TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- A Taiwanese female mountaineer successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest on Monday (May 27) and was undaunted by overcrowding and recent deaths, making her the second Taiwanese woman to do so in history.
At 3:16 a.m. Nepal time, (5:16 a.m. Taiwan time) Chan Chiao-yu (詹喬愉), who goes by the handle Tri Fish (三條魚), successfully reached the peak of Mount Everest and safely returned to Base Camp 2 at 6,400 meters, according to a post on her Facebook page uploaded by her management company. Chan is scheduled to return to Everest Base Camp and fly to Kathmandu today (May 28).
That same day, American attorney Christopher John Kulish, 62, died as he descended the mountain after successfully reaching the peak, according to the Associated Press. The exact cause of his death has not yet been announced.
Chan (right) (Photo from facebook.com/3xfish)
Over 20 climbers have perished in mountaineering accidents on elevations of over 8,000 meters this spring, 11 of whom have died on Mount Everest. Due to weather factors and an increased number of climbing licenses, about 200 climbers tried to summit Mount Everest at the same time on May 22, causing a "traffic jam" on the mountaineering route and increasing the risk of death.
On May 15, Chan reached the peak of Mount Makalu, which at 8,485 meters is the fifth tallest mountain in the world. Demonstrating a phenomenal level of physical strength and endurance, she reached the summit of Mount Everest just 13 days later.
Chan is only the second Taiwanese woman in history to complete the climb on Everest, after Chiang Hsiu-chen (江秀真) did it twice, once in 1995 and again in 2009.
Chan. (Photo from facebook.com/3xfish)
After resting for a few days in Lukara at 2,800 meters, Chan had originally planned to scale the summit of Mount Everest on Sunday (May 26), but because of bad weather, she returned to Base Camp 2 on May 24 and waited out the storm.
On Sunday, she set out at 2 a.m. and reached Base Camp 4 at 8,000 meters. Early Monday morning, she finally succeeded in reaching the top of Everest at the 8,848-meter mark.
