What are the seven summits?

The seven summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven major continents on Earth arriving all them are regarded as a mountaineering challenge.

A the United States of America, Richard Bass amateur mountaineer, was the first person to climb all seven in 1985. Since then, it has always been controversy on which are the seven summits. A year later, in 1986 an another climber, Patrick Morrow reached the Summit of the Elbrouz and told the world that it was he who was the first person to climb the seven summits and not Richard Bass.

Richard Bass, however, said that in New Guinea Carstenz pyramid was the Summit of the seventh continent known as Oceania or Australasia. This included New Guinea, New Zealand and some Pacific Islands, with the Australia. If this date is true, this would mean that the Carstenz pyramid would be the top of the seventh continent and not Kosciuszko.

Richard Bass came up with his list of seven summits called "the bass list" which included the following mountains on it:

The low list

Mount Kosciuszko-2 228 m/7310 Australia IP
Vinson Massif-4, 892 m/16 ft 050 in Antarctica
Mount Elbrouz-5, 642 m/18 510 ft in Europe
Kilimanjaro-5, 896 m/19, 340 ft in Africa
Mt McKinley/Denali-6, 194 m/20, 230 ft
Aconcagua-6, 962 m/22, ft 835 South America
Mount Everest-8, 848 m/29, ft 035 in Tibet Nepal

A year later, in 1986 world famous Mountaineer Reinhold Messner has made its own list which included the Puncak rather than mount Kosciuszko the Australia.

The Messner list

Pyramid Carstensz-16, 023 ft/4885m in Australia (Oceania)
Vinson Massif-4, 892 m/16 ft 050 in Antarctica
Mount Elbrouz-5, 642 m/18 510 ft in Europe
Kilimanjaro-5, 896 m/19, 340 ft in Africa
Mt McKinley/Denali-6, 194 m/20, 230 ft
Aconcagua-6, 962 m/22, ft 835 South America
Mount Everest-8, 848 m/29, ft 035 in Tibet Nepal

Although there is no official list of the seven summits most climbers go by the "low" or "messner" list. However, some climbers going for seven summits climb in fact eight mountains to be cautious.

Some facts of interest

To date, there were approximately 300 climbers climbed the seven summits successfully.

Richard Bass was the first person to complete the seven summits in 1985.

Junko Tabei was the first woman to complete the seven summits in 1992, with the "Messner list".

Back in 1990 Rob Hall and Gary Ball a record for the first mountaineers to complete all seven summits in seven months only, by using the"low".

In May 2002, Susan Ershler and her husband, Phil, became the first married couple to climb the "seven summits" together.

Between 2002 and 2007, Christian Stangl, Austrian climber completed the seven summits with the "Messner list". He had done while climbing alone and without artificial oxygen.

Reinhold Messner was the first person to complete seven summits without the use of oxygen artificial everything in climbing on Mount Everest.

Johnny Collinson of Snowbird, Utah, aged 17 years, 296 only old days officially became the youngest to seven summits, with the "Messner list".

The youngest to complete the seven summits to the help of the "bass list" Samantha Larson from USA, she was aged 18 years and 221 days.

The oldest person to complete the seven summits with the "Messner list" Ramon Blanco of the Spain, he was 73 years and 357 days old.

The oldest person to complete the seven summits with the "list of bass" Ramon Blanco of the Spain, he was aged 70 years and 243 days.

May 23, 2010, AC Sherpa summit Mount Everest as his last mountain of the seven summits with the "list of bass". In so doing, it creates a new world record by climbing the seven summits in an incredible 42 days of climbing.

Colin Wallace is the owner of the Web site of Mount Everest the British story which presents the history of all past and current expeditions British. You will also find useful information about Mount Everest, as the facts, a list of adopted, statistics and much more.