On top of the world together: The Singaporean husband-wife duo who summited Everest
Only a few Singaporeans have summited Everest. Last month, Mr Mark Ng and Ms Ng Li Ying joined that select group.
Mark Ng and Ng Li Ying at the top of Mount Everest. (Photo: Mark Ng)
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SINGAPORE: After reaching the summit of Mount Everest, Singaporean Ng Li Ying took a few moments to take it all in.
“I honestly could not believe that I was already there,” she told CNA over the phone from Kathmandu. “My guide was like: ‘Okay, (here’s the) summit … there is no more up.’”
But after looking at the various peaks in the distance, worry set in. It was not because she had to rush down, nor was it due to bad weather conditions.
Her husband Mark, whom she was separated from at the Hillary Step, had yet to reach the top of the 8,848m mountain.
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Hillary Step is the final stretch before the summit and is known to be a bottleneck for climbers dealing with extreme altitude, freezing winds and human traffic delays.
She said: “I couldn’t see (him in the distance) … I was like: ‘Is he coming up?’”
Mr Ng added: “It’s a single file and you need to climb up what is pretty much a vertical rock face. If you fall and you’re not clipped on, you really will just fall off the side of the mountain.”
ONE STEP AFTER ANOTHER
The duo, who are lead training consultants with Outward Bound Singapore (OBS), are both active people by nature.
After an expedition with fellow OBS instructors to India, the fire was lit for Mr Ng. Finding that treks were “not his thing”, he went on to climb a number of mountains, including Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro.
“There’s no enjoyment in climbing up, it’s just one step after another step. But I feel like every time I go climb and do something like this, I feel like I appreciate people and things around me more,” said Mr Ng.
Ms Ng’s journey began a few years earlier when she went on treks with friends while studying abroad in China.
“After I came back to Singapore, I just joined some of those trips that people organised from Singapore, to Indonesia and Nepal. That’s where it all started,” she said.
The pair met while at OBS and went on their first expedition together, the multi-day Kumano Kodo trek in Japan.
“We didn’t kill each other for 10 days and the vibe also matched,” said Mr Ng.
After getting married in 2020, the pair continued to go on adventures together. They conquered Mera, Island, and Lobuche peaks, and then summited the 7,126m Himlung Himal.
After a successful climb of Ama Dablam in 2024, a guide suggested to the pair that they should go for Everest.
“After every mountain, we also ask our guides for suggestions. So in 2024, our guides were like: ‘I think you’re ready for Everest.’”
The duo, who have been climbing in Nepal since 2022, did not need much convincing.
“We’re like okay, we’ll just save up for it,” recalled Mr Ng. “I just asked Li Ying: ‘Everest?’ She’s like: ‘I’m okay’”.
When told of their plans, friends and family were not surprised. “The way they put it is like it was something I would do sooner or later,” said Mr Ng.
“My mother didn’t really say much, but my sister kept telling me to be careful and not to do anything silly and things like that.”
According to unofficial records, fewer than 30 Singaporeans have summited Everest over the years. The pair are likely the first husband-wife duo to do so.
“We planned it just like any other mountain. It’s the highest, but we approached it like any other mountain,” recalled Mr Ng.
“It was not a sudden thing (to do). Every year we would go to climb, and we kept climbing higher and higher.”
What made things even more helpful was the support from OBS when the Ngs first raised the idea of taking a sabbatical some years ago.
The organisation helped link the duo with Dr Kumaran Rasappan, a Singapore orthopaedic surgeon who summited Everest in 2012, while some staff also shared various useful back-up resources.
Before leaving for Nepal, the couple put together their wills with the help of a lawyer friend.
“We wanted to do it last year, to be honest. This year we decided to sort it out before we went,” said Mr Ng.
THE SUMMIT A BONUS
After navigating the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, the couple made it safely to Camp 2, the second staging camp for climbers on the South Col route up the mountain.
While the initial plan was for them to make the ascent up to Camp 3 and then back again in order to acclimatise, Mr Ng was advised to rest as his oxygen levels were low.
“I had to rest the whole night, and they put me on oxygen,” he recalled.
Asked if he was worried this would jeopardise plans of making the summit, Mr Ng said that making it to the top was not the pair’s be-all and end-all.
“At that point in time, if they told me that if you summit you might die, I would just say: ‘Okay, we don’t climb’. The mountain will always be there for you to climb.”
It was much higher up the mountain, on the Hillary Step, where the pair were separated.
Due to the jam, Ms Ng’s guide secured a line for her first and she was the first of the two to head up. Mr Ng, on the other hand, had to wait as other people made their way down.
“My guide kept saying to wait. So I got stuck there for about 30 minutes. It’s not a comfortable place because it’s always windy over there. You get blasted with the wind,” said Mr Ng.
“I got a little bit worried after 35 minutes because my toes and fingers started to hurt, which meant that I needed to start moving soon.”
After an uncertain wait, the pair were eventually reunited at the summit. There was a sense of accomplishment for Mr Ng, but his next thoughts were on the descent.
“It was going to be a long, dangerous way down. It’s always in my mind,” he said.
“The summit really is a bonus. A lot of incidents, at least for me, happen when I’m coming down.”
LIKE STRIKING THE LOTTERY
The pair’s descent down the mountain was not easy. Mr Ng recalled how he fell a couple of metres towards the end of the Hillary Step.
“I slipped and fell down due to incorrect foot placement. Luckily, I was clipped on and I was grabbing on to the ropes,” he said.
“I managed to hit a ledge and managed to brace myself and stop the fall.”
By the time the pair returned to Camp Four, Mr Ng was losing some coordination in his legs due to the cold and fatigue. “We were just very tired and just needed to rest,” he said.
The couple hopes that their Everest adventure can inspire others, and said that resilience, courage and confidence are not defined by standing on the world’s highest peak.
“Every individual has their own Everest – personal challenges, uncertainties, and pressures that can feel just as formidable,” said Mr Ng.
“For many youths today, navigating an increasingly complex and fast-changing world can be overwhelming, but it is through these experiences that character is shaped and confidence is built.
“We hope our journey serves as a reminder that growth does not require extreme environments. What matters is the willingness to step out of one’s comfort zone, stay curious, and persevere through setbacks as these challenges are exactly what shape our character and build our grit.”
They plan to go on more adventures.
“Marrying her, I struck (lottery) because who else would go and climb these kinds of mountains and suffer with me?” said Mr Ng.
“She takes care of me, she makes sure I’m safe. I try to make sure she’s safe. We’ve been climbing together for a while already, so this was just another adventure of ours.”
As winds buffeted his tent on Camp Four, Mr Ng recalled how he felt cold and miserable.
But as was the case in adventures past, misery had company. In Mr Ng’s case, it was his fellow adventurer and wife.
“I told her it’s cold and miserable here, but at least I’m quite miserable here with you.”
Source: CNA/mt(mi)
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