Park Young-seok (; November 2, 1963 – October 2011) was a South Korean mountaineer.
In May 2005, he became the first person in the world to complete a True Explorers Grand Slam. He climbed the world's 14 eight-thousanders, the Seven Summits, and trekked to both poles. He holds the world's fifth fastest time (behind Kristin Harila of Norway, Nirmal Purja of Nepal, Kim Chang-ho of South Korea, and Jerzy Kukuczka of Poland) for ascending the 14 eight-thousanders, he climbed six of the 8,000-meter Himalayan peaks within one year, and gained another record for reaching the South Pole on foot in 44 days, self-sufficient and without any food re-supplies.
Achievements Name of Peak Elevation (m) Date of summit1. Everest 8,848 1993-05-16 2. K2 8,611 2001-07-22 3. Kangchenjunga 8,586 1999-05-12 4. Lhotse 8,516 2001-04-29 5. Makalu 8,463 2000-05-15 6. Cho Oyu 8,201 1997-09-27 7. Dhaulagiri 8,167 1997-04-27 8. Manaslu 8,163 1998-12-06 9. Nanga Parbat 8,125 1998-07-21 10. Annapurna 8,091 1996-05-04 11. Gasherbrum I 8,068 1997-07-09 12. Broad Peak 8,047 2000-07-30 13. Gasherbrum II 8,035 1997-07-19 14. Shishapangma 8,027 2000-10-02 15. Aconcagua 6,959 2002-01-11 16. Denali 6,195 1994-06-02 17. Kilimanjaro 5,895 1997-02-17 18. Elbrus 5,642 2002-07-07 19. Vinson Massif 4,897 2002-11-25 20. Carstensz Pyramid 4,884 2002-05-11 21. Kosciusko 2,280 2001-09-21 22. South Pole 2,835 200423. North Pole Sea level 2005-04-3024. Everest North-South Traverse 8,848 2006-05-11
Disappearance In October 2011, Park Young-seok, Shin Dong-min, and Kang Ki-seok decided to make another attempt on Annapurna's south face. Before the expedition, Park was quoted,
Park and his other team members went missing after their last communications on October 18, 2011. His last words recorded on the base camp walkie talkie were "How do we get across that?"
The Korean Alpine Federation immediately launched a search and rescue operation. In the ten-day long rescue operation to find the missing climbers, no signs of Park, Shin or Kang were found. Presuming that the team had perished due to rockfall, the Federation decided to call off the operation on October 28, 2011.
The Korean Alpine Federation hosted a joint "Mountaineer's Funeral" for the climbers, and set up an incense burning altar, which was visited by over 4,000 mourners.
Legacy In 2016, construction began on the Park Young-seok Mountain Culture Center near Park's hometown of Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. The base camp opened in 2019. The facility comprises an urban park for indoor rock climbing, exhibition spaces and performance halls.
See also List of 20th-century summiters of Mount Everest List of climbers and mountaineers List of Mount Everest summiters by number of times to the summit Mountaineering
References
External links
Park Young-Seok summits Everest from Tibet – then traverses to the South side! (mounteverest.net) Mr. Park completes the Grand Slam (everestnews.com) May 1, 2005 Arctic wrap-up: Tension increasing in Russia, Korean Park starting from Canada Breaking News: Park Young-seok (aka Mr. Park) has just became the first person to complete the GRAND SLAM! (adventuregrandslam.com) The North Face – Athletes – Park Young Seok