Sports Hero

Mountain Craft‧Tam Chun Hung

What is Mountain Craft? Mountain Craft is an outdoor sport that encompasses mountaineering and camping. In this issue we interviewed Mr Tam Chun Hung, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Outdoor Development Association, who is also a mountain craft coach. Mr Tam came into contact with mountain craft five years after he graduated and later joined the China Hong Kong Mountaineering Union (now named China Hong Kong Mountaineering and Climbing Union). He started teaching mountain craft as an assistant in 1998 and obtained coaching qualifications in 2001. He has been teaching mountain craft for more than 14 years now and has become a full-time coach in recent years.

Mr Tam Chun Hung, the mountain craft coach

Mr Tam gained the Best Development Coach Award (Mountain Craft) many times

Promoting mountain craft - Safety comes first

Some people who engage in mountain craft are still careless with their preparation before setting off, and some even depart without preparing adequately, which leaves them out of options or results in them making the wrong choice when an accident happens, leading to serious consequences. Mr Tam said that it was very difficult for a coach to manage a team on a mountain, especially when it came to issues of team member disobedience because there were always a few people who refused to listen to orders or were underprepared. In fact, many accidents that take place in the mountains can be prevented, and accident prevention and handling methods can be learned in mountain craft courses. This will allow you to protect yourself and save other people.

Mr Tam has taught mountain craft for many years, and his greatest expectation for his students is that they can return safely from each journey, as well as remember and follow the mountain craft safety guidelines. If members have forgotten how to use their mountain craft skills, Mr Tam will always pair such a member with an experienced peer to help them just in case.

Mr Tam guided the participants of mountain craft certificate training course

The allure of mountain craft is being able to experience nature 

Mountain craft is an outdoor sport that is good for the mind and body and is suitable for all ages. Mr Tam said that being able to hike around with your close friends, enjoying the scenery and chatting about everything that comes to mind was a great joy of life. Standing in the embrace of nature, it seems like the refreshing air can cleanse your soul and take away the stresses of life, so this sport is very beneficial to the mental and physical health of city dwellers. More and more people are becoming enthusiasts of mountain craft in recent years. The first boom took place after the SARS outbreak when many citizens started to return to nature and pay attention to the health of their body and mind. Many people started to partake in mountain craft because of this.

The weather has a major influence over mountain craft activities. Hong Kong is very humid due to its proximity with the ocean, not to mention summer is the rainy season, so mountain trails can easily become slippery, which make hiking even more difficult; whereas in winter, it gets much colder in the mountains when it rains, so we must take the right measures to keep ourselves warm to protect ourselves.

Mr TAM taught the participants of level 2 mountain craft certificate training course

Public support has further promoted development

Public support has always been a strong source of support for the development of mountain craft, and the China Hong Kong Mountaineering and Climbing Union has spared no effort in proactively developing and training elite athletes, and regularly organizing mountain craft training classes and coach training classes, etc. The LCSD has also provided funding to help various community sports clubs organize mountain craft training classes, so as to expose more people in the community to mountain craft and attract them to participate to popularize this sport further.

Mr Tam considers providing service to mountaineering participants as his mission, and his short-term goal is to continue studying mountain craft with a group of like-minded friends, whereas his long-term goal is to train more coaches, so as to further promote this sport which enhances physical fitness and improves our temperament.