April 17, 2010
South Korean Woman Feels Very Very Peaky
A little South Korean climber with the tantalisingly brief name Ms Oh has reached the top of Annapurna in Nepal and claimed a record for becoming the first woman to scale the world’s 14 highest peaks. But mountaineering afficiandos are less than convinced apparently.
Oh Eun-sun was shown live on television planting a South Korean flag on the summit of the mountain. This is something of an achievement – because apparently there are only 14 peaks in the entire world over 8,000 meters. So from now on, the only way for Miss Oh is down.
But there is still a row over Ms Oh’s 2009 ascent of another Himalayan peak, with some disputing whether she reached the top. I am used to the ideea that footballers cheat. But finding that mountaineers might be less than honesties a bit of an eye-opener.
She is due to be questioned about that climb on her return from Annapurna.
Ms Oh threw her arms up in celebration after crawling on all fours for the final stretch to the summit, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Poor weather last weekend prevented Ms Oh from reaching the summit of Annapurna, at 26,545 feet (8,091 metres) - a notoriously difficult peak to climb.
Her nearest rival in the 14-peaks quest, Spanish climber Edurne Pasaban, has expressed scepticism about her claim to have reached the summit of Kangchenjunga in 2009.
Strangely the key decisions on who has done what in the world of Himalayan ascents are made by Elizabeth Hawley, an 86-year-old American based in Kathmandu, whose research is recorded in the Himalayan Database. I am sure there is an interesting reason why this is so – but seeing as no Britons are involved in this particular story, I guess we’ll never know.
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