TOKYO — After Kim Hong-bin lost his fingers and thumbs to frostbite during a climbing accident 30 years ago, he set out to achieve his dream: becoming the first disabled person to ascend the world’s 14 tallest mountains.
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The South Korean mountaineer pushed himself to survive harsh weather and extreme hunger. He trained to fall on his back rather than his wrists and searched for gear that suited his needs. Before his accident, he couldn’t climb higher than 3,000 meters (9,842 feet). But eventually, he scaled mountains taller than 8,000 meters (26,246 feet), known as the “death zone” because of the lack of oxygen so high above the sea level.
A week ago, Kim, 57, made history as the first disabled person to scale all 14 mountains. Then he went missing. And now, a week-long international search for his body has been ended at the request of his family.
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“No one believed me when I set out to climb mountains taller than 8,000 meters. People thought, ‘He’ll stop after a while,’ or say, ‘You don’t have to do this anymore, you’ve tried hard,’ ” Kim said in a 2019 interview. “No one told me I could go all the way. But I dreamed that I can do it, and that I wouldn’t stop until I accomplished my dreams.”
Kim is believed to have fallen into a crevasse in bad weather during his descent from the 8,047-meter (26,400-foot) summit of the Himalayas’ Broad Peak mountain, on the border of Pakistan and China. Chinese and Pakistani officials have helped with the search.
South Korean missing after fall while scaling Pakistani peak
On Sunday, helicopters circled the peak of the mountain six times looking for Kim, according to a statement the family released Monday. Video footage taken from helicopters showed no sign of him.
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Kim had told his wife to ensure that no additional accidents would be caused by search efforts if he went missing, the family statement said. His wife determined that it was realistically difficult for him to have survived the fall and decided to respect his wishes to end the search.
The mountaineer’s story of grit, fearless determination and love for his sport gained global attention. When Kim reached the summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in congratulated him and thanked him for his inspiration.
“You have brought pride and hope to a nation that is exhausted from the coronavirus pandemic,” Moon said. “You have given great strength and confidence to disabled people around the world.”
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Kim’s family will now make funeral arrangements and honor his record as South Korea’s top climber, their statement read.
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Kim had suffered frostbite while on a climb in Alaska in 1991, which required the amputation of his fingers and thumbs. In the 2019 interview, Kim described his struggles adjusting to his new reality: “I couldn’t even kill myself even if I wanted to, because I couldn’t open the windows,” he said. “It was difficult.”
Eventually, he found joy in sports that used leg strength, such as skating, skiing and cycling. He began focusing on his skills as a mountaineer and his goal, but doubted himself at times, he said, wondering: “Can I really do this?”
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He surprised himself with his ability to find strength in the most difficult climbing environments, he said. He enjoyed overcoming challenges, even setting up tents and cooking in the wild, and loved being in the mountains with his friends and hearing about their climbing journeys.
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“I can’t avoid snowstorms. I can’t avoid crevasses I can’t see. But if I train diligently, then I can avoid at least some of those potential dangers,” he said.
Kim said that he was determined to become the first disabled person to climb the 14 mountains, and that he had hoped it would serve as an inspiration for others to do the same.
“Someone has to go out in the front and be the first. That way, others can see that it is possible. They can have courage that they can try it, too,” he said. “My hope is that more people can accomplish their dreams, whether they are people with disabilities or teens.”
Min Joo Kim contributed to this report.
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