Korea Remembers Fallen Climbers

A memorial service was held yesterday for Korean climbers Park Young-Seok, Shin Dong-Min, and Kang Ki-Seok, who went missing on Annapurna last month. The three men were attempting to scale the mountain along a new route, but turned back before reaching the summit when they encountered treacherous conditions. They radioed back to Base Camp that they were descending, but were never heard from again.

Hundreds of mourners attended the memorial, including mountaineer Kim Jae-Bong, who was rescued by Park while climbing on Shisha Pangma some years back. Park was already a legendary figure in the Korean adventure community as he had become the first person to complete the "Adventure Grand Slam," which consists of not only climbing all 14 8000-meter peaks, but also reaching both the North and South Pole. Park was such a strong climber, that he once climbed six of those peaks in a single year, a feat of endurance that is very impressive indeed.

While the search for the missing climbers was brought to an end due to bad weather and deteriorating conditions, several members of the Korean Alpine Federation have vowed to return to Annapurna in the spring and continue looking for the missing men.

ExWeb also posted a report on the memorial, including a fitting quote from Park, who once said:

"Mountaineers must go to mountains, explorers must go to explore. Cities are no place for climbers. I have the destiny of the explorer, (my fate is) to explore till I die."

 Some may see this as a rather fatalistic or prophetic view of how he thought he would die, but I choose to see it more as a very insightful view of how he chose to live.

Search For Missing Annapurna Climbers Called Off

Explorers Web is reporting that search parties on Annapurna called off their efforts to find three missing Korean climbers on Friday after finding no trace of the men. Park Young Seok, Dong-Min Shin and Gi-Seok Gang all went missing a few weeks back after they made an attempt to summit the 8091 meter (26,545 ft) peak late in the Fall season. The last anyone heard from them was on October 18th, when they radioed their Base Camp to let their support team know that they were turning back after encountering treacherous conditions on the mountain. No trace of them has been found since.

Annapurna has a reputation for being very dangerous. The peak has the highest fatality rate of any of the 8000 meter peaks and it is particularly prone to avalanches on its upper slopes. It is believed that the three Koreans were swept off the mountain by one of those avalanches or that they fell into a crevasse while descending. Search teams spent days looking for any trace of them, going so far as to even descend into several crevasses, but they still found nothing.

My condolences to the friends and families of these three men, who perished while attempting a new route on Annapurna's South Face. They were strong climbers who died doing something they loved.

Himalaya Fall 2011: Annapurna Update

There isn't a whole lot of news from Annapurna yet regarding the Korean team that ran into problems on that mountain while making an ascent yesterday. ExWeb has posted an update to their story that does offer a few more clues however, and it isn't sounding good.

That last we heard from the team of Park Young Seok, Dong-Min Shin and Gi-Seok Gang they were heading up the mountain and hoping to make a summit bid today. It is believed that they ran into bad weather however and decided to descend instead, but what happened after that is still unclear.

ExWeb reports that several Search and Rescue teams have traveled to Annapurna, where they have discovered a rope believed to have been used by the trio of Koreans, but as of now, there is no sign of the climbers themselves. While they haven't given up looking for the men, the feeling is that they either fell into a crevasse or were swept off the mountain in an avalanche. You may recall that I noted in my original report on their climb that Annapurna is notorious for having frequent and powerful avalanches.

Either way, there is a good chance we'll never know what happened to the missing climbers. While the SAR team is still holding out some hope of finding them huddled in a tent somewhere, that seems increasingly unlikely.

Sad news indeed.

Himalaya Fall 2011: Climbers In Trouble On Annapurna?

Yesterday I reported that Explorers Web had the scoop on a late season attempt on Annapurna, in which a team of three Korean climbers were planning making a summit bid tomorrow. Today, it seems, the news from the mountain could be grim, as ExWeb now reports that the team's leader could be missing.

The details are still a bit sketchy, but it seems that the team experienced bad weather on their ascent and elected to turn back. What happened after that remains a mystery at the moment, but local reports seem to indicate that Park Young Seok may have perished on the mountain. According to ExWeb, a rescue operation is underway and a helicopter has scrambled out of Kathmandu to aid in the search.

I mentioned in my previous post that Annapurna, which is the 10th highest mountain on the planet at 8091 meters (26,545 ft), is perhaps the deadliest of all the 8000-meter peaks. The fatality rate on that mountain remains quite high, with avalanches being a real danger, particularly at the higher altitudes.

Lets keep our fingers crossed that all is will with Mr. Park and his two teammates, Dong-Min Shin and Gi-Seok Gang, and that we'll get a happy ending out of this story.

Himalaya Fall 2011: Late Season Push On Annapurna

Despite the fact that most of the teams have wrapped up their climbs, and gone home for the year, there is a late season update out of the Himalaya. According to ExWeb, a Korean team is now in position on the South Face of Annapurna, and hopes to make a summit bid later this week.

A three-man team of climbers led by Park Young Seok, that includes Dong-Min Shin and Gi-Seok Gang, spent part of the fall acclimatizing on Island Peak, a 6160 meter (20,210 ft) mountain located in eastern Nepal. After the completed that climb, the men traveled to Annapurna, arriving in Base Camp on October 9th, and have been busy fixing ropes and building camps ever since. Now, we have received word that they are on their way to the summit and hope to top out on Friday. ExWeb says they are also still considering the route of their descent, either along the normal southern route or by traversing across the mountain and going down along the North Side.

Annapurna is the 10th highest mountain in the world, reaching 8091 meters (26,545 ft) in height. It provides a considerable challenge to climbers however, with only 153 summits to date. Of those, 58 have died, which gives Annapurna the distinction of being the most dangerous of all of the 8000-meter peaks.

Hopefully the weather holds out and Annapurna's notoriously bad avalanches stay well away from the Korean team while they make their summit bid. I'll follow-up on the story as we learn more.

Himalaya 2011: Spring Season By The Numbers

Earlier today, ExWeb posted an excellent re-cap of the 2011 Spring Himalaya climbing season, breaking down all the stats and records, while putting it all into perspective for us. They have the scoop on the highs (pun intended!) and lows of another very busy spring in the mountains.

Amongst the stats that may be of interest is the fact that there were, according to ExWeb's count, roughly 680 summits in the Himalaya this year. Of those, about 500 took place on Everest alone. Remember, this is in a year that was said to be quieter than normal. That is a much higher number than what I had been led to believe, but the folks over at Explorers Web are bit more tapped in on those kinds of numbers, so I'm inclined to believe them. The remaining 180 summits were spread out across a variety of peaks, but of the 8000 meter mountains, nine saw successful summits, including Everest, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, Annapurna, and Shisha Pangma.

Most of the post is made up of a list of "firsts," which include the first summits on a variety of peaks by climbers from specific nationalities, as well as age records for the youngest and oldest to scale some of these mountains as well.

Finally, the post wraps things up on a solemn note with a run down of the climbers who lost their lives in the Himalaya this spring. That list is always too long, no matter the number on it, and is a sobering reminder of the dangers we all face when going to high altitude.

Himalaya 2011: Annapurna Summit, Aborted Attempt On Lhotse

Earlier today I posted an update on conditions around the Himalaya, particularly on Everest, with weather being the main focus. As I mentioned in that note, the region seems to be colder, windier, and and snowier than normal this time of year. But that isn't stopping some of the climbers, as we have word today of a successful summit on Annapurna and a failed bid on Lhotse.

ExWeb has the details on both stories, with the biggest news being that Italian mountaineer Abele Blanc has topped out on Annapurna. Details are a bit sparse, but for Abele this is the final 8000 meter peak on the list, which he finally conquered after six attempts. ExWeb notes that he even lost his best friend on the mountain back in 2005.

Standing 8091 meters (26,545 ft) in height, Annapurna is the 10th highest mountain in the world. That said, it is considered by many to be the hardest of the 8000-meter peaks to summit, and has highest fatality rate of any of those mountains, including K2.

Congrats to Abele for standing on top at last! Well done!

The other news item of note is that Czech climber Radek Jaroš had climbed to Camp 3 on Everest and was attempting a summit push on Lhotse, but elected to retreat due to heavy snow high on the Lhotse Face. As most of you know, the Everest and Lhotse share the same route for much of their climb, diverging at Camp 4, and with the news that the Sherpas have fixed the ropes up to the Yellow Band, located at about 28,000 feet on Everest, Jaroš has hoped to make a summit bid. The weather has thwarted that attempt however, and he is already headed back to BC.