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 | - | - | - |