From Mount Everest to deserts, this hedge fund founder is a globetrotting adventure seeker

Leow with Dr Lotay Tshering, Prime Minister of Bhutan. (Photo: Snowman Race)

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Since then, Leow has completed endurance races such as the 4 Deserts Ultramarathon series, a four-race series of 250km across deserts around the world, self-supported races across the Namib, Gobi and Atacama deserts, and The Last Desert in Antarctica. In addition, he completed the 171-km Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, which has an elevation gain of 9,963m.

His most harrowing experience was attempting the Triple Crown, consecutive summits of three of Nepal’s highest peaks — Everest (8,848m), Lhotse (the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516m), and Nuptse (7,861m) — in 2018. He was hit by two avalanches while climbing Mount Everest, and he pulled out of the Nuptse climb when his experienced sherpa nearly lost his footing on the steep, rock-hard and icy surface.

The father of two young children recalls: “I started thinking about how Ueli Steck, the world’s best alpinist in my opinion, had slipped and died on Nuptse the year before. Sherpas found his body in multiple pieces at the foot of the mountain. At that moment, I felt like I might not make it back home. When I have put in 100 per cent effort into the climb, it is okay to admit failure. You don’t stop when the going gets tough, but when the going becomes unsafe.”

Even so, he achieved the Double High feat by summiting Everest and Lhotse within 24 hours, making him the first Singaporean to accomplish this feat.
Climate change is the antithesis of social mobility. The wealthy can take care of themselves by undertaking climate resilience projects, but poorer communities bear the brunt of the consequences of climate change in terms of deaths and livelihoods.

Less than half of Snowman Race participants finished the gruelling route. (Photo: Snowman Race)

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Last year, Leow participated in the inaugural Snowman Race in Bhutan. The five-day, 203-km race began in Gasa in northwestern Bhutan and ended in the central district of Bumthang, reaching an elevation of 5,470m at the highest point.

As the race went along, the effects of climate change could be seen on the remains of villages swept away by unprecedented torrential rainfall and formerly non-existent glacial lakes in earlier years. The Snowman trail typically requires 20 to 25 days to complete and has been conquered by fewer than those who have summited Mount Everest.

The challenge was irresistible for the man who has always pushed himself to be the best he can be and has no fear of failure. Leow says: “I have never faced something that I couldn’t overcome until I participated in the Snowman Race. I have climbed the highest mountains in the world, and I have run crazy long distances across harsh terrain before. But combining the two most difficult aspects of endurance sports — height and distance — was something I had never done before, and I wanted to find out if I was up for the challenge.”

As a result of the gruelling route, more than half of the 29 international runners failed to finish, either due to lack of time or a lack of confidence in surviving the terrain, says Leow, who was evacuated from a night stop when his oxygen saturation levels were found to be in the low 55 to 60 per cent range during a routine health check.

A key goal of the race is to raise awareness of climate change. (Photo: Snowman Race)

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The race raised environmental awareness, which was particularly important to Leow, who started Quantedge Foundation in 2015 with his business co-founder to fund and work with organisations to support social mobility projects in Singapore and the region.

According to Leow, “Climate change is the antithesis of social mobility. The wealthy can take care of themselves by undertaking climate resilience projects, but poorer communities bear the brunt of the consequences of climate change in terms of deaths and livelihoods.

Leow’s next challenge is K2, the world’s second-tallest peak, whose inclement weather makes it more difficult and dangerous. As with everything he does, he adheres to his philosophy of making wise choices and doing one’s best.

“When things get unsafe, whether for your physical safety or your relationships, know when to back off or turn down. Do not overcommit.”