When Xia听Boyu听first attempted Everest in 1975, he was 27 years old. Bad luck plagued the trip. They were just 500 feet shy of听the summit when weather forced听his team down. During the descent, a teammate lost his sleeping bag and Xia听offered his up. As a result, Xia suffered severe frostbite on both his feet and eventually had to have them amputated.听Twenty years later, he developed lymphoma and both legs were amputated just below the knees. But even after he lost his legs, he didn't lose his desire to summit the world's highest peak.听
He tried again in 2014, but that听expedition ended prematurely when a serac听collapsed, killing 16 climbers. In 2015, the devastating earthquake cut short the season听and forced Xia off the mountain. In听2016,听he got within 300 feet of the summit only, once again, to be turned back by bad weather. Xia听planned to return last year, but the Nepal Ministry of Tourism announced听that it planned to ban double amputees from Everest. This year, the Ministry made the ban a rule,听but the country鈥檚 supreme court subsequently听听and Xia decided to make another attempt.听听
At听8:26 a.m., on Monday,听the now 70-year-old Xia听finally stood on top of the world.
Xia听had left the South Col at听8:00 p.m.,听Sunday听in good conditions. The wind was calm for most of the ascent and temperatures hovered near minus 10 Fahrenheit. He was guided by Kathmandu guide Mingma G Sherpa of . There were four other Chinese climbers who also summited:听Liu Yi, Wu Jie, Lok Kee Siu, Ajie Hu, and Gao Li and Canadian Mikey Foreal.听Six Sherpas accompanied them: Tamting Sherpa, Kili Pemba Sherpa, Pasang Gomba Sherpa, Kami 'Ang Tsering鈥 Sherpa, Dendi Sherpa in addition to the leader,听Dawa Gyalje Sherpa. (According to Dawa Gyalje, Nima Jangmu became the first Nepalese woman to summit Everest and Lhotse together in one season.) The 14 climbers were among听the first to summit Everest this season after a Sherpa team听set the fixed ropes to the summit the previous afternoon.听
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