Qomolangma: The reel challenge

Stills from the documentary Captain Qomolangma show how Sula Wangping, 39, from Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province, guided a team of eight climbers and six cameramen to the summit of Qomolangma in 2019. CHINA DAILY

From herdsman to climber

Sula Wangping's native village is located at the foot of San'ao Snow Mountain in Sichuan's Heishui county, where people make a living by raising livestock or by digging caterpillar fungus in the mountains.

At the age of 9, he first left home with his father, a civil servant, to study at a primary school in town. After graduating from a vocational school in 2001, he returned to the village and waited for job opportunities. "Becoming a civil servant like him was what my father expected of me, but a mountaineering team changed my life the same year," Sula Wangping says.

The climbers arrived at the village on their way to San'ao Snow Mountain, which comprises three peaks, the main being 5,282 meters above sea level. They hired villagers as porters. He was one of them.

"It was the first time in my life I saw professional climbers. Their entire gear－from sleeping bags and tents to carabiners, harness and ice axe－made me curious. What's more, I realized that there were other ways of making a living in the mountains," he says.

Ma Yihua, a member of the expedition, was impressed by Sula Wangping's amateur climbing skills and later invited him to join a commercial mountaineering company in Chengdu, Sichuan. Sula Wangping packed his belongings and left the village without trepidation. "At that time, all I wanted was a fresh start. I didn't even know being a mountain guide was a profession," he recalls.

After two years of working as a guide, Sula Wangping established a mountaineering firm in October 2003 with six childhood friends. "Compared to townspeople, we Tibetans grow up in the mountains and have a lot of stamina. We also know the mountains better," he says.

Business wasn't great during the first two years. There was a dearth of clients and hence, little money to buy good gear. Families weren't very supportive either. To build a reputation in the mountaineering circuit, Sula Wangping and two of his friends decided to climb the technically demanding Celestial Peak (or Pomiu Peak) along Mount Siguniang in western Sichuan. The peak is a pyramidal granite tower with an altitude of 5,413 meters.

In August 2005, after five days of climbing in rubber shoes instead of mountain boots, the trio reached the top. They never had to look back since. Business became profitable in a matter of weeks and today, after 19 years, the firm boasts 60 professional guides, who all come from Sula Wangping's native village.

"Two decades ago, I wanted to find a way out of a mundane mountain life. After I realized my dream, my next target was to introduce more people from my village to new means of livelihood. Mountaineering has changed our lives," he says.