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