KOREAN NANGA PARBAT EXPEDITION LEADER HONG KI KUN
Kwon Oh Soo keeps his words on Nanga Parbat summit
JULY20-2000
By
Asem Mustafa Awan
ISLAMABAD
— Thirty-five year old Kwon Oh Soo lived up to his promise which he made
with his juniors in Korea that it will be them who will make the summit of
Nanga Parbat before him.
Nine
member Korean millennium expedition returned to capital very happy after
putting three members on the summit on July 9 which was the first ascent
of peak during the season.
The
first one to reach the summit at 8125 metres was Kwon Oh Soo who was the
climbing leader but he stopped a few metres before the summit. Kown Oh Soo
waited for his junior team members Lee Hong Kil who came after half an
hour at 1:30 pm followed by Lee Hwa Hyeung who made the summit at 2:00 pm.
Kwon
Oh Soo while waiting also lit up a Korean cigarette 'This' and smoked it
few metres below the summit to keep his promise.
"I
feel great. It was promise that I made in Korea and I am very happy that I
lived up to my words," said Kwon Oh Soo.
The
expedition sponsored by Posco Steel represented Kyungsangbuk-Do Alpine
Federation and it specialized in in high altitude mountain rescue.
Leader
Hong Ki Kun (47) said," I am very happy that our second summit bid
was a success the first bid was on June 30 but bad weather forced the four
climbers down from, 7900 metres.
"I
was only worried when climbers were slow on their descent. They were five
in all starting at 00:00 from Camp 4 at 7500 metres. Two Kwon Oh Il
(7900m) and Cheng Pong Kyu (7800m) returned due to tiredness.
The
three summitters started the return journey at 3:10 pm and they were not
back at Camp 4 till 8:00 pm and the last man came at 9:00 pm after 21
hours of non stop climbing. It kept me on my toes and I was very happy
when all of them were back safe and sound."
Climbing
leader Kwon Oh Soo said," The weather just turned bad when we were
coming down it was mist every where when we made it to Camp 4 and till our
departure weather was very unstable."
The
Korean expedition also put a Snow Bar on the summit and all the summitters
put their signature on it. Kown Oh Soo souvenirs form the summit include
an old karabiner, flags from the Japanese expedition with Kitamura's name
and a Lama expedition.
The
Korean expedition climbed the peak without using oxygen or high altitude
porters.
"It
was very difficult as we were the first expedition on Nanga Parbat during
the season and we had to a lot of work in making the route," said
Kwon Oh Soo adding," The route between Camp 1 at 5200m and Camp 2 at
6200m was very dangerous and we climbed it by
night due to frequent stone falls."
Two
of the expedition members Kim Byeong Seak (38) and Kwon Oh Soo (35) have
been to Pakistan before in 1993 and have the summit of Gasherbrum II 8035
metres in Karakorums.
The
expedition attempted the peak from Diamir Face in Semi Alpine Style and
fixed 2300 metres of ropes on the route.
The
other members of the team were Kim Byeong Seak (38), Kim Yong Soo (32),
and Lee Sang Eun (26).
The
expedition made Base Camp at 4200m, Camp 1 at 5200m, Camp 2 at 6200m, Camp
3 at 6600m, Camp 4 at 7500m. Summit July 9 from Diamir Face.
CAPTION:
Korean Millennium expedition with leader Hong Ki Kun (sitting front 2nd
L), the summitters are Kwon Oh Soo (back row 2nd R), Lee Hong Kil (back
row 1st R) and Lee Hwa Hyeung (back row 1st L). — Photo by the writer