Another ace adventurer for the Three Poles list
03:18 pm CDT Jul 26, 2005
Few people in the world have climbed Everest and skied from land/coast to both poles - less even have done it unsupported and/or without oxygen. The crew is small simply because the task requires a "cross-over" in skill - something still unusual in the world of Adventure. Compare to the black belts in Martial Arts who stick to their respective disciplines. You become an expert at Shotokan Karate - but rarely also a world class boxer.
True Grand Slam
That's why Mr Park's achievement a few months back was such a big deal - this Korean not only skied to both poles - he also climbed all 14, 8000ers - a true Grand Slam. As Mr Park used resupplies for the North Pole and oxygen on climbs, the next step in the world Grand Slam is to climb all 14, 8000ers without oxygen and ski to both Poles without support.
World's top adventurers wouldn't fill a bar
Lesser know on the expedition was another ace adventurer: Sung-Taek Hong of South Korea (born 13th March, 1966). He skied to the South Pole on 10th Jan. 1994, climbed Mt. Everest on 14th Oct. 1995, and reached the North Pole from Ward Hunt on 30th April 2005. With that, 16 people have now reached the world's farthest and tallest corners on foot.
Young Seok Park (41), Sung Taek Hong (37), Hee Joon Oh (34), and Chan Il Jeong (25) all departed Seoul, Korea on February 24th and arrived in Resolute Bay on February 26th. The team started their expedition from Ward Hunt Island on March 8.
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