Teo Yen Kai
Secretary and Logistics/Gear

A second year student in Mechanical Engineering, Yen Kai is always interested in self-improvement, self-motivation and learning.

A self-confessed nature-lover, Yen Kai loves the sight of lakes and mountains. He has trekked to Malaysia's Mt. Kinabalu in 1999 and Mt. Ophir in 2000. Yen Kai also enjoys the view under water and is certified in Advanced Open-Water Scuba-Diving.

However, his first passion is rock-climbing which he learned as a member of the Outdoor Activities Club in Jurong Junior College. He furthered this interest by obtaining the Sport-Climbing Level 1 certificate in NUS and practising relentlessly at the NUS rock gym.

Yen Kai likes to challenge himself physically and mentally, and is always seeking new knowledge. The NUS Everest Programme was his ticket to realising his dream of becoming a competent mountaineer, and learning skills from experienced mountaineers such as Dr Robert Goh.

Under the NUS Everest Programme, Yen Kai has gained a wealth of experience vital for the coming Everest climb in 2005. In December 2002, he successfully completed a 10-day Technical Mountaineering Course in New Zealand. Putting the skills learnt to use, he managed to summit Mera not once, but twice, with the NUS Everest Team in May 2003. In February 2004, with fellow team members, he attended an intensive 5-day ice-climbing course in remote village north of Beijing, China. Later in the year, he and his teammates experienced one of the worst seasons for inclement weather in recent history in their attempt on Gasherbrum II (8035m) in June. Due to the weather, the team only managed to reach a height of 6500 metres. However, just 3 months later, he finally had a taste of success when he summited Cho Oyu (8201m) on 18th September 2004. In Janurary 2005, he went to Sichuan, China for another round of ice climbing, during which he summited "Da Feng"(5025m) of the SiGuNian Valley.

"It excites me that this is a programme where there is a plethora of skills to be learnt - both technical skills like crevasse rescue, as well as soft skills necessary for expedition planning," he said.

Favorite quote : Discipline decides destiny.