Everest | 1991 SW Face (Bonington rte)

A S Korea expedition to Everest in 1991 via SW Face (Bonington rte), led by Lee Kang-Oh. Summit reached on 2nd May 1991. 13 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 635
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID EVER91108
Peak ID EVER
Year 1991
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 SW Face (Bonington rte)
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality S Korea
Leaders Lee Kang-Oh
Sponsor 1991 Korean Everest SW Face Expedition
Success 1 False
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries -
Approach -
Basecamp Date 1991-03-30
Summit Date 1991-05-02
Summit Time -
Summit Days 33
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 5
Termination Notes Abandoned at 8350m due to bad snow conditions
High Point (m) 8350
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 5
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 12
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 14
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep True
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(30/03,5400m),C1(05/04,6050m),C2(07/04,6450m),C3(17/04,6950m),C4(23/04,7600m),C5(01/05,8300m),xxx(02/05,8350m)
Route Notes BC at normal site C1 at top of Icefall C2 at Western Cwm C3 on SW Face C4 on SW Face (bottom of Couloir) C5 on SW Face (bottom of rock band) by Sun-Woo Nam and Jin-Sung Kim. Started climbing 3rd April. Found very strong tents of Bonington expedition on face. No snow, so could see ice screws on bare rock, fixed ropes of 8-9 expeditions, much dangerous falling rock. Never in previous visits to Khumbu saw face so black. Made fixed ropes to C4 site on 28th April but tent and member only on 1 May and could not pitch tent and had to biv. 2nd May Nam tried climbing rock band but rock condition too bad: 3 cm covering rock from 1 May. Snowfall - "so we gave up." 2 men biv at C5 site but on 2nd only Nam tried to go up: Kim Jin-Sung descended that morning as both men knew snow condition impossible for success. No more attempts: snow falling on 2nd and 3rd also. Park Young-Seok - 1 April 2007 Park Young-Seok said on 1 April 2007 that while he was making the route on the SW Face, when he was at 7000m he was being belayed by a Sherpa who suddenly pulled on the rope and caused Park to fall 150m. His facial bones were broken in three places.
Accidents Park lead climbing above C3 and fell injuring leg and dropped out; 1 Sherpa toes frostbitten but will heal; Chong altitude sickness at C2
Achievement -
Agency -
Commercial Route False
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2450550
Year 1991
Summit Success False
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) sw face (bonington rte)

Members

13 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Kwang-Je Cho M 1964 S Korea Climber Masan, Gyeongsangnam, S Korea Shoe salesman Details Other expeditions
Tae-Sik Choi M 1960 S Korea Climber Busan (Pusan), S Korea Alpine equipment salesman Details Other expeditions
Kwang-Shik Chong M 1956 S Korea Climber Kathmandu Reporter for mountaineering magazine Details Other expeditions
Woo-Sub Chung M 1947 S Korea Deputy Leader Seoul, S Korea Trading company president Details Other expeditions
Jeong-Sik Heo M 1955 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Clerk Details Other expeditions
Jin-Sung Kim M 1964 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Electronics student Details Other expeditions
Seok-Jun Kim M 1966 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Clerk Details Other expeditions
Kyoung-Mo Koo M 1964 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Agriculture student Details Other expeditions
Kang-Oh Lee M 1943 S Korea Leader Seoul, S Korea University administration official Details Other expeditions
Sang-Lock Lee M 1964 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Pharmecutical salesman Details Other expeditions
Sun-Woo Nam M 1955 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Alpine magazine managing director Details Other expeditions
Young-Seok Park M 1963 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Athletics student Details Other expeditions
Ang Tshering Sherpa M - Nepal Sirdar - - Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
EVER91108 AAJ Lee Kang-Oh - - 66:200-201 (1992) -
EVER91108 MM - - - 140:5 (Jul 1991) -
EVER91108 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199220002/Asia-Nepal-Everest-Southwest-Face-Attempt - - -