Gangwon University Korean Expedition made a new route up the Fang (7,647m), via the 1,400m east face to the south ridge. The only previous ascent of this difficult mountain on the rim of the Annapurna Sanctuary southwest of Annapurna I was made in 1980 from the west, outside the Sanctuary, by an Austrian expedition. Connecting the east face to the south ridge from inside the Sanctuary had captured the attention of Korean teams since 1986. Gangwon University expeditions attempted this route unsuccessfully in 1991 and 1997.

The expedition left Korea on September 1 and spent seven days beginning September 4 acclimatizing in the Langtang, where they climbed Naya Kanga (a.k.a. Kangja Chuli, 5,844m). After this the team of Choi Chan-gyu, Hong Seong-wook, Kim Yong-gil, Lee Jong-heon, Lee Hak-young, Park Bong-ha, Park Hong-gi, Park Su-seok, Song Il-ho, Yu Hyun-jong, Yu Jae-hyeong, and Sherpas Dapjen, Geljen, Swana, Tshering, and Wangdi was helicoptered to a 4,600m base camp below the Fang, arriving on the 17th. Due to over a meter of fresh snow and a large crevasse, it was necessary to establish a temporary camp before eventually siting Camp 1 at 5,400m on the 30th, after 12 days hard work. Camp 2 (5,900m), about half way up the east face, and Camp 3 (6,400m), on the crest of the south ridge, were established in the next week and Camp 4 at 6,900m on October 11. On the 16th a final camp was placed on the ridge at 7,200m.

Yu Hyun-jong and three Sherpas stayed at this Camp 5, while Kim Yong-gil and Park Hong-gi stayed at Camp 4 to support Yu and Park Su-seok in a summit attempt on the 17th. However, the final 200m to the top turned out to be far more difficult than expected, with sections of 80°. The lead climbers retreated so as to retrieve more rope to fix on this final section, to ensure a safe ascent and safe return [reportedly 6,600m of rope were fixed intermittently from base camp to summit, with the whole section from Camp 1 to 4 fixed—Ed.]. Everyone descended to base camp, a particularly trying event for Yu and Park, the former having been badly frostbitten (some Sherpas high on the mountain also contracted frostbite). On October 22 the team began to move up the mountain for their final attempt, but on the 24th Park Bong-ha fell from the fixed ropes below Camp 3. He was injured, and two members descended to him with food and a sleeping bag, then dug a small snow cave for shelter. He was nursed there for some time until able to move, when a group helped him back to the ridge and then down to Camp 1.

On the 27th Choi Chan-gyu was also injured in a fall, though not so badly. Finally, on the 29th, Park Su-seok and Sherpas Wangdi and Tshering stood on the summit. All members were back at base camp on the 31st. The route has been named Dalgwa Yeohoon (which translates to “Yeo-hoon with the Moon”) after Korean Kim Yeo-hoon who lost his life in a fall during the 1997 attempt.

—Lee Young-Jun, Corean Alpine Club (translated by Peter Jensen-Choi)

Editor's note: The Fang had been attempted eight times before the Korean ascent. In 1979 it was being billed as the highest unclimbed mountain in Nepal, and during the spring of that year Sepp Mayerl's Austrian team tried the very steep WP.st ridgP., approaching from the north flank and fixing 3,000m of rope before establishing Camp 5 at 6,600m. But after a member lower on the mountain slipped and fell 2,000m to his death, the expedition was abandoned. In the autumn of the same year Arturo Bergamaschi's Italian expedition tried the mountain from the Annapurna Sanctuary, on the opposite side. They attempted the southeast ridge, which they abandoned at 6,350m because it was far too difficult and dangerous. Mayerl returned the following spring, this time focusing on the south flank of the west ridge. The Austrians reached the crest at ca 5,700m, after climbing a wall similar to the Matterhorn north face. They then fixed the ridge to 6,450m. Leaving a camp there, Mayerl, Hermann Neumair, and Ang Chhopal Sherpa, reached the summit after a night at 7,040m. In 1982 French attempted the east ridge to the south ridge, climbing a couloir on the east flank to reach the east ridge at 6,800m. The way above looked similar to the south face of Annapurna, but bad weather prevented them from attempting it. In autumn 1984 Scott Fischer and two companions followed the line attempted by Mayerl's 1979 expedition; the west ridge from the north. Fischer and Wesley Krause reached a high point of ca 7,300m before bad weather forced retreat. Autumn 1986 saw the first of four Korean expeditions. Kim Jong-Duk and five others attempted the east face, but after fixing 2,600m of rope over difficult terrain had still only reached 5,450m. When avalanches wiped out l,000m of their rope, the team gave up their attempt. The next Korean attempt took place during the first weeks in December 1991, when Yu Jae-Hyung's 11-member team tried the Italian line on the southeast ridge. They found the route technically very difficult, and at 6,350m retreated due to high winds. Yu returned in the autumn of 1997 and tried the east face direct to the south ridge. The team reached 7,300m on the ridge before Kim Yeo-Hoon fell to his death.