Um Hong Gil (File Photo)

Um Hong Gil of South Korea became the first Asian mountaineer to summit all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters after his successful ascent of 8,400 high Mt. Lhotse Shar recently.

Um summited Lhotse Shar via its south face last Thursday, together with teammates Byung Sung-ho and Mo Sang-hyun and Nepali high altitude guide Pasang Namgyal Sherpa.

The 47-year-old resident of Seoul has completed his feat of ascending all 8,000 meters peaks for 16th time in his 4th attempt following his unsuccessful attempts in past.

On a first attempt in 2001, Um's team turned around at 7,600m due to bad weather, while in 2003, the expedition was aborted after two team members died in an avalanche at 8,250 meters.

Last year, similar conditions on the higher sections (high risk of avalanches) forced Um to call the attempt off one more time.

Um succeeded in climbing all 14 mountains higher than 8,000 meters including Mt. Qomolangma (Everest) from both north and south face, K2, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, Nanga,Parbat, Annapurna, Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II, Shishapangma and the central summit of Shishapangma.

In addition to the Big 14, Um summited 8,505-meter-tall Yalung Khan (Kangchenjunga's West summit) in 2004, and has now bagged 8,400m's Lhotse Shar.

Um has stood on top of Mt. Qomolangma three times.