Climber's record claim in dispute

A Korean climber who claimed to have won the race to become the first woman to climb the world's 14 highest peaks has had her record thrown into doubt after the Korean Alpine Federation declared that she "probably failed" to reach the top of the world's third highest mountain.

Oh Eun-Sun called the verdict on her ascent of Kanchenjunga a "unilateral opinion" that had been a foregone conclusion before the investigation began. But if the accepted world authority on climbing records, Elizabeth Hawley, agrees with the Korean verdict and declares the ascent "unrecognised", the record will pass to Ms Oh's chief rival, Spanish climber Edurne Pasaban.

Ms Oh scaled the last of the 14 peaks over 8,000m in April, three weeks before Ms Pasaban completed her set. Critics say that Ms Oh has presented no conclusive evidence of successfully reaching the summit of several of the mountains.