Ada Tsang – educator and Mt. Everest Climber – on goal-setting, not timing yourself and not being your own barrier!
(This interview was conducted by and written by Avni Jain.)
In a world dominated by data, continuous tracking, and the obsession to mine value from every bit and byte of it, read our conversation with the educator and Mt. Everest climber Ada Tsang who offers contrarian advice of not timing yourself. And of course, some sweet old conventional wisdom! If you don’t know who Ada is, she’s the first woman from Hong Kong to summit Mt. Everest.
When was your first foray into hiking / climbing? How did the passion surface?
I have always been athletic since junior school and throughout university, and actively been part of sports clubs and teams bagging overall champion awards on sports days. I was an avid runner, basketball player and cyclist. By 2010, I had done the Oxfam Trailwalker six times and during 2008-2009, I did a 5000km bike trip from Sichuan – Lhasa – Urumqi. But I actually didn’t get serious about climbing until 2010.
When and why did you decide to summit Mt. Everest?
I am a teacher by profession. I have taught subjects ranging from Math to Liberal Studies to secondary school students. It was in 2010 when for my Life Education Class, I wanted to challenge my students to set goals for themselves, plan the journey and see them through to completion. And the smarties that my students are, they challenged me back to go and achieve something I thought was out of my reach at that point. And that’s when the thought of summiting Mt. Everest surfaced in my mind. Many of my students had high aspirations so I promised them that I’ll chart my journey with them and each of us will achieve our goals to meet on the other side.
You tried to summit in 2014 and 2015 but couldn’t. Following a 2-year recovery, you finally nailed it this time in 2017. What kept you going? Most people would quit. That’s a lot of perseverance, training, financial resources too, and…even a debilitating physical injury that you incurred on your second try.
It’s true that quitting is a natural human reaction to adversity. Personally for me, promises matter, and I wanted to achieve my goal for my students so they can go on to achieve their own dreams – NBA player, physiotherapist, and all the amazing careers they wanted to have.
After I failed in my first attempt, I wasn’t that demotivated because I knew serendipity had a role to play in summiting peaks such as Mt. Everest. It’s not just your fitness level and training but a lot depends on the weather, that’s just the nature of climbing! And that year in 2014 no one summited due to the avalanche so I wanted to give myself another shot. When the earthquake shook the mountain in 2015 during my climb, it thwarted my plans again, only to leave me with several injuries – a 6cm long fracture, two broken ribs, a blood clot in the brain that really affected my memory. But again, no climbers could summit in 2015.
When I started recovering, I resumed my training immediately and just hoped for the best that this time I would make it. I got back to Oxfam Trailwalker in 2015 and 2016, and finished in 15 hours.
There was a lot at stake for my third try to Everest. For the first two climbs, I could take leave from my school and there were generous Hongkongers who contributed financially. But this time around, I had to quit my job and self-fund the expedition, which did take a toll on my life in a way. I didn’t want my previous two failed expeditions to let down my students, my donors and my school. I also did not want to let my mom down, who despite not fully understanding what I was trying to achieve, supported me through thick and thin when I had to leave behind a stable job. So yes, that kept me going strong. The rest is history, as they say.
What have you sacrificed to achieve this dream?
Some might think that the things that I did to get here — namely quitting my job, saving all my salary for training and funding the expedition, riding a bike to school every day, not having a social life, prepping my own lunchbox and devoting nearly all my time to training — were sacrifices. But I don’t view them as such.
If it feels like a sacrifice, it’s not your dream.
What is your training strategy?
Don’t time yourself. I’ve learnt that timing myself actually hinders my performance. I just listen to my body. I don’t time my training sessions, I didn’t even time myself for the Eiger Ultra Trail. Now that I’m a sports coach, I tell my students the same thing: don’t look at the damn watch! When you try your absolute best, you don’t need to time yourself.
In one of your public talks, you mentioned your brother has had a big influence on you. How exactly? Also, how can men and boys actively take part in educating women around them about sports?
My brother is certainly my role model. He runs like the wind and it was because of him that I took the challenge of completing the Oxfam Trailwalker the first time around. At the time, even 100K was unfathomable. It was he who taught me the significance of core muscle training. He is probably a better athlete than me but there’s a difference in our ambitions. But we both believe in living life on our own terms and not merely fulfilling others’ expectations.
Personally, for as long as I have participated in team sports, my teammates have largely been boys and men. Their physical strength, training regimen and high ambitions have always pushed me to the extreme, both physically and mentally. In mixed teams, women can greatly benefit from those attributes. Sports or otherwise, and this is the talk of our time, boys and men need to mentor and sponsor women in all fields. If they already play something, the best way to get more girls and women involved is to suggest having more mixed teams. Ask girls and women in your immediate environments and communities to come to a tryout to something you are involved with! If they say they are not sure, ask again!
What’s your take on women in sports in Hong Kong?
I think HK women really set a line for themselves. They are their biggest self-barrier. Many women think they are too old to play sports. In the 101K Eiger Ultra Trail that I participated in July 2017 in Switzerland, most of the women were in their 40s and take a guess who are the top 5 finishers in my category? All over 45! And even in the Sky Running race on Lavaredo Ultra Trail in Italy that took place in June earlier this year, I saw the top finisher was a 70 year old man! So really, it’s all about perspective, about what you can and cannot.
You mentioned about charting your goal-setting journey with your students. How are some of your students, who you made promises to, faring with their goals?
(Laughs) Believe it or not, some are living the life I dreamed of! One of my previous Form 3 students who participated in Oxfam Trailwalker with me multiple times went on to become an Outward Bound coach, the selection of which is extremely hard and competitive – only 3 aspirants out of the shortlisted 13 made it to the final round when he applied and two got selected eventually. He was one of the two who got selected and in fact, the last one who stayed as the other selectee quit after some time. I was very passionate about becoming an Outward Bound coach myself but I’m proud that one of my students has managed to achieve this before me! The same guy also did something else I’ve always wanted to do – he participated in the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) race, one of the toughest foot races on the planet spanning 166km across the Alps in Europe, for which you need to accumulate race points from other qualifying races for participation.
And one of my Form 2 students is studying car design now. He took the road less travelled by pursuing a specialized car design course in England against his family’s wishes. One of my other students, who I knew had good logical reasoning skills but found it very hard to express himself, is now studying an aerospace engineering course at HKUST after undertaking a course with Cathay Pacific. I’m proud of students’ dreams and that they are promise keepers – as much as I am. It’s very important to protect and nurture child dreams. Growing up, people often forget what they really wanted, get caught up in life’s externalities and succumb to societal pressures.
How did you incorporate your own lessons from failure into your classroom teaching?
I try not to give out marks, at least wherever possible. And I think this goes back to the idea of not timing yourself. In the formative years, failing, being ranked or compared on quantitative metrics can be demoralizing for students. My Form 2 student who is studying car design … he never wanted to write anything, he always drew pictures in school to communicate his thoughts. But I never “marked” him and tried to encourage him by leaving qualitative comments. I’m more concerned about students improving than assessing their standing.
Will you continue teaching professionally? What is your next aspiration?
I might get back to teaching eventually but currently, I enjoy being a sports coach for the youth. Other than the things I’m part of, an immediate aspiration is to gather a group of 5-10 students aged 20-30 willing to train with me to do the trek to Everest Base Camp. It’s a stunningly scenic region that I would like more people, who are even slightly passionate about hiking, to explore and realize that anything can be done if they set their minds to it!
Which races / mountains can we see you acing in the near future?
I’m excited about participating in the 60K Ultra-Tour Mt. Siguniang in the high-altitude region of Sichuan and then the Osaka Marathon, both in November 2017. About the former, I have heard that no woman has ever finished it so I want to see what the route is holding for me. I’m also one of the chief organisers of the 200K Ultra Everest Race happening for the first time next year and am pretty excited about it![:zh]
Ada Tsang – educator and Mt. Everest Climber – on goal-setting, not timing yourself and not being your own barrier!
(This interview was conducted by and written by Avni Jain.)
In a world dominated by data, continuous tracking, and the obsession to mine value from every bit and byte of it, read our conversation with the educator and Mt. Everest climber Ada Tsang who offers contrarian advice of not timing yourself. And of course, some sweet old conventional wisdom! If you don’t know who Ada is, she’s the first woman from Hong Kong to summit Mt. Everest.
When was your first foray into hiking / climbing? How did the passion surface?
I have always been athletic since junior school and throughout university, and actively been part of sports clubs and teams bagging overall champion awards on sports days. I was an avid runner, basketball player and cyclist. By 2010, I had done the Oxfam Trailwalker six times and during 2008-2009, I did a 5000km bike trip from Sichuan – Lhasa – Urumqi. But I actually didn’t get serious about climbing until 2010.
When and why did you decide to summit Mt. Everest?
I am a teacher by profession. I have taught subjects ranging from Math to Liberal Studies to secondary school students. It was in 2010 when for my Life Education Class, I wanted to challenge my students to set goals for themselves, plan the journey and see them through to completion. And the smarties that my students are, they challenged me back to go and achieve something I thought was out of my reach at that point. And that’s when the thought of summiting Mt. Everest surfaced in my mind. Many of my students had high aspirations so I promised them that I’ll chart my journey with them and each of us will achieve our goals to meet on the other side.
You tried to summit in 2014 and 2015 but couldn’t. Following a 2-year recovery, you finally nailed it this time in 2017. What kept you going? Most people would quit. That’s a lot of perseverance, training, financial resources too, and…even a debilitating physical injury that you incurred on your second try.
It’s true that quitting is a natural human reaction to adversity. Personally for me, promises matter, and I wanted to achieve my goal for my students so they can go on to achieve their own dreams – NBA player, physiotherapist, and all the amazing careers they wanted to have.
After I failed in my first attempt, I wasn’t that demotivated because I knew serendipity had a role to play in summiting peaks such as Mt. Everest. It’s not just your fitness level and training but a lot depends on the weather, that’s just the nature of climbing! And that year in 2014 no one summited due to the avalanche so I wanted to give myself another shot. When the earthquake shook the mountain in 2015 during my climb, it thwarted my plans again, only to leave me with several injuries – a 6cm long fracture, two broken ribs, a blood clot in the brain that really affected my memory. But again, no climbers could summit in 2015.
When I started recovering, I resumed my training immediately and just hoped for the best that this time I would make it. I got back to Oxfam Trailwalker in 2015 and 2016, and finished in 15 hours.
There was a lot at stake for my third try to Everest. For the first two climbs, I could take leave from my school and there were generous Hongkongers who contributed financially. But this time around, I had to quit my job and self-fund the expedition, which did take a toll on my life in a way. I didn’t want my previous two failed expeditions to let down my students, my donors and my school. I also did not want to let my mom down, who despite not fully understanding what I was trying to achieve, supported me through thick and thin when I had to leave behind a stable job. So yes, that kept me going strong. The rest is history, as they say.
What have you sacrificed to achieve this dream?
Some might think that the things that I did to get here — namely quitting my job, saving all my salary for training and funding the expedition, riding a bike to school every day, not having a social life, prepping my own lunchbox and devoting nearly all my time to training — were sacrifices. But I don’t view them as such.
If it feels like a sacrifice, it’s not your dream.
What is your training strategy?
Don’t time yourself. I’ve learnt that timing myself actually hinders my performance. I just listen to my body. I don’t time my training sessions, I didn’t even time myself for the Eiger Ultra Trail. Now that I’m a sports coach, I tell my students the same thing: don’t look at the damn watch! When you try your absolute best, you don’t need to time yourself.
In one of your public talks, you mentioned your brother has had a big influence on you. How exactly? Also, how can men and boys actively take part in educating women around them about sports?
My brother is certainly my role model. He runs like the wind and it was because of him that I took the challenge of completing the Oxfam Trailwalker the first time around. At the time, even 100K was unfathomable. It was he who taught me the significance of core muscle training. He is probably a better athlete than me but there’s a difference in our ambitions. But we both believe in living life on our own terms and not merely fulfilling others’ expectations.
Personally, for as long as I have participated in team sports, my teammates have largely been boys and men. Their physical strength, training regimen and high ambitions have always pushed me to the extreme, both physically and mentally. In mixed teams, women can greatly benefit from those attributes. Sports or otherwise, and this is the talk of our time, boys and men need to mentor and sponsor women in all fields. If they already play something, the best way to get more girls and women involved is to suggest having more mixed teams. Ask girls and women in your immediate environments and communities to come to a tryout to something you are involved with! If they say they are not sure, ask again!
What’s your take on women in sports in Hong Kong?
I think HK women really set a line for themselves. They are their biggest self-barrier. Many women think they are too old to play sports. In the 101K Eiger Ultra Trail that I participated in July 2017 in Switzerland, most of the women were in their 40s and take a guess who are the top 5 finishers in my category? All over 45! And even in the Sky Running race on Lavaredo Ultra Trail in Italy that took place in June earlier this year, I saw the top finisher was a 70 year old man! So really, it’s all about perspective, about what you can and cannot.
You mentioned about charting your goal-setting journey with your students. How are some of your students, who you made promises to, faring with their goals?
(Laughs) Believe it or not, some are living the life I dreamed of! One of my previous Form 3 students who participated in Oxfam Trailwalker with me multiple times went on to become an Outward Bound coach, the selection of which is extremely hard and competitive – only 3 aspirants out of the shortlisted 13 made it to the final round when he applied and two got selected eventually. He was one of the two who got selected and in fact, the last one who stayed as the other selectee quit after some time. I was very passionate about becoming an Outward Bound coach myself but I’m proud that one of my students has managed to achieve this before me! The same guy also did something else I’ve always wanted to do – he participated in the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) race, one of the toughest foot races on the planet spanning 166km across the Alps in Europe, for which you need to accumulate race points from other qualifying races for participation.
And one of my Form 2 students is studying car design now. He took the road less travelled by pursuing a specialized car design course in England against his family’s wishes. One of my other students, who I knew had good logical reasoning skills but found it very hard to express himself, is now studying an aerospace engineering course at HKUST after undertaking a course with Cathay Pacific. I’m proud of students’ dreams and that they are promise keepers – as much as I am. It’s very important to protect and nurture child dreams. Growing up, people often forget what they really wanted, get caught up in life’s externalities and succumb to societal pressures.
How did you incorporate your own lessons from failure into your classroom teaching?
I try not to give out marks, at least wherever possible. And I think this goes back to the idea of not timing yourself. In the formative years, failing, being ranked or compared on quantitative metrics can be demoralizing for students. My Form 2 student who is studying car design … he never wanted to write anything, he always drew pictures in school to communicate his thoughts. But I never “marked” him and tried to encourage him by leaving qualitative comments. I’m more concerned about students improving than assessing their standing.
Will you continue teaching professionally? What is your next aspiration?
I might get back to teaching eventually but currently, I enjoy being a sports coach for the youth. Other than the things I’m part of, an immediate aspiration is to gather a group of 5-10 students aged 20-30 willing to train with me to do the trek to Everest Base Camp. It’s a stunningly scenic region that I would like more people, who are even slightly passionate about hiking, to explore and realize that anything can be done if they set their minds to it!
Which races / mountains can we see you acing in the near future?
I’m excited about participating in the 60K Ultra-Tour Mt. Siguniang in the high-altitude region of Sichuan and then the Osaka Marathon, both in November 2017. About the former, I have heard that no woman has ever finished it so I want to see what the route is holding for me. I’m also one of the chief organisers of the 200K Ultra Everest Race happening for the first time next year and am pretty excited about it!