As of 28 Apr, 2010
South Korean mountaineer Oh Eun-sun became the first woman to climb all 8,000-meter peaks in the world. Oh reached the summit of Annapurna (8091m) on April 27 to complete her illustrious campaign that she started by climbing Gasherbrum II (8,035m) in 1997. Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner was the first mountaineer to climb all eight-thousanders.
After reaching the summit, Oh pulled out a South Korean flag, raised her arms and shouted: 'Hurray! Hurray!!', promoting celebrations across South Korea that had been watching her climb live on television screen.
Annapurna was the last of the 14 peaks taller than 8,000 meters that Oh needed to climb to make history. Oh’s closest rival, Edurne Pasaban of Spain, scaled Annapurna this month but has yet to reach the summit of Shisha Pangma to match Oh’s feat.
However, Pasaban has raised questions about whether Oh actually reached the summit of Kanchanjunga, the world’s third-highest peak, last year.
Oh, 34, scaled 4 of the 14 peaks last year but retreated several hundred feet from Annapurna’s summit because of bad weather.
Less than 20 people have made it to the top of the 14 peaks, including three South Korean men. |
