Scaling new heights: Korea’s Ji Hyeon-ok

Visitors to our Google Korea domain, google.co.kr, today will see a very special doodle commemorating the life of intrepid female mountaineer Ji Hyeon-ok.  She would have turned 56 today.

Ji Hyeon-ok led the first team of Korean female mountaineers to Mt. Everest, and was the world’s first female mountaineer to ever succeed in climbing peaks above 8000m without supplemental oxygen and without a sherpa.

One of many mountain views Ji Hyeon-ok must have relished, this one a photo sphere from Google Maps

In addition to Everest, Ji also climbed Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II and Annapurna—the first female Korean mountaineer to do so. But right after the crowning achievement of climbing Annapurna in 1999, she sadly passed away on the descent to the basecamp. Today’s doodle celebrates this remarkable woman’s bravery in forging paths and reaching new heights, where few have dared to go before.

Posted by Heajin Lee, Marketing Manager, Google Korea