The MacCoffee Tien Shan Expedition departed Singapore on July 20, 2005. [This report was filed two years late due to the expedition’s exclusive media arrangement— Ed.] We were soon inserted by helicopter onto the Siemienova Glacier at 3,943m. On July 24 we climbed our first peak, 4,374m, via the snowy southeast ridge. The peak lies on the Sigitova ridge, though it is not marked on our map (42°19.42'N, 80°3.589'E). We named it Temasek Peak. We believe this is the first virgin peak to be climbed by any Southeast Asian climbers, and we named it after the first name our Singapore island nation was known by, Temasek. The route: Ramses Ridge (Russian 3A/French PD). On July 26 we climbed our second peak, 4,589m (by GPS), marked as 4,550m on our map, by the north face, after negotiating hidden crevasse fields and deep snow. The hardest part was the steep upper section at 55°, where Rozani executed a good lead to the corniced summit (42°18.49'N, 80°0.788'E). We named this fairly tough mountain Singapura I Peak as it seemed to present the kind of challenges our nation faces. Rozani’s Route (Russian 3A/French PD+). On July 28 we made an abortive attempt on the steep, rocky east face of our third peak, 4,743m. This peak is un-marked on the map, but listed as an unclimbed summit. Loose, dangerous rubble forced a retreat. On July 29 we tried again via the long Siemienova Glacier and Siemienova Pass, and then up the east ridge, reaching the corniced summit at 10:30 a.m. (42.342666°N, 80.049020°E). This 4,743m peak is the highest in the vicinity, and we named it Ong Teng Cheong Peak, in honor of our late President Ong. Mr. Ong was the Patron of the 1st Singapore Everest Expedition in 1998, and his support for this mountaineering quest was invaluable. We dubbed the route Wilfred’s Ridge (Russian 3A/French PD). We called the aborted route from the east side Rabbit Gully.

David Lim, Singapore