{"id":1492,"date":"2019-06-18T12:00:08","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T04:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nus-mir.com\/?p=1492"},"modified":"2026-02-06T11:10:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T03:10:36","slug":"mir-18-summer-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/18\/mir-18-summer-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"MIR 18 Summer (2019)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mountaineering\nis, like most extreme sports, counter-intuitive. Against ingrained notions of\nself-preservation, you pack your gear, leave the comfort of warmth and\noxygen-filled lungs to go pit yourself against nature. At the start of the\nsemester, twelve unknowing undergraduates decided to do just that. Our\nmotivations varied. Some saw a video and thought it was cool. Some were looking\nfor one last hoorah before the end of university. Some were looking for adventure.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a\nvague idea of what we had just elected to put ourselves through, we began\ntraining for Baden Powell Scout Peak. From the Langtang Valley mountain massif,\nthe peak rises to 5,825 metres. In the next few months, we would run countless\nkilometres, plank for longer than we would like, and go up and down Bukit Timah\nmore times than we probably ever did in our lives. All that eventually\nculminated in the MIR Challenge, a longstanding rite of passage for TMC\nmembers. As arduous as it might have been, we found out something that day \u2013\nthat the end of MIR Challenge and training only marked the beginning of TMC\nitself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our trip was smooth-sailing for most part. For a while, it seemed as if the only bumps we would experience were those that riddled our journey to Syaprubesi. By the time we reached Langtang Village, the snow-capped mountains began peeking from behind the luscious-green summer scenery. Our oximeter tests returned healthy numbers for most of the team, and the summer sun continued to keep us warm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Day 1 of our trek towards Lama Hotel (Photo by: Corey Chew)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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First greeting from Scout Peak in the distance (Photo by: Gawain Pek)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eventually,\nwe reached Kyanjin Gompa, the last village stop before we took on the mountain\nitself. Our sustained optimism was further fueled when we reached the top of\nKyanjin Ri (4400 metres) during our acclimatisation trek. Back down in the guest\nhouse, we channeled our energy into card games and movies. Burrowed in our\nsleeping bags every night and greeted by nature\u2019s magnificence every morning,\nthe experience was a fresh one for most of us. Apart from the occasional headache\nand the usual chill in the night, everything was going as expected from such a\ntrip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Manu packing the mountain swag during our trek to Kyanjin Ri, 4400m (Photo by: Corey Chew)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jumar and abseil training on our acclimitisation day (Photo by: Corey Chew)<\/em>  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After\nresting for a day, we left the comfort of Kyanjin Gompa and set off up the\nshoulder of Scout Peak for base camp. Accompanied by our thirteenth member\nrecruited from Syaprubesi (she\u2019s a dog and was born for mountaineering, so no\nprior training required), we put one foot in front of the other and trudged our\nway up to lower base camp. Two days later, we finally set foot in snow and ice\nto reach higher base camp. In the following days, we would all don crampons for\nthe first time and find a reliable buddy in the ice-axes we had been lugging\nalong since day one. It would also be in these days which we found out those\nbumps on the way to Syaprubesi would not be the only ones on the trip.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chantel, the thirteenth member of our team, taking a well-deserved break<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Making our way to higher base camp<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Part of the glacier training was to have a try at ice climbing (Photo by: Jonathan Seet)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Natalie, whom we had jokingly (or maybe not) dubbed our \u201cfourth mountain guide\u201d, was struck by a dreaded episode of Altitude Sickness and diarrhoea. On the second night at higher base camp, it was decided that she had to descend back down to Kyanjin Gompa. Together with Manu and Jasmine, the three of them scrambled toward the faint lights of Kyanjin Gompa in the dark of the night. (They would go on to describe that night as \u201csomething out of Final Destination\u201d.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the\nrest of us, strong winds and heavy snowfall swept through higher base camp that\nafternoon. The scenery at base camp changed fast and along with it the mood and\natmosphere in the mess tent. With two members down, the usual optimism that\nemitted from the tent dwindled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View from our mess tent <\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless,\nwe pressed on with our last training the day before our planned summit attempt.\nAs we revised walking along fixed lines, Natalie and Jasmine emerged from the\ncrest of the hill. Somehow, they had decided and mustered the strength to make\nthe trip back up to higher base camp, just in time for the summit push. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The night\nof the summit push would read like a clich\u00e9d adventure story. As told in\ncountless tales, the strong winds and clouds cleared up for us after two days\nof trying weather. Our summit attempt was softened (quite literally) by fresh\nsnow. The mountain, after shaking the morale of the team for two days, had\ndecided to leave the rest up to us. At 9.44am Nepal time on the 24th<\/sup>\nof May 2019, the first of us had reached the summit of Baden Powell Scout Peak\nwith Tulsi leading the way. An hour later, the last of us would reach the\nsummit together with Samir and Manu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trudging our way up to the summit (Photo by: Corey Chew)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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First person from the team at the top! (Photo by: Gawain Pek)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Summit Photo <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Admittedly,\nour TMC was not the most arduous or life-defining mountaineering tale to exist.\nThere was neither punishing hours of front-pointing nor battles with\nbone-piercing strong winds. There are better stories to tell from the history\nof MIR if one was looking to impress. Much of the struggle, however, took place\nwithin us. If we were to take anything away from Langtang Valley this summer, I\nwould say there are two remarkable lessons to gain \u2013 that of the will of the\nmountain and will of the individual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one\nhand, the expedition tested all of us in our own ways. Between struggling with\nheadaches and sacrificing luxuries we had taken for granted, we saw how far\npersistent willpower can take us. In particular, we saw this exemplified in two\nof our teammates. To capture the essence of this idea, I quote Ming Han: \u201cThe\nnext time I find something too difficult, I will remind myself of what Natalie\nand Jasmine did.\u201d On the other hand, we experienced for ourselves what we had\nalways heard from legendary mountaineering stories. We saw that nature and the\nmountain ultimately decides how easy or hard a climb will be. Months of\ntraining and hard work can never stand up against the elements. To capture the\nessence of this idea, I quote Ming Han again: \u201cThe mountain always wins.\u201d It\nmay not be original, but it worked well as timely reminders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easy or hard,\nsummit or not, I am sure we all learned something about ourselves this summer. We\npushed ourselves far beyond what we had initially imagined ourselves to be\ncapable of. As half the team graduates and leaves for uncharted pastures while\nhalf resumes the arduous life of university, I am confident that having faced\nthe will of the mountain, our mettle had been sharpened. Despite varied\nmotivations at the start, we have all gained something similar at the end of it\n\u2013 that if you push hard enough, there is hardly anything you cannot do. I find\nthat a worthwhile epiphany to attach to an experience as absurd as\nmountaineering. Don\u2019t take it from me though:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something about the mountains which makes rice delicious, the sun glorious, and a bed precious. I look back with utmost awe and respect, up there you play by its rules, you summit if it allows you to. Of being hungry, dirty and tired – it is truly at the edge of your comfort zone that life begins.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natalie Su (in an Instagram post)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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MIR18 Summer 2019 TMC team:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jasmine\nChua Li Xian <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan\nSeet Tian Ci<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ming Han\nChng<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naveen s\/o\nChandra Segar <\/p>\n\n\n\n

R Dheeraj<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siew Kah\nHui, Savannah<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chew Jun\nHui, Corey<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gawain Pek\nZheng Yang<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kimberley\nLim Ying Ying<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natalie Soh\nHann<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonis Keith\nMatthew<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sun Tian Yu<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you, team,\nfor the great company and for honing my skills in Monopoly Deal and Mahjong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gawain Pek
Team Leader<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mountaineering is, like most extreme sports, counter-intuitive. Against ingrained notions of self-preservation, you pack your gear, leave the comfort of warmth and oxygen-filled lungs to go pit yourself against nature. At the start of the semester, twelve unknowing undergraduates decided to do just that. Our motivations varied. Some saw a video and thought it was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-stories"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz1tdprsa\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1761672722\/mir18_xgyovc\/mir18_xgyovc.jpg?_i=AA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1492"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5200,"href":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492\/revisions\/5200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nus-mir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}