Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Tackling Multiple 8-Thousanders In One Year


Climbing an 8000m peak is never an easy task. It can take months of preparation, plenty of cash, and a perfect weather and physical window to top out. But if you can find a way to pull off two or more of them in one year, your chances of reaching the top actually increase, since acclimatization is such a huge part of the equation.

MountEverest.net has published this article on "serial summitting", including a look at Korean climber Oh Hee-Joon, who knocked off four of the 8000m peaks in 2006 alone.

Hee-Joon topped out on Everest in the Spring, then went to Gasherbrum I and II befoe finishing up with a summit of Manaslu in the fall. Pretty impressive year, I have to say. He ended the year in rough shape though, suffering from exhaustion and malnutrition, that caused problems with his digestive tract.

The article also lists the planned double-headers for 2007, with a number of climbers racing to join the select few who have already summitted all 8000m peaks.

No comments:

Post a Comment