Lobuje West Winter Ascent, 1987. Seldom-attempted Lobuje West was scaled so quickly by a Korean expedition’s advance party that when the team leader Lee Hee-Bong and other climbers arrived at their base, they learned that the mountain had already been climbed and all tents and other gear brought down. In this first winter attempt and first Korean attempt on Lobuje West, five men, Deputy Leader Park Jae-Hong, Choi Sang-Hyun, Dim Hang-11, Rinji Sherpa and Mingma Nuru Sherpa, had gained the summit on January 30, only the third day after they had pitched Base Camp.

Elizabeth Hawley