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 and achieved
on April 30, 1985 by Richard Bass.
Definition The Seven Summits are composed of each of
the highest mountain peaks of each of the seven continents. Different lists include
slight variations, but generally the same core is maintained.
Australia The highest mountain in the Australian mainland
is Mount Kosciuszko, 2,228 metres above sea level. However, the highest mountain in the
Australian continent which includes Australia and New Guinea is Puncak Jaya, 4,884 m above
sea level, in the Indonesian province of Papua on the island of New Guinea which lies on
the Australian continental shelf. Puncak Jaya is also known as Carstensz Pyramid.
Some sources claim Mount Wilhelm, 4,509 m, as the highest mountain peak in Australia,
on account of Indonesia being part of Asia and Southeast Asia. However, such a definition
is political, not geophysical. The peak belongs to the Bismarck Range of Papua New Guinea.
Europe The generally accepted highest summit is Mount
Elbrus in the Caucasus, appearing on both the Bass and Messner lists. However, because
the location of the boundary between Asia and Europe is not universally agreed upon,
its inclusion in Europe is disputed: if the Kuma–Manych Depression is used as geological
border between Asia and Europe, Caucasus and Elbrus lie wholly in Asia. If the Greater
Caucasus watershed is used instead, Elbrus' peaks are wholly in Europe, albeit close to
the border with Asia. Mont Blanc, lying on the border between France and Italy in the
Graian Alps, is seen by some to be the highest mountain in Europe.
The Bass and Messner lists The first Seven Summits list as postulated
by Bass chose the highest mountain of mainland Australia, Mount Kosciuszko, to represent
the Australian continent's highest summit. Reinhold Messner postulated another list replacing
Mount Kosciuszko with Indonesia's Puncak Jaya, or Carstensz Pyramid. Neither the Bass nor
the Messner list includes Mont Blanc. From a mountaineering point of view the Messner
list is the more challenging one. Climbing Carstensz Pyramid has the character of an
expedition, whereas the ascent of Kosciuszko is an easy hike. Indeed, Pat Morrow used this
argument to defend his choice to adhere to the Messner list. "Being a climber first and
a collector second, I felt strongly that Carstensz Pyramid, the highest mountain in Australasia
... was a true mountaineer’s objective."
Mountaineering challenge The mountaineering challenge to climb the
Seven Summits is traditionally based on either the Bass or the Messner list. As of January
2010, approximately 275 climbers climbed all seven of the peaks from either the Bass or
the Messner list; about 30% of those have climbed all of the eight peaks required to
complete both lists. History
Richard Bass, a businessman and amateur mountaineer, set himself the goal of climbing the highest
mountain on each of the seven continents, including mainland Australia. He hired David
Breashears to guide him up Mount Everest, the most difficult of his Seven, and completed
his Everest summit on April 30, 1985. He then co-authored the book Seven Summits, which
covered the undertaking. Reinhold Messner revised Bass's list by using
the broader definition of Oceania and including Carstensz Pyramid rather than Australia's
Mount Kosciuszko. Canadian Pat Morrow first met Messner's challenge, finishing with climbing
Carstensz Pyramid on May 7, 1986, shortly followed by Messner himself climbing Vinson
on December 3, 1986. Morrow was also the first to complete all eight summits from both lists.
In 1990, Rob Hall and Gary Ball became the first to complete the "Seven Summits" in seven
months. Using the Bass list, they started with Everest on May 10, 1990, and finished
with Vinson on December 12, 1990, hours before the seven-month deadline.
In 1992 Junko Tabei became the first woman to complete the "Seven Summits".
Mary "Dolly" Lefever became the first American woman to climb the "Seven Summits" on March
11, 1993, when she climbed Australia's Kosciusko. She had previously climbed the others. Earlier
in 1993 she had become the oldest surviving woman to have reached the summit of Mt. Everest;
she was 47 years old. In January 1996, Chris Haver became the first
American to climb and ski all seven summits. In May 2002, Susan Ershler and her husband,
Phil, became the first married couple to climb the "Seven Summits" together. The first person
to complete Seven Summits without the use of supplemental oxygen on Mount Everest is
Reinhold Messner. Miroslav Caban is probably the only other climber as of October 2005
to finish the project without supplemental oxygen on Everest. Between 2002 and 2007,
Austrian climber Christian Stangl completed the Seven Summits, climbing alone and without
supplemental oxygen, and reported a record total ascent time from respective base camp
to summit of 58 hours and 45 minutes. On 17 May 2006 Rhys Jones became the youngest
person to complete the 7 summits at the age of exactly 20 years. In May 2007, Samantha
Larson completed the seven when she was 18 years and 220 days. Johnny Strange climbed
the summits when he was 17 years and 161 days in June 2009. On May 26, 2011 at 6:45 Nepali
time, Geordie Stewart became the youngest Briton to complete the 7 summits at the age
of 22 years and 21 days. George Atkinson then became the youngest person in the world to
complete the round aged 16 years 362 days. On December 24, 2011, the record was once
again beaten, by American Jordan Romero, who completed the challenge at the age of 15 years,
5 months and 12 days by climbing Vinson. In October 2006 Kit Deslauriers became the
first person to have skied down all seven peaks. Three months later, in January 2007,
Swedes Olof Sundström and Martin Letzter completed their Seven Summits skiing project
by skiing down Carstensz Pyramid, thus becoming the first and only people to have skied both
lists. The world record for completion of the Messner
and Bass list was 136 days, by Danish climber Henrik Kristiansen in 2008. Kristiansen completed
the summits in the following order: Vinson on Jan 21st, Aconcagua on Feb 6, Kosciuszko
on Feb 13, Kilimanjaro on Mar 1, Carstensz Pyramid on Mar 14, Elbrus on May 8, Everest
on May 25, spending just 22 days on the mountain and finally McKinley on June 5, beating Ian
McKeever's previous record by 20 days. Vern Tejas set the new record for the same, in
134 days. Tejas began with summiting Vinson on Jan 18 2010 and completing with McKinley
on May 31. This was Vern's 9th time to complete the "Bass" Seven Summits.
In January 2010, the Spanish climber Carlos Soria Fontán completed the seven summits,
at the age of 71, after reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro. He had climbed the first one
in 1968. On 23 May 2010, AC Sherpa summited Mt. Everest
as his last and final conquest of the Seven Summits. In doing this, he set a new record
by climbing the seven summits within 42 climbing days. Additionally, when climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro
he summited in just 16 hours and 37 minutes, easily beating the previous record of 18 hours.
As of 24 December 2011, it is reported that only 118 people have climbed the Seven Summits
if one assumes "full" completion of the quest requires climbing the "Eight Summits" across
both the Bass and Messner lists. 231 persons have climbed the Messner list, while 234 have
completed the Bass list. 348 have done either the Bass or Messner list.
In 2013, Vanessa O'Brien became the fastest female to complete the Seven Summits, finishing
in 10 months. Cason Crane became the first openly gay man to climb the Seven Summits.
Criticism Alpinism author Jon Krakauer wrote in Into
Thin Air that it would be a bigger challenge to climb the second-highest peak of each continent,
known as the Seven Second Summits—a feat that was not accomplished until January 2012.
This is especially true for Asia, as K2 demands greater technical climbing skills than Everest,
while altitude-related factors such as the thinness of the atmosphere, high winds and
low temperatures remain much the same. Some of those completing the seven ascents are
aware of the magnitude of the challenge. In 2000, in a foreword to Steve Bell et al.,
Seven Summits, Morrow opined with humility "[t]he only reason Reinhold [Messner] wasn’t
the first person to complete the seven was that he was too busy gambolling up the 14
tallest mountains in the world." See also
Eight-thousander Explorers Grand Slam, also known as The Adventurers
Grand Slam Extreme points of Earth
Extremes on Earth List of highest mountains
List of islands by highest point Lists of mountains
Seven Second Summits Seven Third Summits
Territorial claims of Antarctica Three Poles Challenge
Volcanic Seven Summits Footnotes
Notes
References
External links 3D Tour of Seven Summits in Virtual Earth
7summits.com, voluminous information within commercial site
Essay on the criteria for the Seven Summits