The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven continents. Summiting all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first postulated as such in the 1980s by Richard Bass.
The mountains include:
- Everest, Asia. 8850m
- Aconcagua, South America. 6962m
- McKinley (Denali), North America. 6194m
- Kilimanjaro, Africa. 5892m
- Elbrus, Europe. 5642m
- Vinson Massif, Antarctica. 4892m
- Carstensz Pyramid, Oceania. 4884m
- (Kosciuszko), Australia. 2228m
Dick Bass was the first person to claim the 7 summits, finishing with Everest in April 1985.
Reinhold Messner, the first man to climb all 14 mountains over 8000m, suggested an alternate list. This was prompted by the fact that the highest point in Australia, Mt Kosciuszko, is an easy stroll at 2228m and not really fitting with the concept.
He proposed the seventh continent to be Oceania and a mountain in Indonesia, Puncak Jaya, more commonly called Carstensz Pyramid (4884m) to be its high point.
To this day there is not one list but two, one with Carstensz and one with Kosciuszko as the seventh summit. Most climbers today hedge their bets and climb both.
After Messner’s alternate list was formulated, Pat Morrow became the first to complete it climbing Carstensz Pyramid in May, 1986 (seven months before Messner himself who finished in Antarctica with the Vinson Massif).
The first woman to complete (both) lists was Junko Tabei in 1992.
In 1990 New Zealanders Rob Hall and Gary Ball completed the Bass list in under seven months. (Ball later died of cerebral edema on Dhaulagiri in 1993 and Hall died in the 1996 Everest tragedy).
Californian Samantha Larson is the youngest person to complete the 7 summits (she has done both lists) at age 18.
These days there has been just about every possible combination of “first person to” but the 7 summits remain one of the classic adventures. It is an expensive undertaking and Everest in particular is a dangerous mountain at any time. Despite this every year more people embark on the challenge to stand on top of each part of our world.
The 7 Summits (Wikipedia)
Summits: Climbing the Seven Summits Solo
7 summits Mountaineering Training
How Much Does It Cost To Climb The 7 Summits?
17 Year Old Climbs The 7 Summits
The Most Technical Of The 7 Summits
Aconcagua: Summit of South America (Rucksack Pocket Summits)
Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills
No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks
High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
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