Lee (left) at the Lions Mount Everest Expedition (MEE) 2016. Also seen are Lions Club climber Sherine Leong (right) and professional sherpa Ngaa Tenji. — Bernama photo
MONJU ,Nepal: Malaysia’s oldest climber James Lee chong Meng, who is on the Lions Mount Everest Expedition (MEE) 2016 mission will proceed to Namche Bazaar, about five km from here yesterday before continuing his expedition to the Everest Base Camp (EBC).
The journey to Namche Bazaar is expected to take three hours, said Lee who is accompanied by MEE escort and the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) teams in the expedition.
“We will depart from Monju at 9am (Nepal local time) and expected to reach Namche at noon and will stay there for one day.
“To go to Namche, we will stop to rest at several villages for lunch,” he told Bernama here.
Travelling to Namche Bazaar, a village located at a height of 3,440 metres above sea level, is quite challenging because of the rugged and hilly landscape.
But the fine weather today of seven degrees celcius is expected to facilitate easy climbing.
With over 20 years experience, Lee, 68, has conquered more than 20 mountains, including Mount Kinabalu, Mount Rinjani in Indonesia, Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Ama Dablam in Nepal.
He began his quest to conquer 8,848-metre Mount Everest on March 31 and is expected to complete his mission within 70 days.
Also joining the expedition are two professional sherpas, Ngaa Tenji, 33, and Ang Temba, 44.
Besides the two sherpas, two accompanying climbers, Sherine Leong, 40, and Desmond Lee, 56, will be with Lee up to EBC.
Bernama as the expedition’s official media, also sent three representatives, namely journalist Muhammad Afiq Mohd Asri, 25; Bernama TV cameraman Fazril Amirul, 23; and photographer Zulfadhli Zulkarnain, 23, to cover the expedition. — Bernama