Spanish climber says she was 2nd to scale 14 highest peaks

By Park Si-soo

Staff reporter

Spanish climber Edurne Pasaban conceded Sunday that she was the "second woman" to scale the world's 14 highest peaks following South Korean climber Oh Eun-sun.

But Pasaban had doubts over Oh's historic achievement last month, urging the Korean to prove she conquered Kanchenjunga in May last year, a 8,586-meter peak. Oh's ascent to its summit remains disputed for a lack of hard evidence.

"I accept I am the second," Pasaban told reporters in Nepal's capital, Katmandu, according to The Associated Press.

However, Pasaban questioned whether the Korean had actually conquered the highest mountains. "She still has not shown us photographs of all the summits she has climbed. She says she has proof but so far has not shown it," AP quoted Pasaban as saying. Oh has refuted the allegations.

Pasaban challenged Oh's climb of Kanchenjunga in 2009, saying she was also on the mountain at that time and the weather was terrible. She said Oh needs to produce photos of her on the summit, AP reported.

"The photo she showed has rocks in the background but the summit area at the time was fully covered with snow," Pasaban said.

The 44-year-old Korean became the first woman to conquer the world's 14 highest mountains over 8,000 meters when she reached the top of the 8,091-meter Annapurna in Nepal last month.

Oh replied to the question whether she really scaled the peak at a KBS talk show earlier this month, Oh said that: "The god of Kanchenjunga knows that. And I've never deceived the god."

The Nepalese government has issued Oh a climbing certificate saying she has scaled Kanchenjunga.

Commenting on the dispute, Elizabeth Hawley, a renowned American mountaineering journalist and historian with a judge-like status in the world of international climbing, acknowledged Oh as the first woman to scale the world's 14 highest peaks after an intensive interview early this month.