Everest | 1991 S Pillar-SE Ridge

A S Korea expedition to Everest in 1991 via S Pillar-SE Ridge, led by Kim Kwang-Jin. Summit reached on 14th December 1991. 13 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 1070
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID EVER91402
Peak ID EVER
Year 1991
Season 4
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Pillar-SE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality S Korea
Leaders Kim Kwang-Jin
Sponsor 1991-92 Korean Winter Everest 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 1991-11-12
Summit Date 1991-12-14
Summit Time -
Summit Days 32
Total Days 39
Termination Date 1991-12-21
Termination Reason 7
Termination Notes Abandoned at 8700m due to exhaustion
High Point (m) 8700
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 11
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 7
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep True
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(12/11,5350m),C1(01/12),C2(12/02,6400m),C3(09/12,7200m),C4(13/12,7850m),xxx(14/12,8700m)
Route Notes C1 at top of Icefall C2 in Western Cwm C3 on Pillar C4 on Pillar at its top High point SE Ridge just below South Summit. Icefall very broken and route difficult to make, which was made by this expedition and Japanese. Japanese insisted all wait to climb till 1 Dec so Koreans waited. C3 on Pillar took 3 days cutting ice to make platform for 2 tents. 1st summit attack 14th Dec at 10 mins past midnight by Park Young-Seok, Han, Bir Bahadur Tamang & Sonam Tshering Sherpa - went up face and over to S Col route at 8100m. Only 2 arrived here; Sonam Tshering and Han had turned back at 7950m because in no condition (very tired and headache); Sonam and Han very tired and oxygen not working well. Park and Bir Bahadur went on up normal route and just below S Summit, 8700m and from 8100m Park not using oxygen. Park's Russian system all iced up and at 8700m Bir Bahadur's French oxygen finished and Bir Bahadur says he goes down (his oxygen finished, he very cold and wind strong) so Park also goes down because solo climb dangerous. Park and Bir Bahadur to C2 same day. 2nd summit attack by Lee Min-Ho and Bae Kyung-Ho from C4 at 3:00 am (better time than midnight because at 1:00 am moonshine) and reached 8300m in cloudy weather and strong wind: cloud means not able to see route; returned C4 9:00 am (this their 1st climb in Himalaya). Now climb finished; others in "no condition," very tired from route making, much falling rock. Sarakin, Spring 1992 by Won-Woo Nam Last winter Mt. Everest Expedition team of the Dong Kuk University Alpine Club left Seoul on Nov 3, 1991. 10 members with the leader Kwang-Jin Kim arrived at BC on Nov 15. They set up C1 at the bottom of south-west wall on Dec 2, C3 at the height of 7200m on Dec 9 and C4 at the height of 7200m on Dec 9 and C4 at the height of 7900m. The first assault team of four members including two Sherpas left from C4 on Dec 14, 00:20 am. After one hour, one member and one Sherpa retreated to the C4. Climbing leader and one Sherpa advanced to the south-east ridge, they found one dead body at 8400m. They arrived at the bottom of south peak on the south-east ridge. However, Bibi Tamang refused advancing at that point and climbing leader gave up climbing up the summit. The second assault team of two members tried to climb up the summit. But, they also gave up climbing due to the strong winds.
Accidents 2 members hit by falling rock & slightly hurt Dec 7 making route to C3; Nam 2 toes both feet frostbitten climbing C2 to C3 (may loose tips)
Achievement 1st winter attempt on Pillar
Agency Universal Trekking Network
Commercial Route False
Standard Route -
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2450776
Year 1991
Summit Success False
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) s pillar-se ridge

Members

13 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Kyung-Ho Bae M 1967 S Korea Climber Gyeongju (Kyungju), Gyeongsangbuk, S Korea Student of Korean language Details Other expeditions
Hae-Sik Han M 1964 S Korea Climber Gyeongju (Kyungju), Gyeongsangbuk, S Korea Salesman Details Other expeditions
Kwang-Jin Kim M 1950 S Korea Leader Seoul, S Korea Bank executive Details Other expeditions
Kyu-Man Kim M 1958 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Accupuncture doctor Details Other expeditions
In-Jung Lee M 1945 S Korea President Seoul, S Korea Chairman of auto parts company Details Other expeditions
Jeon-Seok Lee M 1968 S Korea Climber Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk, S Korea Student of electronics engineering Details Other expeditions
Min-Ho Lee M 1963 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Computer operator Details Other expeditions
Won-Woo Nam M 1965 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Farmer Details Other expeditions
Yong-Sik Park M 1971 S Korea Climber Jinyang, Gyeongsangnam, S Korea Economics student Details Other expeditions
Young-Seok Park M 1963 S Korea Climbing Leader Seoul, S Korea Student of physical education Details Other expeditions
Jin-Ouk Yu M 1969 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Student of accounting Details Other expeditions
Bir Bahadur Tamang M - Nepal H-A Worker - - Details Other expeditions
Sonam Tshering Sherpa M - Nepal H-A Worker Beding, Dolakha - Details Other expeditions

References

3 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
EVER91402 AAJ Hawley, Elizabeth - - 66:205 (1992) -
EVER91402 MM - - - 144:5 (Mar 1992) -
EVER91402 - - http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12199220504/Asia-Nepal-Everest-Korean-Winter-Attempt - - -