Mountain man climbs his way to peak of life

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Mountain man climbs his way to peak of life

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Go In-gyung, a foreign language school magnate and mountaineer, at his office. By Kim Seong-ryong

Large teardrops rolled down Go In-gyung’s frosty cheeks the afternoon he reached the peak of Mount Rainier in Washington State. A mountain climbing enthusiast and chairman of the Pagoda Education Group, Go is a longtime partner and supporter of star climber Um Hong-gil, who was with him that cold afternoon in 1998.
While Go isn’t usually much of a crier, he couldn’t suppress his emotions that day as he watched Um clench his teeth and climb. Unlike his usual treks, this one for Um was far more of a struggle: The climber had broken his leg in three places the year before trying to save his sherpa guide while climbing Nepal’s icy Mount Annapurna. This trip was a rehabilitation journey.
After the accident, naysayers had said Um’s career as a climber was over. Go, however, disagreed, and took Um to Mount Rainier.
In the past, Um had climbed twice as fast, Go said, but that afternoon, Um was far behind, panting in agony.
Go’s tears came once Um reached Mount Rainier’s summit, the first of many subsequent peaks he would conquer.
A year later, Um succeeded in reaching the peak of Mount Annapurna after four unsuccessful attempts.
Ten years later, the walls of Go’s office display photographs and souvenirs from Um. Go has given both mental and financial support to Um, and the star climber has made a point to give his benefactor the pickaxes that he’s used as souvenirs. “These are my treasures,” Go said, fingering one piece of the climbing equipment.
Last Dec. 28, the two climbed Antarctica’s Mount Vinson Massif, 4,897 meters high above sea level, just the two of them.
“Um wanted to share the joy of reaching the peak with me because I always remain at base camps to support him,” Go said, looking young for his age of 64 despite the decades of mountain climbing.
Still, Go is no foreigner to the joy of reaching a summit. In fact, Go is quite a skilled mountaineer himself. He’s conquered “all the mountains in South Korea, as many as 200.” He was also the first Korean to reach the South Pole in 1993.
Go has also transferred this indomitable spirit to his day job. Pagoda, his chain of private foreign language institutes, or hagwon, which he started in 1969, now boasts more than 50,000 students a month.
Go’s love for mountains started in high school, but he made climbing his life, not just his pastime, as a middle-aged adult.
One day, he collapsed from exhaustion after years of overwork staying up till 4 a.m. At the recommendation of his doctor, Go started to climb mountains.
He found that the mountains provided him with a source of comfort as well. Go feels that when he reaches the summit, he can feel the presence of his late son.
Go’s son, who suffered brain damage after a childhood accident, took his life as a teenager after being severely bullied in school.
“He was a naive angel-like child,” Go said, his deep voice trembling.
He soothed his pain about losing his child by enduring the greater physical pain of climbing mountains. “Mountain climbing to me is far from a joyful experience,” he said. “On the contrary, it is full of pain.”
Then why does he voluntarily suffer? For Go, it’s the end result that matters. “I can meet my true self when I stand on the peak of a mountain after suffering the worst pain ever,” Go said. “I can see who I am, where I stand and where I should go on the mountain.”
As for Go’s friendship with Um, some of the businessman’s friends said that he is only a shadow of the climbing star. But Go disagreed: “We’ve both achieved our goals and we are both successes.”


By Chun Su-jin Staff Reporter [sujiney@joongang.co.kr]
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