| Park Young-seok | |||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Park Young-seok | ||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 2 November 1963 | ||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Seoul, South Korea | ||||||||||
| Death Place: | Annapurna, Nepal | ||||||||||
| Occupation: | Mountaineer | ||||||||||
| Known For: | First person to complete the True Explorers Grand Slam | ||||||||||
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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.[1] 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[2] 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.[3]
| Name of Peak | Elevation (m) | Date of summit | ||
| 1. | 8,848 | 1993-05-16 | ||
| 2. | 8,611 | 2001-07-22 | ||
| 3. | 8,586 | 1999-05-12 | ||
| 4. | 8,516 | 2001-04-29 | ||
| 5. | 8,463 | 2000-05-15 | ||
| 6. | 8,201 | 1997-09-27 | ||
| 7. | 8,167 | 1997-04-27 | ||
| 8. | 8,163 | 1998-12-06 | ||
| 9. | 8,125 | 1998-07-21 | ||
| 10. | 8,091 | 1996-05-04 | ||
| 11. | 8,068 | 1997-07-09 | ||
| 12. | 8,047 | 2000-07-30 | ||
| 13. | 8,035 | 1997-07-19 | ||
| 14. | 8,027 | 2000-10-02 | ||
| 15. | 6,959 | 2002-01-11 | ||
| 16. | 6,195 | 1994-06-02 | ||
| 17. | 5,895 | 1997-02-17 | ||
| 18. | 5,642 | 2002-07-07 | ||
| 19. | 4,897 | 2002-11-25 | ||
| 20. | 4,884 | 2002-05-11 | ||
| 21. | 2,280 | 2001-09-21 | ||
| 22. | 2,835 | 2004 | ||
| 23. | Sea level | 2005-04-30 | ||
| 24. | Everest North-South Traverse | 8,848 | 2006-05-11 |
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,[4]
Park and his other team members went missing after their last communications on October 18, 2011.[5] His last words recorded on the base camp walkie talkie were "How do we get across that?"[6]
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.[7] [8]
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.[9]
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.[10]