Lhotse | 2019 S Face

A S Korea expedition to Lhotse in 2019 via S Face, led by Hong Sung-Taek. Summit reached on 15th May 2019. 16 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 10292
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LHOT19117
Peak ID LHOT
Year 2019
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality S Korea
Leaders Hong Sung-Taek
Sponsor Lhotse South Face International Expedition 2019
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 China, Colombia, Kosovo, Spain
Approach Lukla->Namche->Chhukung->Lhotse BC
Basecamp Date 2019-04-10
Summit Date 2019-05-15
Summit Time -
Summit Days 35
Total Days 50
Termination Date 2019-05-30
Termination Reason 5
Termination Notes Abandoned at 7950m due to bad conditions (excess snow) and damaged tents
High Point (m) 7950
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 3
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 7
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 9
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used False
O2 None True
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken True
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(10/04,5200m),C1(19/04,5900m),C2(27/04,6900m),C3(12-15/05,7800m),xxx(15/05,7950m)
Route Notes Intended Route: S Face, Kukuczka 1989 Route (except from ABC to C2 due to avalanche danger) Report from Hong and other members - 2 June 2019 BC 10/04 5200m C1 19/04 5900m C2 27/04 6900m C3 12-15/05 7800m HPt 15/05 by Hong and 5 Sherpas (+150/200m above C3 in the cauldron), Fixed rope: 6300m rope from Korea, plus in KTM = 7900m Some parts double fixed rope from BC to C1, in parts very prone to objective dangers (> 2500m) 600m extra rope not used at BC, remnant used (7300m used) Damaging regularly = changing many times (2 to 3 times)! First traverse the worse: ladder. Climb abandoned on May 29 due to excess of snow, bad conditions, tents broken. Members (7) : Hong Sung-Taek, left BC on May 30, HPt max Sung Nak-Jong, left BC on May 30, HPt to C3 on May 13,14,15 Woo Jin-Kwon, left BC on May 30, HPt BC, no climbing Jorge Egocheaga, left BC on May 27, HPt to C3 on May 13,14,15 Gabriel Jaime Morant Pelaez, left BC on May 27, HPt beween C1 and C2 on May 13 He Jing, left BC on May 29, HPt at C3 (touching) on May 13 Flutura (Uta) Ibrahimi, left BC May 27; HPt at C3 (touching) 7700m on May 13 Base Camp supporting team: Kim Jae-Chul Miss Choi Su-Jin (English translator) Hired (10): Phurba Ongel Sherpa (Sirdar), HP max Tashi Sherpa, HPt max. On May 24 the neck trouble after that, so just go down, without any rescue to BC. Dawa Sherpa, HPt C3 on May 12, (sleeping, down to BC) Nada Sherpa, HPt max Sanu Sherpa, no climbing, cancelled his venue on expedition. Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, HPt max Lakpa « Dawa » Sherpa, HPt max Tenjen Sherpa, HPt C3 on May 12 (sleeping, down to BC) Angrita Sherpa, HPt C3 on May 12 (sleeping, down to BC). Frostbites at C3 => rescue to KTM on May 18 (ask Wangchuck). 3 toes on the left leg feets, 1st degree no problem. Nima Tashi Sherpa, HPt to C3 on May 12 (sleeping). Rock fall on the left leg on May 13 on descent. Schedule: May 12-14: 3 nights at C3. 5 Sherpas to C4, 5 decsending on May 13. May 15: reaching C4, deposit tent + oxygen + mask + any equipment supply. Climbed above for more climbing. Down to C3. May 16: snow, wind, blizzard, storm. Back to BC. May 19: tried again for summit from BC. Hong alone to C1. Sherpas to C2. May 20: Hong to C2. 3 Sherpas to C3 (Lakpa Dendi, Lakpa Dawa, Tashi), plus Nada Sherpa to C4 and down to C3. May 21: Jorge, Uta, Sung starting from BC to C1. Hong to C3. 4 Sherpas at C3. May 22: Jorge, Uta, Sung at C1 stay edbecause too much snowing! Hong at C2. 4 Sherpas at C3. May 23: all come down to BC. Because weather not good. May 27: again tried from BC, 4 Sherpas direct to C3 (Ongyel touching C4; Nada, Lakpa Dendi, Lakpa Dawa). May 28: Hong Sung-Taek starting from BC to C3 to C1. Sherpas stayed at C3. May 29: HST C1 to BC. Sherpas to BC. Too much snow. Broke C1 (4 tents all broken!), C2 and C3! Too many thinking, not possible. Decision to cancel. C1-C2 very long way. 1000m of climbing...Danger of couloir (objective risk, avalanche, rocks fal). Hope for a new try, hope for sponsors to come back. Autumn season is the best solution. Climate kept wrong by wind, with bad weather on south side. Left BC on May 30 to Chhukung. Sherpas above BC: 10 Oxygen: taken, not used. Report from Flutura Ibrahimi - 30 May 2019 BC 09/04 5250m C1 22/04 5900m (then to BC) C2 10/04 7300m C3 7800m (no sleeping there, no tents) C4 8200m (planned only, never reached) C5 8400m (planned only, never reached) Hpt 11/05 7700m (below C3 by Ibrahimi) Fixed rope: had 5000m in reserve for the expedition, but fixed (3-4 parts old fixed ropes opened, anchors still good); sometimes using old fixed ropes; just Sherpas might know how many they fixed. Not all the way fixed. BC to C1: 80% fixed (some places without fixed ropes, had to climb) C1 to C2: all fixed. C2 to C3: all fixed. C3 to C4: not more than 200m; likely left of bottles... Lots of old fixed ropes remnants from previous Korean attempts. 6th time here for Hong Sung-Taek. Route: S Face of Lhotse, attack by French attempt 1990 TO French-Spanish attempt 1989/2007 Korean to LSHR TO junction with Czech/Polish route, TO Polish past attempts. Oxygen: taken, not used (planned from C5: 1st group Hong, Egocheaga, Sherpa and maybe Seong; 2nd group Ibrahimi and He Jing. However 19 bottles for 6 members with few Sherpas not enough from C4 24h C5 24h C6 down ?). Records: 6th attempt of Hong Sung-Taek Accidents: frostbite for 1 Sherpa. Ibrahimi and Seong visited the c5625m (5732 with altimeter) on April 29. Schedule: April 16: pitched C1. From BC, down a 100m to reach a deposit 20 to 40 min from BC. Then 1 hr until 3 ladders to cross a crevasse (at that point, halfway from BC to C1; BC-C1 being a 4-6 hr trip). April 29: slept at C1. April 30: attempt to cross the couloir failed (intended to sleep at C2) so down to BC. Without tents not possible to sleep at C2 anyway (“problem of logistics”). May 09: BC-C1 May 10: C1-C2. Started at 2 am, reaching C2 at c.10 am. On that day Morant went back down to BC (reached at c.8 pm); was fit but with no experience of high altitude. Egocheaga, Hong, Seong, Ibrahimi, He Jing slept there, all in 1 tent! At C2 was 1 “nice tent” for 3 persons (“leaders tent”), and 1 “summer tent” (old, broken) for 2 members. Ibrahimi refused to sleep in the second one, so that everyone had to sleep in the same tent! May 11: C2-C3. Hong, Seong, Egocheaga, Ibrahimi and He Jing. “Very beautiful section, exposed, aerial, feels like you're doing something. Just wanted to go up”. Ibrahimi and He Jing stopped at c.7700m, then went back down for sleeping to C2, joined by other members who did the same. May 12: all back down to BC. May 18: Hong slept at C1. May 19: Hong slept at C2. Ibrahimi, He Jing and Seong (who went later in the day) slept at C1. Rest of the team at BC. Snowed 15 cms, with biggest avalanche of the expedition on that day. May 20: remnant of the team joined at C1 (Egocheaga, Morant). Hong stayed at C2. In the morning, Ibrahimi couldn't open the tent door, due to snow accumulation. May 21: Hong down to C1, then all back to BC. Ibrahimi deciding on that day to cancel the expedition. Climb abandoned on May 21 (by Ibrahimi, due to management of expedition) Ibrahimi left BC on May 23; Egocheaga and Morant left on May 24. Route: First took the French 1990 attempt couloir right margin (couloir like a permanent river flow of little to big avalanches of rocks or snow or ice), then traversed it to reach the ridge (by a blue ice section) quite high to pitch a higher C2 than last October and more sheltered to the right than previous Korean attempt (an avalanche had blown it off). Ibrahimi thought a lower traverse as last time would be more convenient, but not so decided the Sherpas. C1-C2 section the most prone to objective dangers. No one injured there, despite lots of little rocks impacts. Most practical route/combination of the face according to her. Conditions: more snow and ice than last October according to Hong. Evolved a lot during the expedition from end of March. At then end, was very dry in the first part, then filled up with snow above (by wind mainly). Glacier afoot of the face also evolving quickly. C1 to C2: hard thick ice most of times. Objective risks in the couloir short traverse, “snow showers” or small rock falls (most of times, but sometimes bigger ones). C2 to C3: 70° average steep pillar in loose rock. Risks of rolling stones coming from other members above. Steepest parts = straight snow showers. Less steep parts = accumulation then avalanching. Weather every night was snowing. Management style: different than European, everyone climbing on his own (Egocheaga, Ibrahimi...), with no real leader for planning logistics for instance, despite lots of funds and means (300 snow bars, 5000m of ropes...). 3 groups according to her in the expedition: - “Leaders”: Hong + Egocheaga. - Sherpas: 10 of them (1 left because of frostbites, had been up to C2; 1 left because of a leg problem, also went up to C2) - members: Ibrahimi, Jing He, Morant, Seong (respecting the leader) - BC manager was a nice girl, helping with everything (Choi Su-Jin) High point: 1 Sherpa said to Ibrahimi they aren't sure that any member in the past attempt ever reached C4. He had left 10 oxygen bottles at C4 deposit, which wasn't described later by members claiming to have reaching it. Ibrahimi believes no one reached C4 that time too, as mentioned to her by 1 different Sherpa who confirmed similarly for last attempt and the present one. 1 Sherpa left because of frostbite: had tried from C3 to C4 (up to 200m below the latter?). Ibrahimi intends to climb Nuptse next time (climbed with TAGnepal so far) or Pumori. Remnant of the group today in Namche. Egocheaga left already, Morant on May 31st. Sherpas: Phurba Ongel Sherpa (Sirdar) Tashi Sherpa Dawa Sherpa Nada Sherpa Sanu Sherpa Lakpa Dendi Sherpa Lakpa Sherpa Tenjen Sherpa Angrita Sherpa Nima Tashi Sherpa
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Trekking Camp Nepal
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2462753
Year 2019
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) s face

Members

16 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Sung-Taek Hong M 1967 S Korea Leader Seoul, S Korea Alpinist Details Other expeditions
Jorge Egocheaga Rodriguez M 1968 Spain Climber Oviedo, Asturias, Spain Physician & alpinist Details Other expeditions
Jing He F 1988 China Climber Xi’an, Shaanxi, China Accountant Details Other expeditions
Flutura (Uta) Ibrahimi F 1983 Kosovo Climber Gjilan, Kosovo Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Gabriel Jaime Morant Pelaez M 1981 Colombia Climber Medellin, Colombia Chemical engineer Details Other expeditions
Nak-Jong Seong M 1975 S Korea Climber Seoul, S Korea Automotive engineer Details Other expeditions
Jin-Kwon Woo M 1966 S Korea Climber Yong-In, Gyeonggi, S Korea Businessman Details Other expeditions
Ang Rita Sherpa M 1996 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Dawa Sherpa M 1998 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Lakpa Sherpa M 1986 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-9, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Lakpa Dendi Sherpa M - Nepal H-A Worker - - Details Other expeditions
Nada Sherpa M 1992 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-9, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Nima Tashi Sherpa M 1988 Nepal H-A Worker Gudel-4, Solukhumbu - Details Other expeditions
Phurba Ongel Sherpa M 1981 Nepal H-A Worker Sedua, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Tashi Sherpa M 1998 Nepal H-A Worker Sisuwa-9, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Tenjen Sherpa M 1978 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.