May 26, Kathmandu: Lhotse South Face Expedition 2022 led by renowned South Korean climber Sung-Taek Hong, 55 has ended unsuccessfully. This was his seventh attempt to climb the Lhotse South Face which was one of the toughest climbs in the world, this season.
Vadim Druelle member of the expedition wrote on Social Media “time for me to announce the early end of our expedition after a few days of reflection following the tragic accident that hit us, we all took the time to reflect together. We decided to stick together and try a few more Unfortunately to the end, Mother Nature decided otherwise. We have had only one morning of nice weather in 10 days and on the contrary, a lot of snow. We still got rode multiple times in the face and slept in camp 1 3 days ago. But the tents were buried under amounts of snow It was a rough night as we kept being woken up by loud sounds of avalanches passing by. The next day we climbed toward Camp 2 but the stakes were far too high to continue. Even in the evening, a huge downpour reached the base camp and that’s when we say STOP. Too many negative parameters to keep going. Troop morale is at an all-time low and we are tired. Tired of taking huge risks, tired of bad weather and cold, tired of waiting for whole days under the tent. The last mission will be to get all the gear upstairs and fold the luggage. Too many negative parameters to keep going. Troop morale is at an all-time low and we are tired. Tired of taking huge risks, tired of bad weather and cold, tired of waiting for whole days under the tent.”
One member of this expedition was swept in an avalanche.
In October 1990, two Russian climbers Serguey Bershov and Vladimir Karataev first successfully climbed the mountain from the south face wall which no one has ever repeated.
