Journey to Everest: Linda's Story (Part 1)

By Dawn Yip

Linda Tan, on her way to becoming Singapore’s first woman to scale Mount Everest. (Photo courtesy of Linda Tan)

Mention "Mount Everest", and the mind conjures up images of thick snow, sheer rock walls, howling winds and sub-zero temperatures. It's the world's tallest mountain, the mountaineer's dream conquest, and a universal icon of achievement. And if all goes well, Singapore will have her first woman on its summit in May 2008.

Her name is Linda Tan, and she’s a 28-year-old financial advisor. It's been a long journey to this point, and Red Sports caught up with her over coffee one morning to hear all about it.

Linda picked up mountaineering while she was an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore. After attending a talk on the Student Mountaineering Programme, she was intrigued, and not just by the exotic and beautiful photographs. "They presented the challenges upfront. I knew we would have to raise our own funds. But it seems reasonable to work hard for what you want."

Linda, who is an alumnus of Raffles Girls' School and Hwa Chong Junior College, ended up joining the Programme. "There was a lot of camaraderie. You work together, you train together, in the end you live and die together," she said. "You are in such beautiful surroundings, yet sometimes conditions can be very harsh."

The first mountain Linda scaled was 6476m-tall Mera in Nepal in 2003. "I love a lot of things about the place. The environment, the walk in, was very beautiful. I also picked up the language, and I love the songs"

Red Sports managed to persuade the microphone-shy Linda to sing a segment of "Resham Firiri", a popular Nepali folk song.

She was also a founding member of the Singapore Women's Everest Team, formed in 2004. With the team, she went on a technical mountaineering course in New Zealand in 2004, followed by another Mera climb in 2005.

A week before the second Mera trip, Linda tore two-and-a-half ligaments. Not one to give up, Linda persisted. "I didn't give the sports doctor a chance. I gave him an ultimatum: get me on my feet in one week. So I went for intensive physiotherapy, and he repaired me."

What some might see as testimony of Linda's grit and determination, could also be perceived as dangerous and stubborn by others. "The team was not happy with that," Linda said, and she was subsequently kicked out of the team. "I didn't try to persuade them otherwise," said Linda, looking visibly pained as she recalled the experience. The events took their toll on her, and she remembered eating and putting on a lot of weight. She also took up salsa, which she called "a good distraction".

She was back in business in 2006, climbing the Second Sister in the Siguniang range in Sichuan, followed by the 7546m-tall Muztagh Ata in Xinjiang in 2007. It's conventional, Linda explains, to progress from Muztagh Ata to Cho Oyu (8188m) in Nepal, before attempting Everest (8850m). "The idea is to test how you react at increasing altitudes. But I don't have money. The Chinese go straight from Mustagh Ata to Everest."

Even taking the Chinese approach, Linda required funding, which she eventually secured from her employers Great Eastern Life, to the tune of about $50,000. And here, she paid unstinting tribute to her bosses Stuart Shee and Tan Koon Chuan for their support. The latter, in particular, lobbied "relentlessly, top down, laterally. He believed in me even before I made it. Without him I don't know where I'll be."

With sponsorship under her belt, Linda is now training intensively. She runs 10 to 15km two to three times a week, at East Coast or with the SAFRA Mt Faber running group. She hikes and does 10 to 12-hour overnight walks once every month or so, each time carrying a pack weighing about 18kg. She does stairclimbing twice a week, and her favourite location is the 40-storey blocks in Toa Payoh. We were curious about how the residents reacted to that. "There are all kinds of responses,” said Linda. “Some will say with their eyes, ‘you must be crazy,' or ‘you can take a lift, do you realise that?' Some will slam their doors. There was a time someone said, ‘Come in for some water if you are tired!" Linda also works out at the Singapore Sports Council gyms frequently. "Some people complain that the equipment is rusty but it's good stuff and it's totally adequate for my needs."

Linda leaves Singapore on 29 March to begin her quest to scale Mt Everest. Red Sports cheers her on, and will bring you updates on her progress in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, look out for Part 2 of “Journey to Everest: Linda’s Story”.

Linda on the way up Mera in Nepal. Photo courtesy of Linda Tan.

Linda on Muztagh Ata in Xinjiang, China. (Photo courtesy of Linda Tan)