Seven summits

The “7 Summits” are the highest mountains of each of the 7 continents. Because there is no agreement on which ones are the 7 continents, there is also disagreement on the “7 Summits”. There is no discussion about the following summits:

* Africa: Kilimanjaro
* Antarctica: Vinson
* Asia: Everest
* North-America: Denali
* South-America: Aconcagua

Usually, Elbrus is considered the highest mountain of Europe. But according to some, Elbrus is outside of Europe and therefore, they consider Mont Blanc to be the highest mountain of this continent.

There is more discussion about the seventh summit of this list. Carstensz Pyramid is the highest mountain in Oceania. Kosciuszko is lower than Carstenz but is the highest peak in Australia. Therefore the discussion about the 7th Summit boils down to a discussion about the 7th continent. But there is no scientifically accepted definition of a continent. Originally, continent means a continuous landmass which makes Australia a separate continent. But that would mean that Ireland and Sri Lanka are separate continents as well.

The concept of the “7 Summits” was invented by Richard Bass. He climbed Everest as the last of his 7 summits on 30th April, 1985. Since then, 200 mountaineers have accomplished this challenge as well.

The youngest person to complete the “7 Summits” is Samantha Larson. She was 18 years, 7 months and 10 days when she reached the summit of Everest on 17th May, 2007.