Zhang Hong, a 46-year-old visually impaired Chinese climber, became the first blind person from Asia to scale Mt. Everest (Qomolangma), the world's tallest peak, on Monday.
Zhang reached the top of the highest mountain at 9 a.m. local time from the Nepali side along with three high-altitude guides, said the Asian Trekking of Nepal that is organizing his expedition.
Jaya Bahadur Tamang, an official from the Asian Trekking, said over the phone from the base camp of Mt. Qomolangma that Zhang and his team started to move up to the top of the peak on Sunday night from the South Col (7,900m) and summited it on Monday morning.
There were six Chinese and six Sherpa guides in Zhang's team, but not all reached the top on Monday, according to the Asian Trekking. "As far as I know, Zhang is the only person of the Chinese expedition team to reach the top," said Bhuwan Limbu, another official from the trekking company.
According to expedition companies, there had been strong winds on Mt. Qomolangma from Sunday evening and many had descended from the South Col to the base camp.
In January 2017, the Nepali government decided to ban double amputees, persons without arms and legs and blind persons from attempting the world's highest peak. But, in March the same year, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered not to implement the government's restriction on people with disabilities.
