Seven Summits

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This article concerns at least three closely-related senses of Seven Summits:

The book Seven Summits, by Richard Bass et al.,
The list of seven mountains, each the highest on its continent, that the book presents, and
The similar list proposed by Reinhold Messner.
In addition there is at least a third such list, discussed below.

1 The dominant lists
2 History
3 Controversies
- 3.1 Criticism of promoting the goal
- 3.2 Can Elbrus represent Europe?
4 External links
5 Reference

The dominant lists

The Bass and Messner lists are nearly identical, disagreeing only as to whether Australia or Australasia should be among the continents. Another point of disagreement in literature is where exactly to set the borders of Europe. Using the Caucasus main ridge as border of Europe the Elbrus is in Europe and therefore its highest mountain, whereas according to the Russian definition of Europe the Elbrus lies in Asia being the border of Europe the Kuma-Manych Depression which lies in the north of the Caucasus. In this case the Mont Blanc would be the highest mountain of Europe.

Asia: Everest, Nepal/PRC(Tibet) (8,848 m)
South America: Aconcagua, Argentina (6,959 m)
North America: Mount McKinley (Denali), Alaska (6,194 m)
Africa: Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (5,895 m)
Europe: Elbrus, Russia (5,642 m)

(alternatively Mont Blanc, France/Italy (4810 m))

Antarctica: Vinson Massif (4,897 m)
Australasia: Carstensz Pyramid, Irian Jaya, Indonesia (4,884 m)
(according to Bass) Australia: Kosciuszko, New South Wales (2,228 m), (although Mt Cook, New Zealand is 3,754 m)

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History

Bass, an American businessman and amateur mountaineer, set himself the goal of climbing the highest mountain on each of his seven continents, including Australia. He hired David Breashears to guide him up Everest, by far the most difficult of his Seven, and completed his Everest summit April 30 1985. He then co-authored Seven Summits, which covered the undertaking.

In 1990, mountain climbers Rob Hall and Gary Ball became the first to complete the Seven Summits in seven months. Using the Kosuiusko list, they started with Mount Everest in May 1990 and finishing with Vinson Massif on December 12, 1990, hours before the seven-month deadline.

Messner, whose mountaineering career stands out both professionally and personally, took issue with the selection of Australia as a continent (or as a continent worthy of mountaineering). He revised Bass's list by substituting for Australia the whole of Australasia. (Pat Morrow first met Messner's challenge, finishing on August 5, 1986). He was shortly followed by Messner himself in the same year.

As of 2003, somewhat more than 100 climbers have climbed all seven of the peaks on one or the other of those two lists; about 40% of those have climbed all of the eight peaks required to complete both lists. While the numbers of completions of the two lists are very close, two statistics suggest the difference in degree of effort:

Even discounting both the 1985 completions using Kosciuszko (since they could be thought of as a head start before Messner's challenge was made), five more climbers completed the Sevens using Kosciuszko before the third climber completed the feat using Carstensz Pyramid.
The shortest spans a person has made the seven ascents using Kosciuszko is about seven months, and about ten months using Carstensz Pyramid.

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Controversies

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Criticism of promoting the goal

Many mountain climbers, beyond these hundred and some, aspire to complete the seven ascents of one or both of these lists, but the expense, physical ability, and danger involved often turn out to be far beyond the resources they can bring to the project. In particular, as of 2003, political problems are preventing further ascents of Carstensz Pyramid. Popularization of the Seven Summits has not been without its detractors, who argue that it tempts the ambitious but inexperienced into paying large sums to professional guides who promise the "seven," and that the guides are therefore pressured to press on toward summits even to the detriment of their clients' safety.

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. This is especially true for Asia, as K2 demands much more enhanced climbing skills than Everest, while the altitude-related factors such as oxygen deficiency remain the same.

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Can Elbrus represent Europe?

Beyond the two approaches to choosing a peak in southeastern Asia, an argument has been made against Elbrus serving as Europe's highest peak. Home-atlas topographic maps make it obvious that the Caucasus range has a closer geophysical affinity with Asian mountains than with other European ones. While no list without Elbrus has gained the traction or popularity with climbing enthusiasts than the conventional Seven Summits, any weakness of the case for Mont Blanc (at 4,807 meters) in place of Elbus lies in its technical nature, not in an idiosyncratic view of European boundaries.

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