At 5:25 p.m. on Jan. 6, Antarctic local time, the figure of a Hong Kong youth holding a “7 Summits” flag was seen at the top of Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antarctica. It was 20-year-old Bob Tsang Long-kit. At that time, he became the youngest Hong Konger to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents of the world.
Coincidentally, his father, John Tsang Chi-sing, also climbed the same Vinson Massif on Jan. 6, 2012. Thirteen years later, they became the first father-son pair from Hong Kong to have conquered the highest peaks on all seven continents in the world.
Tsang junior, fell in love with mountaineering after climbing Mount Fuji with his father when he was six years old, and this first snow mountain experience in Japan aroused his interest in conquering the mountains. Since secondary school days, he has had the desire to complete the “7 Summits Project.”
With the encouragement and assistance of his father, he started from Mount Kilimanjaro, followed by the peak of Mount Elbrus in Europe in 2018, and up both Mount Kosciuszko in Oceania and Mount Aconcagua in South America in 2019.
Then, in 2022, he conquered Mount Everest in Asia, followed by Mount Denali in North America. Finally, at the beginning of 2024, he completed his last roof of the world, Vinson Massif, in Antarctica. In seven years, he finally realized his dream of climbing the highest peaks on all seven continents.
In 2022, John and Bob Tsang became the first Hong Kong father and son duo to climb the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest. At the time, 18-year-old Bob broke the record of the youngest Hongkonger to summit Mount Everest.
His dad, however, also held another record as the Hongkonger who summited Mount Everest the most times by setting foot there on four different occasions.
To prepare for the Antarctica expedition, Tsang initiated a crowdfunding campaign a year ago, collaborating with skincare and watch companies to design limited-edition “7 Summits” products. The funds raised aided in covering the high costs associated with climbing Vinson Massif.
Bob Tsang took a flight to Antarctica on Jan. 1, 2024. After flying for more than 37 hours, he arrived at the Union Glacier Base to prepare for his mountaineering adventure. Vinson Massif, standing at 4,892 meters above sea level, presents harsh conditions with temperatures ranging from -37 to -50 degrees Celsius (-35 to -58 degrees Fahrenheit).
To protect the environment, no garbage is allowed to be discarded en route to the summit. That means all daily necessities, used and unused, must be carried along the way and dispensed with only at the official rest halts.
This put additional demand on the climbers’ physique, as an additional load of more than 30 kilograms (66 pounds) could be imposed along the way.
Bob Tsang started from the Antarctic base camp to the low-altitude camp base on January 4, which took 6 hours. The next day, he set off to the high-altitude camp base, which lasted about 7 hours, and succeeded in reaching the summit at 5:25 p.m. local time on Jan. 6.
The downward trip was easier and took just 3 hours. He returned safely to the base camp on Jan. 7 and returned to Union Glacier Base on Jan. 8.
In an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times, Bob Tsang said that his trip to Antarctica was much smoother than expected because of his previous experience in climbing Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, and Mount Denali in North America, which made it not a problem this time adapting to altitude.
The biggest challenge in Antarctica is the extreme cold weather.
In the Antarctic summer, temperatures can reach minus 50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit), which is quite a challenge for all mountaineers. But he was fortunate on this uphill trip. The temperature was about minus 37 to 40 degrees Celsius (-35 to -40 Fahrenheit). It was also sunny all the way, with no cold storms. There was even no wind on the day of the summit climb.
There is a total of six people on this team, four of whom are climbing members, and two are guides. He is the youngest among them.
Vinson Massif in Antarctica is the last one on his list to challenge in the “7 Summits Project.” Compared with the other high-altitude environments, the extreme daylight phenomenon here is a problem. Bob Tsang said that one of the problems faced by mountaineers in Antarctica is that it is difficult for one’s biological clock to adapt to the extreme daylight phenomenon.
It is daytime there all day long, making it very difficult to fall asleep. He was grateful that the local guides were all experienced guys and gave the team good advice, allowing them to combine work and rest optimally, and maintain their physique in the best shape for the task.
For being able to complete this trip up the highest peak in Antarctica, Bob Tsang is most grateful to his father, John, himself a mountain climbing expert who encouraged and guided him along the way. “I am most grateful to my parents. I can’t thank them enough!” he said. Surprisingly, his date of successfully reaching the summit, Jan. 6, is the same day as his father reached the same summit in 2012.
He feels very honored to be able to complete the “7 Summits Project” at the age of 20. He shared: “The reason why I was able to complete this project is that I really like doing it.
If you have something in mind that you want to do or like to do, even if it is not easy, like the “7 Summits,” or it might take a long time and a lot of money, as long as you really like it and are willing to give it a go, there must be people around you who are also willing to help. Then you can definitely achieve it.”
