By: randosteve|Posted on: June 18, 2008|Posted in: Inspire, People | 5 comments

Ciren Wang Mu
Ciren Wang Mu carried the Olympic torch to the summit of Mount Everest.

Now I don’t want to get into the whole political side of China and the Olympics, but I don’t think they should have closed off the mountain for this event and I will say I think the Olympics shouldn’t be about politics…but more about peace. I’m sure others have their own views on this subject…but I think it was a cool publicity stunt non-the-less

Anyway, a group of Chinese climbers on exchange through the American Alpine Club (and staying at the Climber’s Ranch) visited the store the other day, and it turns out a few of them were part of the team that carried the Olympic torch to the top of Mount Everest last month. To top it off, Ciren Wang Mu, who actually carried it on the final push to the summit was there too. They didn’t speak much English, but I did learn a little about the event…and of course lent them my expertise and advice on some gear questions they had.

Anyway, it turns out the team consisted of about 36 selected Chinese climbers and a special jet power torch was stored in a concealed box for most of the climb. When the team was 200M from the summit, the remaining members transferred the flame to a different torch…and took turns carrying it to the top.