Yalungkang Ascent and Tragedy. A Korean expedition led by Kim Teuk-Hee climbed the normal route on Yalungkang in winter but the summit climbers never returned. On December 20, Jin Kyo-Sup, Ang Dawa Sherpa and Tshering Tshemba Sherpa left Camp IV at 8100 meters on the southeast face at 4:30 A.M. At 2:30 P.M., Jin reported by walkie-talkie that it was cloudy and windy and they were worried about their ability to return safely to Camp IV after nightfall. It would have been dark even if they had turned back then, but they kept on for the top. They made radio contact again at 4:05 to say that they were on the summit (8501 meters, 27,891 feet) and were resting for a few minutes. At 4:14, one of the Sherpas with Jin tried to talk to a fellow Sherpa at Camp IV, who happened to be chatting to Base Camp. The two men who were talking to each other stopped their conversation and tried to speak with the summit, but now there was no reply. There was no reply all night. A search by the men in Camp IV the next day produced no trace of the summit party. The leader speculates that they probably fell down the mountain’s great north face.

Elizabeth Hawley