By Cho Jae-hyon
Staff Reporter
Oh Eun-sun, 43, was forced to give up her attempt to ascend the 8,091-meter Annapurna peak in Napal due to bad weather, delaying her goal to become the first woman in the world to scale all 14 peaks in the Himalayas above 8,000 meters until early next year.
Her sponsor Blak Yak, a climbing gear maker, said she had to retreat to the Annapurna base camp due to unfavorable weather conditions on Monday.
``Taking into consideration the safety of our team members and the difficulty in figuring out routes, we will return to the base camp, ending our bid to climb Annapurna,'' Oh was quoted as saying by the sponsor.
She reached a camp at the 5,100-meter point but could not make it further due to strong winds and thick fog.
Her sponsor said she will be able to resume her bid next year as climbing will be more difficult with winter approaching in the Himalayas.
She departed for Nepal for her final challenge on Sept. 14.
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, Mt. Everest.
The first climber to top all 14 mountains was Reinhold Messner of Italy in 1986. Koreans Park Young-seok, Eum Hong-gil and Han Wang-yong have also achieved the feat.