Singaporean man, 55, first in Southeast Asia to scale world's 3 highest mountains
SINGAPORE — A 55-year-old Singaporean mountaineer has become the first person in Southeast Asia to successfully scale the three highest peaks in the world: Mount Everest (8,848m), K2 (8,611m) and Kangchenjunga (8,586m).
In a press statement on Wednesday (22 May), Khoo Swee Chiow said that he successfully conquered Kangchenjunga in Nepal on 15 May at 8am local time, after two failed attempts.
Khoo’s first attempt to summit Kangchenjunga in 2017 was aborted at the 8,000m mark due to a shortage of rope.
His second attempt last year was called off after he encountered deep snow, a sign of high avalanche risk, just some 280m away from the peak.
Approximately 7,000 climbers have reached the summit of Mount Everest - of which Khoo has successfully done thrice - but only 420 climbers have successfully conquered Kangchenjunga, according to the avid mountaineer.
“I wanted to finish the mission,” he said. “(For now), I am taking a break. Enjoy rock climbing in Singapore. It’s warmer!”
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