A Chinese climber became the first-ever blind Asian to scale Mount Everest. Zhang Hong, 44, became the first-ever Asian to achieve this feat and is also the third blind climber ever. He went through rigorous training before starting his journey.

Hong followed all the rules and guidelines and was finally able to reach the mountain top on May 24. His journey completed with his safe return to Kathmandu.

As we said Hong was the third Blind climber ever to scale Mount Everest. Eric Weihenmayer, a blind American climber was the first one to do so in 2001. After him, it was an Austrian climber Andy Holzer and now Zhang Hong. He shared that his inspiration came from the two men that went before him.

“I think about Eric Weihenmayer, my inspiration. He was the one who inspired me and now I have achieved my dream,” said Hong. He added that he would like to inspire others who are like him. There are so many visually impaired people in the world and I would like to become an inspiration for them.

The man said he has no plans of stopping here and will continue his journey by climbing other peaks as well. His dream is to scale the highest peaks of all seven continents. After that, Hong would also like to travel to the North and South poles.

He shared that, “I have grand plans for the next few years. I will climb the seven peaks in all the seven continents and then journey to the North and South poles.”

Zhang Hong was not blind by birth but lost his vision when he was 21 due to glaucoma. He worked as a masseur for a long time at a Tibet hospital. The climber currently lives with his wife. Even while working at the hospital, he did not give up training. Hong would carry heavy bags weighing over 60 pounds, every day. He tried practising by climbing other small peaks in China.

Before going to Nepal for #everest2021, this was one of my ways to train back home in China. pic.twitter.com/CMiYM8vExN
— Blind Mountaineer Zhang Hong 张洪 (@Zhang_Hong_76) April 24, 2021

Before Hong and his team’s journey to Mount Everest began, they all got vaccinated and only after necessary Covid19 check-ups were done, they went ahead. To avoid any risks of contracting the infection, the authorities need to take all the measures. Fortunately, the team went and got back safely.