News in from Korea (3 images)
(Kyu Dam Lee/e-mail Sung-Taek Hong) October 31 Korean climber Sung-Taek Hong returned to base camp after developing the route with his team to camp 3 at 7,700 meters.
This step was very long and important for his expedition, Hong said. He climbed at night in freezing temperatures to avoid avalanche and rock-fall. The mountaineer (suffering from fear of heights) endured long stretches of vertical overhangs and the generally long haul on high altitude has made route fixing exceptionally hard.
Hong confirmed the American/Swiss and French expeditions aborted the southern wall of Nuptse at about 6,000 meters. After also the Japanese Everest expedition left, only the Korean expedition aiming for the southern wall of Lhotse now remains.
Hong wrote that the weather is currently fair with only 6 inches of snow fall in recent days.
The team plans to reach C4 at 8,100 m on November 7 and summit on November 12.
Interview with Sung below.
