Photographer with a passion to film from highest points
Print Edition
Li Guoping is 60 years old and the conqueror of some of the world’s highest mountains, driven ever upward by his passion for photography.
A former volleyball coach born in Sichuan Province, Li carried an American explorer’s camera gear on a trip to the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet in 1997, and that was when he began to think about photography.
In 2005, he was a member of the support staff for a scientific expedition to Mount Qomolangma. He took photos of glaciers for the first time and fell in love with capturing the plateau landscape.
Li made up his mind to visit all eight of China’s peaks over 8,000 meters, with his camera. “Walking at high altitude can be extremely dangerous. You could be killed at any moment by a rift on glacier or avalanche
His first brush with death was in 2010 on a mountain in northwest China’s Qinghai Province. He stepped on a scree slope, slipped and began a calamitous descent toward a cliff edge, unable to gain purchase on the loose stones running under his feet.
“I thought it was all over and just closed my eyes,” he said. He came to a stop when he hit a protruding rock just a few meters from the precipice. Collecting himself, he marched onward to the top of the mountain.
“At the peak, I saw the beautiful curve of the river passing through the mountains and knew that all the hardship was worthwhile,” he said.
Li has spent about two thirds of his time in the mountains during the past 10 years and has been to all 14 of the world’s mountains over 8,000 meters. His work is bought by tourist magazines and web sites.
Li always climbs on his own. Once he got stranded by an unexpected rainfall on an glacier in Tibet. He had to spend the night in an ice cave on the glacier.
“I was in T-shirt and shorts since I had planned to be finished within a day,” he said. He kept warm by jogging in the cave.
He has been to Tibet over 100 times and even has a glacier he discovered there named after him. He has reached Mount Qomolangma’s summit 20 times.
To get through the tough times alone in a world of ice and snow, Li sings, practices his calligraphy and even plays chess with himself.
Li is also interested in nature. “I can vividly see the effects of climate change. Many of the glaciers I visit have retreated noticeably during my 10 years photographing them.”
“My family was against me at the beginning, but they soon came around after seeing the photos,” he said.
He once left a note for his daughter saying “If I don’t return from the plateau, don’t come to look for me, for I will have returned to the arms of nature.”
Years on the mountains have taken their toll on his knees and neck, but he has no plan to retire. “As long as my knees support me, I will continue walking the glaciers,” he said.
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