Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

Chapter 335 - 146: Professional Mountaineering Team

Actually, to be precise, there are already three people there.

It’s obvious that these three are very experienced and extremely professional mountaineers. You can tell this from their attire and the equipment on the ground.

This is already the last camp to climb the main peak of Gongga Mountain, and from here onward, there are no camps for rest.

At the moment, the three people are setting up camp, and the altitude here has already exceeded 5,000 meters.

For Li Younan, it’s roughly like experiencing an altitude of one or two hundred meters.

Due to his high-altitude ancestry, for him, high-altitude areas need to subtract 5,000 to get his experienced altitude, so his condition is pretty good right now.

It’s apparent that the three mountaineers are making final preparations to climb Gongga Mountain, as it is already afternoon. If they climb Gongga Mountain right now, time would be tight, and if they delay slightly, they might end up climbing at night.

So, they definitely need to rest here for a night and climb up the next morning.

Just as Li Younan was sizing up the three people, they were also curiously looking at Li Younan.

Ding Rui looked at Zhao Liang: "Brother Zhao, what’s the situation with that person?"

Zhao Liang also lightly furrowed his brow.

His skin was dark, and he had a stubbly beard, looking like a middle-aged man with a lot of life experiences, but in reality, he was born in the 90s and is only in his early 30s.

He is the leader of the three.

Seeing someone arriving solo at a camp like this, how could it not be surprising?

Solo climbing Gongga Mountain?

Upon seeing Li Younan, the three of them simultaneously had this question pop into their heads.

Can you really solo climb Gongga Mountain? If not here for solo climbing, then why is he here? Or perhaps there’s a team behind him? If that’s the case, then his team members are quite far from him.

Regardless, meeting here is fate.

Zhao Liang waved his hand, motioning for Li Younan to come over.

Li Younan thought for a moment, and without pretension, he walked over in big strides.

...

After some communication, Li Youran roughly understood the background of the three.

Simply put, the three were the ones mentioned by the Tibetan herder Li Youran met at Wuque Camp who were going to climb Gongga Mountain.

The leader is called Zhao Liang, and this is his first time climbing Gongga Peak.

But before this, he has climbed many well-known peaks in China.

His plan is to climb Gongga Mountain and Mount Everest consecutively within this year.

Of course, since he placed Mount Everest after Gongga Mountain, he wasn’t planning to climb with commercial teams who could carry people up.

However, Li Youran did not inquire about the specifics.

The other two, one is called Ding Rui, the youngest among the three.

The other is called Gao Yonghui, who talks very little.

It’s the first time for all three to climb the main peak of Gongga Mountain.

As Li Younan previously guessed, they are doing final preparations here, planning to ascend tomorrow morning.

Upon understanding their situation, Li Younan naturally needed to share some of his own information.

There was a bit of awkwardness here, mainly because up to this point, Li Younan didn’t really know what identity brought him here.

Should he say he’s a mountaineer? That doesn’t seem right.

He hadn’t set ascending Gongga Mountain as the goal from the start.

He simply felt curious along the way, felt the path up front wasn’t too difficult or complex, and anticipated the road ahead wasn’t too dangerous, so he cautiously and eagerly tested the waters... reaching here.

Even now, he’s still holding this mindset.

The high death rate of Gongga Mountain’s main peak did make Li Younan a bit worried.

But if he weren’t a mountaineer, then his identity would be even more peculiar—this place almost can’t be a stop on a regular trekking route. Coming here basically serves one purpose, which is to ascend Gongga Mountain’s main peak.

With this strange background, Li Younan could only vaguely say he has thoughts of climbing Gongga Mountain’s main peak, but hasn’t completely prepared mentally yet.

Zhao Liang seemed to understand, thinking that any climber facing the most crucial, difficult, and last stretch needs mental preparation.

The only thing not fully comprehended was that Li Younan came alone?

Judging from what Li Younan disclosed, he was indeed alone.

That truly was... reckless.

After some basic exchange, Li Younan needed to set up his own tent.

He hesitated for a moment, initially planning to set up his tent close to the three—since the camp was only so big, with limited favorable terrain.

The three arrived first, naturally securing the best spots.

Li Younan thought for a while and decided to keep a bit of distance from them.

At least up until now, Li Younan, unsure whether to continue climbing, maintained a leisurely attitude while setting up camp.

In this harsh environment, low oxygen has become normal, no one would find camping here a pleasant experience, but to Li Younan, the only concern was the slight cold at this altitude.

Junior high school geography knowledge: for every one hundred meters increase in altitude, the temperature averages a decrease of 0.7 degrees.

The temperature here now is below minus ten degrees.

Continuing upward, this temperature will keep dropping.

Fortunately, warm clothing can effectively address this issue.

After swiftly setting up the tent, Li Younan even took time to dig some nearby snow to boil water, using a mountain stove to heat the water and wash his face, brushed his teeth.

Because Zhu Qingyue was no longer around, the two cans of mountain stove fuel he originally planned to use were barely consumed, allowing him to be a bit more extravagant, boiling a bit more water.

Besides, Li Younan also started cooking food.

Though the supplies he brought were just slightly tastier luncheon meat and instant noodles, compared to the three people over there munching on dry rations and compressed biscuits, it seemed much more comfortable.

However, there was something that puzzled Li Younan.

He sensed that those three fellows seemed not too eager to communicate with him.

According to Li Younan, being able to meet in such harsh conditions should be considered a fortunate encounter.

But since the other party wasn’t showing such enthusiasm, Li Younan saw no need to approach them actively.

Just as Li Younan finished preparing his meal and was about to enjoy it, the person named Zhao Liang approached proactively.

He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Brother, are you planning to go up tomorrow?"

Not knowing what the other person wanted by asking this, Li Younan still answered honestly, "I haven’t decided yet, maybe I’ll try climbing a bit further, and if it feels unmanageable, I’ll descend."

Upon hearing this, the other person frowned slightly and, after deliberating for a moment, slowly opened his mouth: "Brother, I haven’t asked in detail just now... What mountains have you climbed before?"

Li Younan smiled, "Not many, to be honest."

The other person gave a look of realization, then he seriously and earnestly said, "There’s an unwritten rule in mountaineering: no rescue above 5,000 meters."

Li Younan was stunned for a moment, looking at the other person’s expression, and after a moment suddenly realized something.

After realizing it... he smiled wryly.

Did they consider him a potential burden?

Li Younan found it somewhat amusingly perplexing.

He then said seriously, "Understood, I’m aware of this too."

Zhao Liang nodded, somewhat apologetically saying, "Because it’s our first time climbing Gongga Mountain, we’re not clear about the conditions up there, so... we wish you good luck."

Li Younan nodded and said, "Good luck to you too."

The brief exchange ended there.

Zhao Liang slightly sighed on his way back.

Though cruel, it’s indeed a harsh reality one must face during mountaineering.

They didn’t know what level of mountaineer Li Younan was, and they feared that if, at a height of 6,000 meters or more, something happened to Li Younan, leaving him perilously clinging to a slope, pleading for oxygen, pleading for rescue. At such a moment, is one to save or not to save?

Rescuing someone would likely endanger oneself.

In actual outdoor activities, people not on a similar skill level often reluctantly team up due to difficulties in gathering enough participants for group trips, forming a disorganized mix, leading to collective unconsciousness and losing individual rationality.

Under such circumstances, even on easier ordinary hiking trips, there are often instances where one gets bogged down by incompetent teammates.

Let alone on this journey towards one of China’s most challenging peaks, Gongga Mountain’s main peak.

Not just incompetent teammates, even slightly less skilled experienced mountaineers might become a hindrance on this climb.

The three of them had about the same technical skill level, and in the self-reliant mountaineering process, they could still offer each other limited assistance.

A low-quality companion or group cannot compare to the high quality of solo travel.

Their team was already formed, so it was natural to give Li Younan a heads-up in advance, clarifying the stakes involved.

This isn’t human coldness; everyone needs to be responsible for themselves, and as the team’s captain, he’s especially responsible for his teammates.

Returning to the two others, he sighed and said, "I’ve explained the situation to him, from tomorrow we should just ignore him after we set off. If he plans to go up, let him, but try to avoid engaging with him."

The other two nodded, indicating their understanding.

The next period was a time of patience and waiting.

What Li Younan didn’t know was that the brief discussion had caused the three others to fall into a tangled and contradictory internal struggle. After all, it involved human dilemmas.

Meanwhile, Li Younan was completely unconcerned with the previous encounter.

At that moment, his body showed no signs of oxygen deficiency, and he quickly crawled into his tent for a carefree and deep sleep, conserving energy.