 Oh Eun-sun became Korea’s first and the world’s third female mountaineer to conquer the 11 highest Himalayan peaks on Thursday by climbing to the top of the 8,167-meter-high Dhaulagiri. / Korea Times |
Staff Reporter
South Korean Oh Eun-sun, 43, became Korea's first and the world's third female mountaineer to conquer the 11 highest Himalayan peaks, her agency said Friday.
The Black Yak said Oh climbed to top of the 8,167-meter-high Dhaulagiri ㅡ the seventh highest peak among 14 highest Himalayan mountains ㅡ at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
``She was confirmed to have stood at the top without oxygen,'' said Kang Tae-seon, head of her agency. ``It took about 12 hours for her to reach the top after leaving her third and last base camp established at 7,300 meters.''
The world record is held by Gerlinde Kaltenbrunne, 39, of Austria and Spain's Edurne Pasaban, 36, both of whom have reached the 12 highest Himalayan peaks.
Oh achieved the unprecedented feat only 15 days after she conquered the 8,586-meter-high Kanchenjunga on May 6 without oxygen, the agency said.
Conquering the 14 highest mountains in the Himalayas has been her long-cherished dream, with only 13 people in the world including South Korean climbers Um Hong-gil, Park Young-seok, and Han Wang-yong making it.
She plans to climb Nanga Parbat, 8,126 meters; Hidden Peak, 8,068 meters; and Annapurna, 8,091 meters in the near future.
Oh is scheduled to return to Seoul on Monday and will then leave for Pakistan next month to climb Nanga Parbat and the Hidden Peak by July.
In an interview before her departure, she said, ``Since there is no woman in the world who has climbed all 14 summits, I hope I will be the first."
``By conquering the 14 world's tops, I would like to give hope to Korean people suffering from the slumping economy,'' she said.
She first drew attention in 1997 by climbing to the top of the 8,035-meter-high GasherbrumⅡ. In 2004, Oh became the first Asian woman to conquer the world's highest peak, Mount Everest.
Born in 1966, Oh majored in engineering at the University of Suwon in Gyeonggi Province. She is the first Korean woman to climb the seven highest peaks on all seven continents.
pss@koreatimes.co.kr
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