Mass rock wall climb set record

450 people climbed a combined height of 11,872 metres in the first ever Mass Rock Climb in Singapore.

It created a new Singapore Record during the Games Involving Fitness and Teamwork (GIFT) Carnival II held on Saturday at Springfield Secondary School in Tampines

GIFT Carnival II is an annual sports carnival jointly organized by Tampines West Constituency Club (CSC), and six schools in Tampines, namely Tampines Primary School, Junyuan Primary School, East View Primary School, Junyuan Secondary School, Tampines Secondary School and Springfield Secondary School.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Home Affairs, the Guest-of-Honour at the Carnival flagged off the first wave of climbers.

The first wave of the Mass Climbing Event comprised Joanne Soo, a member of NATAS Singapore Women's Everest Team, climbers from the six schools and Tampines West CSC.

After four hours of climbing, the total combined height of 11,872 metres was achieved surpassing the target of 9,000 metres and well above Mt Everest's height of 8,842 metres.

In addition to the event, students from the six schools competed in other games such as soccer, 3-on-3 basketball, floor ball and captain's ball. The carnival also featured stalls and other fringe events.

Mr Dick Hui BBM, Chairman of Tampines West CSC, hoped that this Singapore Record will inspire more students from the six schools in Tampines West to take up adventure sports and in particular rock wall climbing.