IT manager and civil servant become first S’porean women to summit world’s two highest peaks

In the heart of the Karakoram range, a fleeting break in the poor weather granted Ms Vincere Zeng and Ms Sim Phei Sunn only a narrow window of opportunity to make history.

The two Singaporean women had spent seven days scaling the face of K2, which at 8,611m, is the world’s second-tallest mountain. Adverse conditions – strong snowfall, wind, and fog – had dimmed their hopes of reaching the top.

But on July 27, the bad weather cleared up, allowing the pair of adventurers to make the final push and become the first two local women to ascend K2.

Even then, it was no stroll.

Ms Zeng, a 31-year-old transformation programme manager at IT company SAP, had to stand for six hours just metres away from the peak, with her oxygen levels turned to a minimum to conserve it, as she was among 200 anxious climbers all waiting their turn to make the last trek up.

“At every moment, with every step I took, my legs were shaking and my heart was pumping... yet I had to be extremely cautious and focused because there was no room for mistakes,” said Ms Zeng, recounting the wait in an interview with The Straits Times. She was in a separate team from Ms Sim for the climb.

What made Ms Zeng’s and Ms Sim’s achievement more remarkable is that both have also previously climbed Mount Everest (8,848m), with the former doing so just 70 days before reaching the K2 summit.

The two mountaineering enthusiasts met through Singapore’s local trail running community in 2018.

Ms Zeng’s mountaineering journey began in 2015 when she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro while volunteering as a primary school maths teacher in Africa.

She started seriously training for mountain climbing in 2018, and kept her regimen consistent because she wanted to be “ready to climb Everest at any time”. This included various weight training exercises and endurance runs five to six days a week.

“I don’t like sports and was not good at it when I was younger, but I enjoyed Kilimanjaro so much, and I found myself pretty good at climbing the mountain,” Ms Zeng said, adding that she has since climbed over 30 mountains taller than 5,000m.

Ms Sim, a 41-year-old who works at the Land Transport Authority, also relied on a rigid training regimen. She has been an endurance athlete for 20 years, running 100-mile (160km) races across mountains around the world, and coupled this with weight training while preparing for her most recent climb.

She was first exposed to mountaineering during a recruitment nearly 20 years ago to form Singapore’s first Women’s Everest Team. And even though that expedition did not materialise then, it sparked Ms Sim’s love and passion for climbing, leading her to summit the world’s highest peak in 2019.

“I finished Everest and The Seven Summits (the highest mountains of each of the seven continents), so I thought, how else to challenge myself?” said Ms Sim, when asked what made her want to climb K2.

She added that she felt K2 was “a lot harder” to climb than Everest, as it required more technical skill.

“The fear was very real,” said Ms Sim. “With unpredictable weather on the Pakistani mountains, there were so many unknowns.”

Unstable weather patterns and stormy conditions forced all the climbers to wait for brief moments of clarity, and also delayed rope fixing to the summit. But the climbers’ patience was rewarded on July 27.

A line then formed at the Bottleneck – a narrow gully over 50 degrees steep which is considered the most dangerous part of K2 – as climbers waited at almost a vertical for hours to make that last push.

Ms Sim, meanwhile, said that she felt a sense of disbelief, but also pride and humility as she stood on the summit of K2.

“But also, I was mostly thinking about getting down safely,” she quipped.

Mr Khoo Swee Chiow, the first Singaporean to reach the summit of K2, lauded their feat.

Mr Khoo, a 59-year-old adventurer and motivational speaker, said: “Since I climbed K2 in 2012, I had been waiting for the first Singaporean woman on K2.

“Now, we have not one, but two women who sumitted on the same day. That is a fantastic achievement for both Singapore and South-east Asia.” 

He noted that K2 is much steeper than Everest, and there is a greater risk for avalanches and rockfalls. The weather at the peak is also less stable.

Ms Zeng, meanwhile, will return to her normal work routine but being on top of the world has spurred her to continue inspiring young girls and give back to society.

“My love for mountains will never stop, and in one way or another, I will continue to climb and put our little red dot on more summits on the world mountain map,” she said.