This year, the football field at the Cheung Chau North Emperor Temple Amusement Park hosted the Bag Mountain Championship, and Janet Kung successfully defended her title, winning the Bag Mountain crown for the second consecutive year after her victory in 2022.
In an interview, Janet shared that unlike previous years, she did not undergo specialized training for a month leading up to the championship this year, but instead relied on her regular ice climbing regimen.
Ice climbing refers to the activity of scaling ice waterfalls, cliffs, or wooden structures using ice axes and crampons. Due to the overhanging nature of the ice walls or falls, it requires greater forearm strength compared to rock climbing.
Janet graduated from Hong Kong Metropolitan University with a nursing degree and worked as a full-time nurse after graduation, a job that is full of challenges. In 2023, she represented Hong Kong and participated in the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup, which was held in five countries. Last October, she bravely resigned from her full-time nursing role and became a freelance nurse, giving her more flexible time to focus on her training.
Giving up a stable income to choose a more flexible and free-time lifestyle, another year has passed. Some may wonder how she maintains her standard of living. For Janet, the change in income was something she had anticipated. Even though her living expenses and savings have become tighter than before, she has no regrets.
She mentioned, “When opportunities arise, you have to seize them, and this was a choice I made, knowing full well the difficulties involved.” While she works hard to secure funding, she believes it is more important to focus on herself, maintain peak physical condition, and continue to strive for better rankings in the world championships.
On the path to pursuing her dreams, some may think she is foolish to choose to train in ice climbing in Hong Kong, a place without any mountains. Naturally, there is a lack of practice venues, and she can only rely on some rock climbing facilities that provide simulated ice climbing walls for her daily training. But from another perspective, she has not been limited by Hong Kong’s or her own resources. Her courageous decision to step out of her comfort zone and develop her ice climbing skills is truly admirable, and it shows that Janet knows exactly what she wants in the present and the future.
Many may know that her ultimate goal is to challenge Mount Everest’s ice climbing, but she is aware that despite her physical and mental readiness, the financial constraints are still a long way from achieving this goal. Instead, she will focus on her current performance in the world ranking competitions, striving for continuous improvement, and then venture to Nepal or other mountains to accumulate more experience and enhance her stability.