Gangotri, Meru South, northeast face direct. At 4:30 p.m. on July 13
Gangotri, Meru South, northeast face direct. At 4:30 p.m . on July 13 the sky finally o p en ed for three Korean clim bers standing at the top o f the northeast face o f M eru Peak (6,660m ). T hree in stru cto rs from th e Extrem e Riders A lpine Club, Kim Se-jun (38), Kim Tae-m an (35), an d W ang Jun -h o (36), p robably the ou tstanding big wall clim bers in the country, had com pleted a new direct line up the face, the headw all a c o n tin u o u s 90-110°. T hey n am ed th eir route G ate to th e Sky. O th e r m em bers o f the team w ere Ju W ur-yeong, Kim H yeong-w ook, and Son Jung-ho. T he expedition established advanced base below the wall at 5,000m , th en for 10days fixed 1,800m o f rope over 34 pitches o f m oderate slopes (50-60° rock, snow, an d ice) to C am p 2 below the headw all. T hey th en hauled 120kg o f gear an d provisions to this site and retreated to base cam p. T he w eather rem ain ed unsettled, and b o th tim e an d p ro visions began to ru n sh o rt. U nable to w ait m u ch longer, they resum ed clim bing in less th an favorable w eather an d on July 3 jugged the ropes to C am p 2, rested for two days, and m inim ized their gear for th e wall above. O n July 5 Kim Sae-joon led th e first pitch on the headw all in a capsule-style push to the top. The clim bers bivouaced in a tw om an portaledge an d a h am m o ck b u t only used 200g su m m er sleeping bags. R ationing food, the three survived prim arily on choco late, three or four sweets a day, and a m eal at night. Nevertheless they eventually ran o u t and on the final three days o f th e ascent ate noth in g . In ad d itio n , they only saw the sun on tw o days. The clim bing was far m o re difficult th a n an ticip ated . T hey sp en t n ine days reaching th e to p from C am p 2, clim bing 510m (10 pitches) on th e headw all. The granite was often fragile and rockfall horrific. Twenty h o u rs were required to aid past the 50m A5 technical crux, on the sec o n d p itch above C am p 2, b u t the greatest obstacle was a n o th e r 50m section at 6,200m . The clim bers n icknam ed this A4 section “ED,” for Extrem e Danger. It to o k two days to overcom e this section, w here they were forced to p ry o ff a large piece o f rock in o rd er to m ake progress. T he three clim bers reached th e ridge ju st below an d rig h t o f th e m ost n o rth e rly o f the points th at make up the near-horizontal su m m it crest o f M eru South. [E ditor’s Note: their GPS read 6,660m , the sam e as th e official height o f M eru South. However, it seems generally accept ed th at the m ain su m m it o f M eru S outh is at the so u th ern end o f the ridge, reached by Japan ese in 1980 durin g the only ascent o f the m o u n tain to date. Photographic evidence w ould seem
to confirm this, as does G lenn Singlem an, w ho BASE ju m p ed the n o rth east face from a p o in t a little higher th a n the Korean exit b u t d id n ’t visit the u nclim bed n o rth erly su m m it, w hich the Koreans eventually reached, ju st above him . H e n o ted th a t the highest su m m it was 500m fu r th er south and ca 70m higher.] T he re tu rn to base cam p required two days, w ith an overnight in C am p 2. The w eather w orsened rapidly after the clim bers arrived at this camp, m aking it pre carious to rem ove all rope and gear w ith o u t pu ttin g their lives in jeopardy. However, they m a n aged to clean 800m o f line. T hree pitons, 20 bolts, an d 17 rivets were left in the route. Gate to th e Sky took a total o f 22 days to o pen an d was graded VII, A5 5.10. T he ex pedition d o n ate d 150 books to th e village o f Indo D asuda (five days w alk from base cam p at Tapovan) d u rin g th eir re tu rn to Delhi, an d they have plans to build a library for this village. The Indian G overnm ent and G angotri N ational Park plan to p rohibit trekkers from using the G angotri-to-T apo v an trail for five years, so th e p ath can be reco n stru cted . In ad d i tio n , the Park m ay p ro h ib it the e n try o f any group organized by an agency th at does not p ro vide a satellite phone. L ee Y o u n g - jo o n a n d C h r is t in e P a e , K o r e a (tran slated by Peter Jen se n -C h o i)
to confirm this, as does G lenn Singlem an, w ho BASE ju m p ed the n o rth east face from a p o in t a little higher th a n the Korean exit b u t d id n ’t visit the u nclim bed n o rth erly su m m it, w hich the Koreans eventually reached, ju st above him . H e n o ted th a t the highest su m m it was 500m fu r th er south and ca 70m higher.] T he re tu rn to base cam p required two days, w ith an overnight in C am p 2. The w eather w orsened rapidly after the clim bers arrived at this camp, m aking it pre carious to rem ove all rope and gear w ith o u t pu ttin g their lives in jeopardy. However, they m a n aged to clean 800m o f line. T hree pitons, 20 bolts, an d 17 rivets were left in the route. Gate to th e Sky took a total o f 22 days to o pen an d was graded VII, A5 5.10. T he ex pedition d o n ate d 150 books to th e village o f Indo D asuda (five days w alk from base cam p at Tapovan) d u rin g th eir re tu rn to Delhi, an d they have plans to build a library for this village. The Indian G overnm ent and G angotri N ational Park plan to p rohibit trekkers from using the G angotri-to-T apo v an trail for five years, so th e p ath can be reco n stru cted . In ad d i tio n , the Park m ay p ro h ib it the e n try o f any group organized by an agency th at does not p ro vide a satellite phone. L ee Y o u n g - jo o n a n d C h r is t in e P a e , K o r e a (tran slated by Peter Jen se n -C h o i)
