TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A climber on Thursday (May 5) became the first Taiwanese to summit the third-highest mountain in the world without supplemental oxygen.
On Thursday evening, Taiwan Time, famed climber Lu Chung-han (呂忠翰) reached the summit of Kanchenjunga, which stands at 8,586 meters. Lu accomplished this feat without bottled oxygen, making him the first Taiwanese to do so.
The climb was part of what Lu has dubbed the "Go Next 14 Peaks Challenge" (前進十四峰). His goal is to climb 14 peaks across the world that have an elevation of 8,000 meters or higher.
He intends to do so without supplemental oxygen and has managed to do so on seven peaks so far.
Lu's most famous exploit was attempting to climb K2, the world's second-tallest mountain in 2019 without an oxygen supply. However, he fell short of his goal due to bad weather.
According to the Go Next 14 Peaks Challenge Facebook page, Lu reached the summit after more than 15 hours of climbing from Camp 4. The authors of the post said this "proves to the world the perseverance and courage of the Taiwanese and is an important step for Taiwan's adventurist culture."
However, Lu's journey was not yet over, as he had a six- to eight-hour journey to return down the mountain. The writer of the post thanked all of Lu's fans for their support.
