The new comprehensive scientific expedition on Mount Qomolangma, as part of China's second scientific research survey of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is the country's first scientific research above an altitude of 8,000 meters on the peak.

Dechen Ngodrup, head of the squad who had reached the summit of Mount Qomolangma four times, described the difficulty of the summiting mission this time as "beyond imagination".

According to him, everything went smoothly until they left the final camp at an altitude of 8,300 meters for the summit at 3 am on May 4, when they had to walk through snow that reached their knees.

"The safety ropes along the route were all buried by snow. Without the ropes for protection, we could fall at any minute," he says.

While trekking in snow, they had to pull the freezing ropes out of the snow and shook off the ice on the surface. "We spent some eight hours climbing the 500-meter distance,"Dechen Ngodrup recalls.