Ordinary people can hardly imagine how it is to stand ― let alone struggle hard ― 8,000 meters above sea level. This is why climbers say only those allowed by the gods can stand on the summits of all 14 Himalayan peaks with that altitude. On Tuesday, a 44-year-old Korean became the 20th person, and the first woman, to do so in the world.
Even more surprising was Oh Eun-sun, a 155-centimeter, 47-kg climber, made this historic accomplishment with no supplementary oxygen while carrying a knapsack almost half her weight, as she did on 11 other Himalayan peaks.
She deserves applause from not just her compatriots but global mountaineers for the sheer courage, physical strength and willpower required to write a new page in the world's mountaineering history. It took Oh only 13 years to conquer all of what climbers call the ``eight-thousanders" since she first set foot on the roof of the Earth in 1997. In two years, she managed to climb nine Himalayan peaks.
With the joining of Oh, Korea now has the largest number of the world's greatest climbers at four: Eom Hong-gil who became the first Asian to climb the 14 peaks in 2000; Park Young-seok, the world's first grand slammer of mountaineering who also conquered the highest mountains on all the continents, including the Arctic and Antarctic; and Han Wang-yong, famous as a ``green climber" for collecting trash other climbers had left in the Himalayas.
It's amazing that this country, a latecomer in global mountaineering, has produced these world-renowned climbers in just a decade. Although Korea is a mountainous country with 70 percent of its terrain consisting of hills and peaks, South Korea has no mountains higher than 2,000 meters. Perhaps the national hiking fervor, which fills almost every valley and peak with people on weekends, might be behind the nation's strength.
The only fly in the ointment is a dispute over Oh's ascent of Kanchenjunga, one of the 14 highest Himalayan peaks, in May last year, which stems from a photo Oh and her Sherpa said she took at the top. We hope Oh will be able to end suspicions and win due recognition for her record by experts as soon as possible.
Nationalism and mountaineering may not mix well together, but it is regrettable that a Korean group first took issue with Oh's ascent probably out of undue rivalry at home.
Fair competition among commercial sponsors helps to develop the nation's climbing sports. But too much rivalry can lead to unfortunate accidents and sully otherwise sublime quests to overcome human limitations.
It was all the more desirable in this regard that Oh carried and buried the picture of her deceased rival, Ko Mi-young, at the top of Annapurna.
Oh's historic feat should serve as an occasion for the domestic mountaineering circles to refrain from petty rivalry and move toward higher and grander goals. They might as well start with making joint efforts to find two climbers who went missing while climbing Manaslu on April 24.