Oh Eun-sun (Korean: 오은선, Hanja: 吳銀善, born March 5, 1966) is a South Korean mountaineer. She was the first Korean woman to climb the Seven Summits. On April 27, 2010, she reached the summit of Annapurna; upon doing so, she claimed to have climbed all fourteen eight-thousanders, which would have made her the first woman to achieve this feat. However, her claim to have ascended Kangchenjunga was disputed by multiple experts. Oh later admitted that she had stopped a few hundred meters before the summit of Kangchenjunga, and so the Korean Alpine Federation ruled that she had not summited. The mountaineering site ExplorersWeb considers Edurne Pasaban as the first woman to have successfully climbed all fourteen peaks.
Early life
Oh was born in Namwon, Jeollabuk-do. Before taking up climbing, she studied engineering at the University of Suwon in Gyeonggi Province. After completing the 14 eight-thousanders, she said she would take a break from climbing for three to four years. "The last few years have been too tiring, now I am going to rest," she said. She plans to attend graduate school and do charity work during her break.
Race to complete all 14 eight-thousanders
On July 17, 1997, Oh summitted Gasherbrum II without supplementary oxygen, completing her first climb to a summit of over 8,000 meters. Over the next several years, she attempted several eight-thousanders without success. In 2004, she climbed Mount Everest with the aid of supplementary oxygen. In 2006, she added scaling Shishapangma to her list of accomplishments. At the time, two women, Edurne Pasabán and Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, had completed nine different eight-thousanders to Oh's three. In 2007, she conquered Cho Oyu and K2, bringing her total 8000ers to five. Two other women achieved their 10th such climb that year. In 2008, Oh added four more 8000+ meter climbs, while the leaders in the chase for all 14 added only one each.
On May 6, 2009, Oh claimed to have summited Kangchenjunga, the world's third-highest mountain (see below). In so doing, she became just the third woman to conquer the mountain and first from Korea. The accomplishment also made her the first woman to scale the world's five highest peaks. It was her 10th different 8000er. On August 3, 2009, Oh reached the summit of Gasherbrum I after a twelve-hour climb from Camp 3.
In April 2010, Oh made her second attempt at climbing Annapurna, the last of the eight-thousanders. A previous attempt in October 2009 came up 500 meters short when a blizzard made further ascent impossible. As she approached the top, strong winds and snow delayed further ascent. On April 23, Oh reached camp C3, located at 6,400 m, but was forced to retreat the next day due to wind. She announced that she would delay her summit attempt. On April 26, Oh took 11 hours to climb from C2 (5,600m) to C4. On April 27, 2010, Oh left camp C4 located at 7,200 meters on Annapurna. Thirteen hours later, she reached the summit at 3:15pm local time, completing her quest. Upon reaching the peak, she planted a South Korean flag, waved to the camera which was broadcasting the climb live, and thanked her fellow Koreans for being with her throughout the whole expedition. She was accompanied by five other climbers. Congratulating Oh on her accomplishment, South Korean president Lee Myung-bak said, "She showed us what challenge means". Oh completed her descent from Annapurna on May 3.
Accomplishment disputed
Oh's 2009 summit of Kangchenjunga has been questioned, throwing her accomplishment into doubt. The dispute stems from a photograph said to have been taken by Oh at the summit which is too blurry to confirm exactly where she stood when she took it. The photo is the only visible evidence she has of her ascent. After doubts were first raised in Korea, Oh held a press conference in which she tearfully remarked that the blurriness "was unavoidable due to fog and a violent snowstorm." One of the Sherpas who accompanied her on the climb assured the media that he knew the layout of the mountain well from previous climbs and that Oh had indeed made the summit.