Seven Summits

This creates several possible versions of the seven summits: The concept Richard Bass and his climbing partner Frank Wells were pursuing was to be the first to stand atop the highest mountain on each continent.

Similarly, Puncak Jaya in New Guinea has been closed due to security concerns and the risks posed by ongoing tribal conflicts and mining operations.

[7] The rebels' declaration of "all foreigners are now target" marked an intensification of the conflict, making travel to New Guinea highly advised against.

[9] In summary, the Mount Wilhelm version of the Seven Summits currently presents the safest option for climbers, avoiding travel to Russia and New Guinea.

However, the highest mountain on the Australian continent, which includes Australia and New Guinea, is Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid), 4,884 m (16,024 ft) above sea level,[a] in the Indonesian province of Central Papua on the island of New Guinea, which shares the Sahul continental shelf with Australia.

Sources that list Mount Wilhelm as the highest point in Oceania or show boundaries putting Puncak Jaya in Asia include: the United Nations,[15] 7 Continent Summits,[16] World Atlas,[17] the CIA World Factbook,[18] Canada Atlas,[19] and Papua New Guinea PNG Trekking.

[20] The generally accepted highest summit in Europe is Mount Elbrus (5,642 m or 18,510 ft) in the Caucasus, appearing on both the Bass and Messner lists.

If the Greater Caucasus watershed is used instead, Elbrus' peaks are wholly in Europe, albeit close to the border with Asia.

Mont Blanc (4,810 m or 15,781 ft), lying on the border between France and Italy in the Graian Alps, is seen by some to be the highest mountain in Europe.

[25][26][27] In 1970, the Japanese mountaineer and adventurer Naomi Uemura (1941-1984) was the first person to reach five of the Seven Summits including Mount Everest.

Beginning in 1983, Bass and Wells made various guided attempts to climb Mount Everest, the highest and most difficult peak in the list.

On 30 April 1985, Bass reached the summit of Mount Everest in a party without Wells, guided by the American professional mountaineer David Breashears.

[30] In 1986, the Canadian mountaineer Patrick Morrow became the first man to climb the Seven Summits in the Carstensz version (Messner list).

[36] Yasuko Namba was famous in her native Japan for becoming the second Japanese woman to reach all of the Seven Summits including Everest, where she died during the storm of May 1996 during her descent.

[44][45] Notable climbers who had previously been the youngest to complete the Seven Summits include Rob Hall in 1990 and David Keaton in 1995.

[46][47] On 26 May 2011, at 6:45 Nepali time, Geordie Stewart became the youngest Briton to complete the Seven Summits at the age of 22 years and 21 days.

[51][52] On 24 December 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.

[56] Indian mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu also had the eminence of setting a Guinness world record by surmounting the Seven Summits in 172 days in 2006.

[57] The world record for completion of the Messner and Bass list was 136 days, by Danish climber Henrik Kristiansen in 2008.

[61] In 2013, Vanessa O'Brien became the fastest female to complete the Seven Summits (including Carstensz Pyramid), finishing in 10 months.

[63] On 21 November 2013, Werner Berger (Canada, ex-South African), at the age of 76 years and 129 days, became the oldest person in the world to complete the Seven Summits after a 6-day jungle trek to Carstensz Pyramid.

[64] On 16 December 2014, Tashi and Nungshi Malik became the world's first twins and siblings to complete the Seven Summits (Messner list).

Colin O'Brady broke the record for the Messner and Bass lists in 131 days, summiting Vinson on 17 January 2016 and completing with Denali on 27 May 2016.

[68][69] He completed the feat on 15 Jan 2019 after summitting Mt Sidley, Antarctica at the age of 35 years 261 days breaking the record of Daniel Bull from Australia.

[72][73][74][75] Alpinism author Jon Krakauer (1997) wrote in Into Thin Air[76] 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 2013.

This is especially true for Asia, as K2 (8,611 m) demands greater technical climbing skills than Everest (8,848 m), while altitude-related factors such as the thinness of the atmosphere, high winds and low temperatures remain much the same.

In 2000, in a foreword to Steve Bell et al., Seven Summits, Morrow opined "[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.

[79] The 8000ers are all in East Asia; Nepal, China, India and Pakistan in a more narrow region of Earth, and many of the climbs are quite dangerous with several climbers dying short of completing all 14.