At 11:20 on April 30, Xia Ting, an MBA alumna of ACEM, SJTU climbed on the top of the world's highest summit - Mount Everest at an altitude of 8,848.86 meters following multiple challenges. Her joy was beyond words, and she displayed the banner of "Shanghai Jiao Tong University" on the summit of the world to express her longing for her alma mater. On the afternoon of May 4th, the author remotely interviewed Xia Ting, the legendary "Snow Mountain Sister," who was still at the base camp of Mount Everest.

"At the moment when I reached the summit, my first feeling was that my dream had been fulfilled smoothly, and I was so excited! The plan to reach the summit was suspended last year because of an epidemic outbreak in Nepal. This year we set off again. Although climbing Mount Everest is a long and arduous journey, my team and I are very proud to be able to realize our dream smoothly. " Xia Ting told the reporter that due to the local weather and other factors, climbing Mount Everest is generally chosen after May.

This time, 11 of them arrived at Mount Everest Base Camp on April 1 and officially began high-altitude adaptive training from 5,200 meters to 7,500 meters. An average of 8 to 10 hours a day on rocky road hiking is tough enough to make less physically strong people exhausted, and they may sprain ankles easily whenever careless. During the training period, Xia Ting had a very special birthday, which is also her second birthday at the foot of Mount Everest.

If the rocky road below the snow line is more of a simple physical test, then climbing the 7,000-meter North Col is a double test of skills and stamina. April 14 was the day to climb over the North Col. The task was to climb from the 6,500-meter camp to the 7,028-meter North Col camp within 7 hours. When the nearly 500-meter-high ice wall of North Col stood in front of us, the picture in the movie instantly became a reality. Xia Ting's stamina and skills were among the best in the team, so she had been leading the way in front of the team. When they climbed to the North Col halfway, the mountain was hit by the gale of scale 7 or 8, and snow fog was floating all over in the sky, which covered the sunlight over the head, meanwhile the temperature plummeted, and everyone's fingers were cold and painful, or even lost consciousness. People on the bright steep ice wall may slide and fall when just a little careless. In case of a gust of wind, people feel the whole body will be swept away by the wind, so you must grasp the rope, lean down and wait for the strong wind to pass. Therefore, the mountaineering snow glasses are very important. If the glasses are less protective, it is easy to lead to snow blindness; or when the surrounding protection is not good, the small ice particles and gravels thrown up by the wind may scratch eyes easily.

When reaching the top of the North Col at 7,028 meters, because of the strong wind, the camp couldn't be set up since once two people got into the tent just erected, the wind would soon be able to take people away along with the tent. Xia Ting and the team members had no choice but to retreat in the dark and cold urgently. At 2 o 'clock at night, the whole team finally evacuated to the 6,500-meter camp safely, and returned to the base camp on foot on the next day. The thrilling trip came to an end. Someone suffered minor injuries, but unscathed luckily.

While waiting for the weather window, everyone had a chance to recuperate. High-altitude cough seems to be an inevitable high-altitude disease when climbing Mount Everest. Xia Ting was no exception to this torturing high-altitude cough, but she improved a lot after the treatment at the base camp for days.  As the only member of the team who did not buy extra oxygen beyond the standard oxygen, which means several times harder than those who bought extra oxygen, Xia Ting once again challenged the limits of her body with her own strength.

On April 25, they officially set out from the north slope of Mount Everest, climbing from 5,200 meters to 5,800 meters. On April 26, from 5,800 meters to 6,500 meters. On April 27, they climbed from 6,500 meters to 7,028 meters. On April 28, they climbed from 7,028 meters to 7,790 meters. On April 29, they climbed from 7,790m to 8,300m where they took a rest in the camp and began to breathe oxygen. At dawn on April 30, they started to climb the Mount Everest this year. For those above 8,300 meters, 70% of the sections are ice-rock mixed for climbing, which requires very high stamina and skills, so they had to climb with hands and feet very often, with heavy one-piece down jackets, thus making it even more difficult. At 2:00 a.m., they began to climb towards the summit and then reached the 8848.86m summit at 11:20 on the same day.

"There are many difficulties in climbing from the north slope. Some steps above 8,500 meters are difficult to climb, with strong exposure and high risk, and high physical requirements." Xia Ting said that in 2021, her team came to Mount Everest Base Camp for training, where they trained themselves between 5,200 meters base camp, 6,500 meters forward camp and 7,028 meters No.1 camp for more than a month. "At that time, we were full of confidence, but when we waited for the weather window, an epidemic broke out in Nepal." However, over the past year, Xia Ting insisted on physical training and regularly carried out high-altitude training. This time, she reached the summit as wished, and all her efforts have finally paid off.

 After climbing on the top of Mount Everest, Xia Ting immediately opened the banner of "Shanghai Jiao Tong University" to pay tribute to her alma mater. Xia Ting said, “The destination of mountaineering is not the summit, but the safe return to home!" The glorious moment is not the moment when you reach the top, but every day when you live an ordinary life. "

Next goal: Challenge the oxygen-free 8,000-meter summit

Xia Ting is a mixture of Aries + Aquarius full of curiosity and thirst for knowledge, as well as a restless molecule who dares to try all kinds of possibilities in life and constantly challenges her own limits. Someone once described her as independent, courageous, glamorous, enlightened, and innocent ... You will never find a single word to define her precisely.

In 2004, she was engaged in outdoor activities by chance. For ten years, Xia Ting spent almost all her holidays exploring outdoors, and she measured almost all the famous hiking routes with her feet. Since 2014, she has started mountaineering, and has successively climbed 5,000m -- 8,200m snow summits, such as three summits of Mount Siguniang, Banji Summit, Mount Que'er, Summit Nama, Summit Yuzhu, Snow Mount Haba, Mount Balang, Tian Haizi, Reddomain, Muztagh Ata and Cho Oyu. During this period, she has enjoyed self-driving travel, diving, tea, opening a restaurant, and even learned to fly a plane.

"Now the pace of life is fast, and the work is intense, so 'healthy life, happy work' is what I have been advocating over the years." Xia Ting said, hoping that more young people can love sports and combine work with sports. She said that her next goal would be challenging the oxygen-free 8,000-meter summit.