May 8, 2008: Atop the summit of Mt. Qomolangmo, mountaineers gather around the torch and flame, holding the national flag of China, the flag of the International Olympic Committee, and the emblem of the Beijing Olympic Games. by Norbu Dradul/Xinhua

The moment Norbu Dradul (left) ignited the “Lucky Cloud” torch held by the first torch bearer, Gigi, on Mt. Qomolangma. by Tashi Tsering/Xinhua

Scaling a perpendicular rock face. by Ngawang/Xinhua

The evening of May 8, 2008: Ngawang, who was responsible for shooting photos and transmitting TV images of the torch relay on Mt. Qomolangma, takes a short break at the Advanced Base Camp. by Suolang Norbu/Xinhua

Cering Wangmo displays the “Lucky Cloud” torch atop the summit of Mt. Qomolangma. Xinhua

At 2:00 a.m. on May 8, 2008, 8,300 meters above sea level, 19 mountaineers of the China National Mountaineering Team broke camp, geared up and assembled for the final push to the peak of Mt. Qomolangma. Carrying “Xiangyun (Lucky Clouds),” the Beijing Olympic torch, they carefully traversed the traditional route along the northern slope. At approximately 9:00 a.m. they reached the summit of Mt. Qomolangma, 8,844.43 meters above sea level, the highest peak in the world.
At the moment the squad realized their goal, the 19 mountaineers, headed by team captain Wang Yongfeng, were thrilled and their burden was eased. They have, in Wang’s words, “successfully fulfilled the promise Beijing made to the world.”
To make it happen, Wang and his team had prepared long and hard. They had undergone high-altitude training in the area for more than one month before the order for the final push was given.
On May 5 they began to scale the mountain from the 6,500-meter-high camp. At around 7,000 meters above sea level, they carefully crossed the first difficult point in their path — Beiyao, an icy structure known for slides and dangerous hollows hidden beneath the surface. At 7,400 to 7,500 meters, they successfully pulled through a slope heavy with crags and what is known as “Great Wind Gap.”
On May 7, they arrived at the 8,300m Attack Camp, located at a place known as the “Death Zone.”
On the early morning of May 8, with the order given to scale the summit, the mountaineers geared up, switched on their head-mounted lamps, and marched towards the top of Mt. Qomolangma along the northeastern ridge. At 7:20 a.m., as the morning sun broke in the east and Mt. Qomolangma was bathed in golden light, they passed the “Second Platform,” known to foreign explorers as an impassable point.
At about 30 meters away from the summit, Norbu Dradul, a Tibetan mountaineer took a flame from the relay lantern and ignited the torch, held by Gigi, a female Tibetan mountaineer. Thus they began the Mt. Qomolangma leg of the Beijing Olympics torch relay. From Wang Yongfeng and two other mountaineers, the torch was finally relayed to Cering Wangmo, the fifth and final torch bearer of this most challenging of Olympic torch relays. At 9:17 a.m., Cering Wangmo held high the burning “Lucky Cloud” on the summit of the 8,844.43-meter-high Mt. Qomolangma, exhibiting the torch and burning flame for the world through a live broadcast via CCTV.
Carrying the Olympic flame to the top of Mt. Qomolangma, the “Roof of the World,” was a particularly spectacular leg in the torch relay. To realize the goal, related departments were confronted with three commonly recognized challenges: How to reach the summit safe and in time; how to ensure that the flame would burn normally at 8,844.43 meters under extreme conditions of low temperature, low pressure and oxygen scarcity; and lastly, how to ensure a smooth and successful live TV broadcast atop the highest peak in the world.

Veteran members of the Tibet Mountaineering Team and eight students from the Tibet Mountaineering School worked three days to repair the route for the smooth and successful torch relay on Mt. Qomolangma. by Nyima Tsering/Xinhua

To arrive at the summit safe and on schedule, the mountaineering team readied two sets of plans. Supported by meteorological organizations, they finally decided to begin the climb during the early morning of May 8. On that day, the weather in the area was good, with high visibility, and wind speed was below 20 meters per second. Typically, during the period from late night to daybreak, Mt. Qomolangma registers a low temperature, the ice and snow layers are much more stable and the wind is usually not as fierce as during the daytime. The low temperature ensures that the snow layers will not melt, and the route that was previously explored will be more stable. Due to these conditions, the squad chose to launch before daybreak. Since 1975, the principle of “early to set off and early to camp” has been followed by the China National Mountaineering Team.
Before TV audiences, the flame burned beautifully and successfully, despite high winds, low temperature, low pressure and low oxygen. This success may be attributed to the two-year joint test and a collective effort put forth by several scientific research institutes in China. Behind the five torch bearers who scaled Mt. Qomolangma, there was a large and well-honed team.
The five torch bearers were chosen from the China National Mountaineering Team.
The first torch bearer, Gigi, is a distinguished female mountaineer of the Tibetan ethnic group. In 1999, she and her husband scaled the mountain, becoming the first couple to reach the top of Mt. Qomolangma. Gigi said she would achieve the goal of taking the Olympic flame to the top of Qomolangma in honor of her husband, who died in a 2005 climbing accident.
The second torch bearer, Wang Yongfeng, a well-known mountaineer, is the captain of the China National Mountaineering Team. During an 11-year period from the 1980s to 1990s, he conquered all the highest summits in the world, becoming the first Chinese to accomplish such an achievement. This was the third time the 46-year-old man had scaled Mt. Qomolangma.
Nyima Tsering, the third torch bearer, is regarded as the godfather of mountaineering in China. A Tibetan, besides his home region language he speaks Mandarin, English, French and others. He is also the founder of the Tibet Mountaineering School and has trained many distinguished mountaineers and mountain climbing coordinators. Many of the alpine photographers working for the torch relay mission on Mt. Qomolangma are his students.
The fourth torch bearer, Huang Chungui, is a representative of the younger generation of mountaineers in China. The first time the 22-year-old student from China Agricultural University climbed a mountain, it was simply to see snow.
Cering Wangmo, a young Tibetan woman, scaled Mt. Qomolangma for the first time in 2006 at the young age of 20. Another such accomplishment again on May 8 meant much to her, for she would celebrate her 22nd birthday five days later.
Of special accomplishment are the eight photographers who not only scaled the highest summit in the world, but also transmitted timely TV images. Photo

grapher Ngawang began to shoot in 2003, and since then he participated in nearly all the Qomolangma climbs. During each adventure he pushed himself harder than before, capturing more images.
In real time, at the moment the flame of the Beijing Olympic Games burned high on Mt. Qomolangma, the torch was also concurrently relayed in the country from the southernmost province of Hainan to inland cities.
The torch will reach Beijing on August 6, two days before the Games begin.