Thirteen Chinese scientists successfully reached the summit of the Mount Qomolangma in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on May 23, 2023. Photo: Xinhua

The Xizang Mountaineering Guide Association (XMGA) published a new Himalayan mountaineering guide standardization scheme on Wednesday as people celebrated the 70th anniversary of the first successful expedition to reach the summit of Mount Qomolangma, commonly known in the West as Mount Everest, and the 7th mountaineering guide festival held in Lhasa, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

Ciren Sangzhu, chairman of the Xizang Mountaineering Association and Mountaineering Guide Association, introduced the application, training, assessment and certification of the standardized professional mountaineering guide scheme, which is designed to tighten the management of China's mountaineering guides.

A mountain guide is a professionally trained mountaineer with extensive mountain experience. The guide is responsible for leading other climbers in a commercial mountaineering team. In addition to the basic skills required 

 for mountaineering such as rock climbing and ice climbing, a mountaineering guide also needs to master comprehensive knowledge and skills such as first aid, foreign languages and mountain history and culture. Mountain guides are also responsible for rescue operations and environmental protection during the climbing season, according to the information released by XMGA. 

According to a recent report by New Weekly magazine, 2023 may be the year with the highest number of deaths on Mount Qomolangma. As of June, the number of dead and missing people has reached 17.

In May, pictures of climbers getting stuck in a traffic jam on the route to the peak of Mount Qomolangma went viral on Chinese social media. The 70th anniversary of first human being to reach the summit of Mount Qomolangma and a pent-up demand after the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to the surging number of climbers braving the world's tallest peak. 

Lazhen, an official from the Xizang Mountaineering Association, told the Global Times that they started drafting the scheme in 2017. She said the scheme classifies professional guides into junior, intermediate and senior guides with a progressive certification system.

"You can't be a guide by just scaling some mountains. We want to have a standardized scheme for professional mountain guides. It takes over seven years of training to be certified as a senior guide," she said. 

"Our vision is to make it an authoritative vocational certificate in China, just like the Certificate of Teacher's Qualification," she noted. 

Huang Weiji, a guide with the Sichuan Mountaineering Association, told the Global Times that it's necessary to have a standardized scheme to regulate the industry.

"The quality of mountain guides varies greatly, as some guides only know how to lead a horse. We need a standardized scheme because it's life-or-death our there," said Huang, who reached the summit of Mount Qomolangma in 2021.

Under the technical and safety guidance of mountaineering guides, average climbers are able to try climbing the snow-capped mountains.

Currently, most of the guides in Xizang come from the Lhasa Himalayan Mountaineering Guide School. Since the school's inception in 1999, a total of 280 students have graduated. Five of them have reached the peak of Mount Qomolangma more than 15 times, according to XMGA.