University Alpine Club (1988–2000) Once Kim joined the UOS Alpine Club, he significantly increased his climbing and mountaineering activities. By the 1990s, Kim was rock climbing routes
graded 5.12, and participated in two Karakoram expeditions organized by UOS Alpine Club:
Great Trango (6,286m, 1993) and
Gasherbrum IV (7,925m, 1996). In both expeditions, Kim was one of the lead climbers, creating a reputation of a bold and even reckless approach to climbing. For example, on a new route on the east face of Gasherbrum IV, Kim and his partner reached 7,450m. Facing the impasse of a rocky face with no cracks to secure protection, Kim told his partner: "Let the rope go if I got a fall!". Kim referred to this and other moments in the 90's as "my immature younger years when I pursued only great achievements on mountains".
Pakistan exploration (2000–2004) Kim came to international climbing attention in 2000 when he undertook a solo exploration of the
Karakoram. From 2000 to 2004, Kim surveyed mountain ranges across the Karakoram, the
Hindu Kush, and the
Pamir Mountains in northern Pakistan. He walked many mid-to-large-sized glaciers, crossed numerous passes, investigated and took photos of known or unknown peaks which he judged noteworthy for climbing. In several cases, he was first to step on the deepest side of remote glaciers, or was only second to the 19th century Western explorers. He collected local names of the peaks, passes, and glaciers, and meticulously compared them with those in several different maps of the regions. Kim published his findings and experiences in the Seoul-based
Monthly Magazine Mountain and shared his knowledge of unclimbed peaks, leading to the first ascent of Amphu I (6,740m) in the
Mahalangur Himal by three Korean mountaineers. An example of Kim's attention to detail was shown in 2003, when he had to name two 6,000 metre peaks for which he made the first ascent in the Chiantar valley,
Hindu Raj. The first peak is labeled in Tsuneo Miyamori's 2001 map as "Suj Sar SW", pairing with a nearby 6,177m-peak named "Suj Sar NE". Kim identified that the two peaks were completely separate. Kim also observed that while "Sar" means peak in the
Wakhi language, the
Shina language was the local vernacular language where a distinct peak is called a "Kor". Since each peak was located closely to Atar Sar and to Haiz Gah, Kim and an informed villager came up with new names: "Atar Kor" (6,189m) and "Haiz Kor" (6,105m). His notes included books, journals, rolls of films, and a digital database of 2.4 terabytes. The list of his first ascents included: partnered ascents in
Batura II (7,762m) in Pakistan and Himjung (7,140m) in Nepal, both with partner(s), as well as solo ascents in Pakistan of an unnamed peak (6,006m) near the
Lupgarsar pass, Delhi Sang-i-sar (6,225m) in the
Chapursan valley, Atar Kor (6,189m), Haiz Kor (6,105m) in the Chiantar range, and Bakma Brakk (6,150m, or Bukma peak).
Death (2018) In 2018, Kim planned to climb
Gurja Himal's untouched 3,800m-long south face in the alpine style. This climb was part of what he called the "Korean Way Project", an unconfined series of Himalayan climbs he embarked from 2016. The project aimed to climb a new route on a mountain, with no external assistance. Interestingly, Kim specified the following three criteria in the choice of climbing destination: the potential merit of exploration in the entire travel, the mountain's significance in the local culture, and the planned route's naturalness. This stylistic, innovative approach to mountaineering stems from his own mountaineering philosophy that distinctively concerns the ethics of relationship, or what he called “mountaineering of coexistence". The bodies of Kim's team were found scattered around the cliffs below their Gurja Himal base camp as far as 500m away. Many have inferred the cause of the accident to be the blast of an avalanche that occurred while everyone slept. The
Google Earth image shows a massive
serac at the edge of the upper plateau on 5,900 m to the west of Gurja Himal's summit. It is hypothesized that the serac broke off and swept the base camp straight down the wall. It is inferred that the accident occurred between the evening of October 10 and the morning of October 11, based on the fact that Kim Chang-Ho’s meticulous journal recorded its last entry on October 10. ==See also==