46-year old blind Chinese mountaineer climbs Mount Everest

The blind man completed the 8,849 meter-high Himalayan feat on May 24 along with three high altitude guides, and returned to the base camp on Thursday.

Zhang born in southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing and lost his sight at the age of 21 due to glaucoma.

Zhang Hong was inspired by Erik Weihenmayer, a blind American mountaineer who scaled Everest in 2001, and began training under the guidance of his mountain guide friend Qiang Zi.

Nepal reopened Mount Everest in April for foreigners after it was shut last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interview the mountaineer said, “I was still very scared, because I couldn’t see where I was walking, and I couldn’t find my center of gravity, so sometimes I would fall”.

He further added, “But I kept thinking because even though it was hard, I had to face those difficulties, this is one component of climbing, there are difficulties and dangers and this is the meaning of climbing”.

The 46-year old remarked, “No matter if you’re disabled or normal, whether you have lost your eyesight or you have no legs or hands, it doesn’t matter as long as you have a strong mind, you can always complete a thing that other people you can’t”.