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| Kim Chang-ho, 49, the first Korean to finish the Explorer's Grand Slam, was killed in a snowstorm Friday while climbing Mount Gurja. / Yonhap |
By Jung Hae-myoung
Rescuers recovered the bodies of five Koreans and four Nepalese, Sunday, who died in a snowstorm while climbing Mount Gurja (7,193 meters) in the Himalayas two days earlier.
According to the Korean embassy in Nepal, the accident happened about 70 kilometers northwest of Nepal's second-largest city Pokhara. Poor weather delayed the rescue work for about an hour.
A helicopter crew spotted the bodies Saturday near the base camp at an altitude of about 3,500 meters. One body was just next to the base camp while eight others were at the bottom of a valley nearby.
But the helicopter was too small to retrieve the bodies and the weather conditions were poor, so the embassy hired a larger helicopter Sunday, with four rescue workers onboard.
The larger helicopter could not land on the steep ridges near the base camp, so rescue workers were lowered from the aircraft and used ropes to lift the bodies to it.
The rescuers needed two trips to recover all the bodies. They flew the recovered bodies to a nearby village.
All the bodies were retrieved in about five hours, and were moved from the village to Kathmandu.
Among the Koreans was famed climber Kim Chang-ho.
"A powerful snowstorm destroyed the camp Friday night and it seems the people died after being swept down a steep slope," an embassy official said.
The Mount Gurja expedition started its 45-day expedition to pioneer a new south route to the summit, Sept. 28. The team planned to call the route the "Korean Way."
There was one more member of Kim's team, but he stayed at the foot of the mountain for health reasons.
Kim, 49, was a world record holder who completed the Explorer's Grand Slam. He was the first Korean to climb all 14 Himalayan peaks over 8,000 meters without using oxygen. He was also the first Korean to win "Piolets d'Or," a mountaineering award for the greatest ascents.
A documentary film director, Rim Il-jin, 49, was in the team to record the achievement. Another victim, Jeong Joon-mo, was on the board of the Korean Alpine Federation.
Two foreign ministry officials will travel to Nepal as early as today to assist in repatriating the bodies and support bereaved family members who also plan to leave for Kathmandu as soon as possible.
