Personal conflict is marring the race between Spain's Edurne Pasaban and South Korea's Oh Eu-bitch to become the first woman to climb the world's 14 highest mountains after Pasaban claimed, "I should be first. I'm by far the prettiest and the media will love me. Who wants to see the rear end of a yak staring out of their morning newspapers?".
Eu-bitch replied by pointing out, "It is technical ability that will decide the race and not looks. In any case, I don't understand her point. The rear ends of yaks are considered very sexy in my native South Korea."
A spokesman for Pasaban said, "I'm sure she didn't really mean what she said. She's just very upset after the twin tragedies of breaking one of the heels on her favourite pair of shoes on Annapurna and laddering her tights on K2."
Another factor in the unexpected outburst was thought to be the strain Pasaban was under due to the hardships of the extended period she has spent in a remote and hostile environment.
Pasaban herself commented on this earlier this month, "It can be incredibly difficult to stock up on toiletries and cosmetics when shops are so few and far between. The freezing temperatures and strong winds are playing havoc with my skin."
Eu-bitch said she had no such problems as she was using snow leopard urine, a traditional Chinese remedy, to ensure her skin stayed well hydrated.
