By Park Si-soo
The Sherpa who accompanied climber Oh Eun-sun’s disputed ascent of Kangchenjunga last year asserted that the Korean climber reached the top of the 8,586-meter peak.
The Sherpa, Pema Tshirins, was one of the three climbing guides during the expedition. One of the other two, Dawa Ongju, also insists the 44-year-old Korean reached the summit while the other, Nurbu, has claimed she failed.
Pema had kept silent over the dispute so far and it is the first time for him to give an interview to a media outlet, Yonhap News Agency said.
“We (the three Sherpas) were staying with Oh when she stood at the summit of the mountain,” Pema told Yonhap. “There was no more to climb. It was the summit.”
Asked why he was sure it was the top, the 38-year-old Nepali said, “One of the other Sherpas there had conquered the top four times.”
Pema also said there was no disagreement among the three Sherpas during their climb to the summit, refuting Nurbu’s allegation that there was a heated argument between the Sherpas and Oh. He has conquered eight peaks over 8,000 meters 14 times, according to Yonhap.
The latest remark in favor of Oh came amid growing skepticism over her historic achievement, which was fanned by an SBS TV investigative program two weeks ago.
It was fueled further by the Korean Alpine Federation (KAF)’s announcement against Oh’s claim last week, dealing a major blow after having been crowned the first woman to top all of the world’s 14 highest peaks. The KAF is the largest alpine organization in the country.
“Oh probably failed to reach the top of the Himalayan mountain,” said Lee Eui-jae, a KAF secretary general. “This is an official ruling we have made after taking into account material and evidence available.”
Spain’s Edurne Pasaban, who achieved the 14-peak feat just weeks later than Oh, said Saturday she “hopes to be recognized as the first woman” to achieve the feat.
Key material challenging Oh’s title was photos of her allegedly taken at the top of Kangchenjunga, the background of which was so blurry that experts said it was hard to confirm whether they were taken at the top of the mountain.
“There were stones and rocks up there. So she took photos of herself there,” said the Sherpa. “For instance, photos at the top of Everest could look starkly different depending on time and weather.”
The Sherpa underscored no matter how poor the photos were, it’s not proper to say that she failed to reach the top.
Oh will soon organize a media briefing to refute the latest controversy. In a phone interview with The Korea Times on Tuesday, she said, “I’m collecting evidence to perfectly prove my ascent and eliminate sources of dispute.”