Oh Eun-Sun biography
Oh Eun-Sun, additionally spelled Oh Ŭn-Sŏn, (born March 5, 1966, Namwŏn, North Chŏlla province, South Korea), South Korean skilled mountain climber whose declare to be the primary girl to scale all 14 of the ‘eight-thousanders’—the world’s tallest peaks, over 26,250 toes (8,000 metres) excessive—was disputed as some questioned whether or not she had summited Kanchenjunga.
Oh’s father was within the South Korean army, and the household moved typically throughout her early childhood, ultimately settling in Seoul. During highschool she took up mountain climbing. In 1985 she entered the University of Suwon, the place she majored in pc science and was a member of the mountaineering membership. After commencement she grew to become a civil servant in Seoul, a job she left within the early Nineteen Nineties in an effort to be a part of an all-female group planning an expedition to Mount Everest. After a interval of intensive coaching, in 1993 she climbed Everest to 23,950 toes (7,300 metres) with the workforce, however she was unable to achieve the summit.
Disappointed at her failure to make it to the highest, Oh resolved to coach more durable. She reached the summit of her first 8,000-metre peak in 1997, when she scaled Gasherbrum II (26,361 toes [8,035 metres]) within the Karakoram Range (on the border between Pakistani- and Chinese-administered parts of the Kashmir area). In 1999 she tried two extra summits—Broad Peak (26,401 toes [8,047 metres]), additionally within the Karakorams, and Makalu (27,766 toes [8,463 metres]), within the Himalayas between Nepal and China (Tibet)—however couldn't attain the highest of both one. After her failure in 2001 to summit K2 (within the Karakorams; 28,251 toes [8,611 metres]), the world’s second highest peak, she stopped making an attempt 8,000-metre mountains for a time and targeting different notable peaks. Between 2002 and 2004 she climbed the very best factors on every of the seven continents, together with Mount Everest in 2004, a feat she achieved solo. She additionally added Jaya Peak in Indonesia, the very best mountain on an island, to her listing of accomplishments in 2006.
After her profitable ascent of Everest, she continued her conquest of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks. She scaled one (Xixabangma, northwest of Everest; 26,286 toes [8,012 metres]) in 2006, two in 2007 (together with K2), and 4 every in 2008 (together with Broad Peak and Makalu) and 2009, setting the stage for her climb of the ultimate mountain within the group, Annapurna I (26,545 toes [8,091 metres]), in Nepal. She was unsuccessful in her first try in 2009, turning again simply wanting the summit due to unhealthy climate. However, she topped the mountain on April 27, 2010, ending the climb on her fingers and knees.
Shortly earlier than Oh accomplished her ascent of Annapurna I, her standing as the primary girl to climb all of the 8,000-metre peaks was positioned in jeopardy. Although the nationwide mountaineering membership of Nepal, the Nepal Mountaineering Association, shortly acknowledged Oh’s total achievement, her closest rival for the title, Spain’s Edurne Pasaban, questioned whether or not Oh had actually reached the summit of Kanchenjunga (28,169 toes [8,586 metres]), on the India-Nepal border, when she climbed it in 2009. Evidence within the controversy included {a photograph} of Oh mentioned to have been taken on the summit—a declare Pasaban disputed—and the conflicting testimony of the Sherpa guides who had accompanied her up that mountain. Both sides agreed to simply accept the judgment of Elizabeth Hawley, lengthy thought to be mountaineering’s unofficial report keeper and historian. After interviewing Oh following her return from climbing Annapurna, Hawley accepted Oh’s model of occasions on Kanchenjunga whereas itemizing the ascent as “disputed.” However, in June 2010 Hawley mentioned it was “unlikely” that Oh had reached the highest of the mountain, and two months later the Alpine Korean Federation said that she had “probably failed” to summit Kanchenjunga.