Seven Third Summits

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Kanchenjunga is the world's third highest mountain Kanchenjunga as seen from Gangtok.jpg
Kanchenjunga is the world's third highest mountain

The Seven Third Summits are the third-highest mountains of each of the seven continents. All of these mountain peaks are separate peaks rather than a sub-peak of the continents' high point. Christian Stangl from Austria claims to be the first person to reach the summit of all seven third summit mountains after climbing Puncak Mandala and Puncak Trikora. He did this as a part of his "Triple Seven Summits" project. Because of glacial melting and the disagreement over exactly which three peaks are the tallest in the Australian continent, Stangl also climbed several additional candidate peaks including Sumantri (4,870 m (15,978 ft)) and Ngga Pulu (4,862 m (15,951 ft)). [1] [2]

Contents

Definitions

The definition of continent is a matter of some dispute among mountaineers seeking to complete this challenge.

The main ridge of the Greater Caucasus range is generally considered to form the boundary between Asia and Europe. In that case, Mount Elbrus (5,642 m (18,510 ft)) and Dykh-Tau (5,205 m (17,077 ft)), are the two highest mountains in Europe. Excluding the Caucasus Mountains, Mont Blanc (4,808 m (15,774 ft)) and Monte Rosa (4,634 m (15,203 ft)) would be Europe's two highest mountains.

The Australian continent is defined as comprising the mainland of Australia and proximate islands on the same continental shelf, including Tasmania and New Guinea. In the convention of the seven continents, one of the continents is the region of Australasia, which includes for example the mountainous islands of New Zealand. For both the geological and conventional continent, New Guinea's Puncak Jaya / Carstensz Pyramid (4,884 m (16,024 ft)) and Puncak Mandala (4,758 m (15,610 ft)) are the two highest summits. When considering a continent as a continuous landmass surrounded by oceans, mainland Australia would be its own continent, with Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m (7,310 ft)) and Mount Townsend (2,209 m (7,247 ft)) as its two highest summits.

Bass and Messner list

The Third Seven Summits list follows the Seven Summits list created by Richard Bass, [3] who chose the highest mountain of mainland Australia, Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m (7,310 ft)), to represent the Australian continent's highest summit. Reinhold Messner proposed another list (the Messner or Carstensz list) replacing Mount Kosciuszko with Western New Guinea's Puncak Jaya (4,884 m (16,024 ft)), which is part of Indonesia.

Following the Bass list, Mount Twynam is the third-highest summit (2,196 m (7,205 ft)) in Australia. According to the Messner list, Puncak Trikora (4,750 m) on New Guinea is the third-highest of the Australian continent. [4] [5] However, SRTM data do support Puncak Mandala being taller than Puncak Trikora. Heights of mountain peaks in West Papua are poorly established.

Both lists consider the Caucasus Mountains as European. This makes Shkhara (5,193 m (17,037 ft)), located on the border between Georgia and Russia, the third-highest summit in Europe. Those who exclude the Caucasus Mountains from Europe, regard the Dom (4,545 m (14,911 ft)), located in Switzerland, as Europe's third-highest summit.

Seven Third Summits (sorted by elevation)
PeakBass listMessner listElevation Prominence Isolation ContinentRangeCountry
Kangchenjunga ✔✔8,586 m (28,169 ft) [6] 3,922 m (12,867 ft) [6] 124.32 km (77.25 mi) [6] Asia Himalayas India / Nepal
Monte Pissis ✔✔6,793 m (22,287 ft) [7] 2,143 m (7,031 ft) [7] 75.9 km (47.2 mi) [7] South America Andes Argentina
Pico de Orizaba ✔✔5,636 m (18,491 ft) [8] 4,922 m (16,148 ft) [8] 2,690.14 km (1,671.58 mi) [8] North America Cordillera Neovolcanica Mexico
Shkhara ✔✔5,193 m (17,037 ft) [9] 1,357 m (4,452 ft) [9] 6.02 km (3.74 mi) [9] Europe Caucasus Georgia / Russia
Mawenzi ✔✔5,149 m (16,893 ft) [10] 849 m (2,785 ft) [10] [11] 11.07 km (6.88 mi) [10] Africa - Tanzania
Mount Shinn ✔✔4,661 m (15,292 ft) [12] 961 m (3,153 ft) [12] 6.55 km (4.07 mi) [12] Antarctica Sentinel -
Puncak Trikora ✔4,750 m (15,584 ft) [13] 1,268 m (4,160 ft) [13] 167.29 km (103.95 mi) [13] Australia (continent) Maoke Indonesia
Mount Twynam ✔2,195 m (7,201 ft) [14] 155 m (509 ft) [14] 6.03 km (3.75 mi) [14] Australia Snowies Australia

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Kosciuszko</span> Highest mountain in mainland Australia

Mount Kosciuszko is mainland Australia's highest mountain, at 2,228 metres (7,310 ft) above sea level. It is located on the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park, part of the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves, in New South Wales, Australia, and is located west of Crackenback and close to Jindabyne, near the border with Victoria. Mount Kosciuszko is ranked 35th by topographic isolation.

The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reinhold Messner</span> Italian mountaineer, adventurer and explorer (born 1944)

Reinhold Andreas Messner is an Italian climber, explorer, and author from the German-speaking province of South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplemental oxygen. He was the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders, doing so without supplementary oxygen. Messner was the first to cross Antarctica and Greenland with neither snowmobiles nor dog sleds and also crossed the Gobi Desert alone. He is widely considered to be the greatest mountaineer of all time.

Richard Daniel "Dick" Bass was an American businessman, rancher and mountaineer. He was the owner of Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah and the first man to climb the "Seven Summits", the tallest mountain on each continent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Townsend (Snowy Mountains)</span> Mountain in New South Wales, Australia

Mount Townsend, a mountain in the Main Range of the Great Dividing Range, is located in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia.

Patrick Allan Morrow, is a Canadian photographer and mountain climber. In 1986 he was the first person to climb the Seven Summits in the Carstensz-Version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puncak Trikora</span> Mountain in Indonesia on New Guinea

Puncak Trikora is a 4,730 or 4,750-metre-high (15,584 ft) mountain in the Highland Papua province of Indonesia on New Guinea. It lies in the eastern part of the Sudirman (Nassau) Range of the Maoke Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seven Second Summits</span> Second-highest mountains on each continent

The Seven Second Summits are the second-highest mountains of each of the seven continents. All of these mountains are separate peaks rather than a sub-peak of the continents' high point. The Seven Second Summits are considered a harder challenge than the traditional Seven Summits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Stangl</span> Austrian mountaineer and mountain guide

Christian Stangl is an Austrian alpine style mountaineer and mountain guide. He has become known as Skyrunner by numerous exceptionally fast ascents of high mountains. His major success was in 2013, when he became the first person to ascend the three highest mountains on all seven continents, the so-called "Triple Seven Summits".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carstensz expedition</span>

The Carstensz expedition was made in 1936 by Anton Colijn, Jean Jacques Dozy and Frits Wissel. They left on October 29, 1936, from Aika, a town on the southern coast of Dutch New Guinea and returned on December 24. The aim of the expedition was reached by climbing the highest peak of the Carstenzgebergte, which at the time was the snow-covered peak of Ngga Pulu. Since 1936, massive snow melt has caused the nearby rocky spires of Carstensz Pyramid, which the expedition was unable to climb, to become the highest summit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puncak Mandala</span> Mountain in Papua, Indonesia

Puncak Mandala or Mandala Peak is a mountain located in Highland Papua, Indonesia. At 4,760 metres (15,617 ft), it is the highest point of the Jayawijaya (Orange) Range and is included in Seven Second Summits. Following Puncak Jaya/Mount Carstensz 350 km to the west, Mandala is the second-highest freestanding mountain in Oceania, Australasia, New Guinea, and Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puncak Jaya</span> Highest mountain in Indonesia and Oceania

Puncak Jaya or Carstensz Pyramid on the island of New Guinea, with an elevation of 4,884 m (16,024 ft), is the highest mountain peak of an island on Earth, and the highest peak in Indonesia. The mountain is located in the Sudirman Range of the highlands of Mimika Regency, Central Papua, Indonesia. Puncak Jaya is ranked 5th in the world by topographic isolation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Kammerlander</span> Italian mountaineer

Hans Kammerlander is an Italian mountaineer, living in Ahornach, a hamlet nearby Sand in Taufers. He has climbed 11 of the 14 8000m peaks. In 1984, together with Reinhold Messner he was the first climber to traverse two 8000 m peaks before descending to base camp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ngga Pulu</span> Summit on Mount Carstensz, Indonesia

Ngga Pulu is summit on the north rim of Mount Carstensz in the western part of the island of New Guinea rising 4,862 metres (15,951 ft). Trigonometric measurements showed that Ngga Pulu was the highest mountain of New Guinea and also the highest summit of the Australia-New Guinea continent. The elevation of Ngga Pulu in 1936 was about 4,907 m (16,099 ft), and it was the highest and most prominent peak between the Himalaya and the Andes. However, due to glacial melting, Ngga Pulu lost a high margin of elevation in the 20th century, being surpassed by Puncak Jaya. It is surrounded by one of Indonesia's only three glaciers, including the one on Puncak Trikora.

Ngga Pilimsit is a mountain located in the Indonesian province of Central Papua, in the Maoke Mountains. It rises 4,717 meters (15,476 ft). It is a little over thirteen miles west-northwest of Puncak Jaya, the highest peak of Oceania and Indonesia. The nearest peaks are Carstensz Pyramid, Wataikwa, Ubia, Venusberg, Otakwa, and Papua Peak 4061. Dependent on the definition used for an independent mountain, the peak ranks as the fourth to seventh highest mountain on New Guinea and in Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Jensen Burke</span> New Zealand-Australian climber

Chris Jensen Burke is a New Zealand–Australian mountain climber who was the first New Zealand or Australian woman to reach the summit of K2. Since climbing Mount Everest on 20 May 2011, Burke has climbed nine other eight-thousanders, including K2 on 26 July 2014 and Kanchenjunga on 17 May 2018. She is also the first New Zealand or Australian woman to complete the Seven Summits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eight Summits</span>

The Eight Summits is the collective name for the eight highest mountain peaks on each of the seven continents. It is an alternative name for the "Seven Summits" due to different ways in naming the highest mountain on the continent of Australia.

References

  1. ↑ Stangl, Christian (2013). "The target is reached". skyrunning.at. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  2. ↑ MacDonald, Dougald (28 August 2013). "Stangl Completes Triple Seven Summits". Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  3. ↑ Bass, Dick; Wells, Frank; Ridgeway, Rick (1986). Seven Summits . Warner Books. ISBN   0-446-51312-1.
  4. ↑ See for example the lists at peaklist, peakbagger.com, and gunungbagging.com
  5. ↑ Several other summits of Mount Carstensz besides Puncak Jaya (Sumantri (4,870 m), Ngga Pulu (4,862 m) and Carstensz East (4,820 m)) are higher than both Puncak Mandala and Puncak Trikora, but because of their low prominence (200-300 m) and isolation (2.2-2.6 km) these are usually not regarded as separate mountains.
  6. 1 2 3 "Kangchenjunga, India/Nepal". peakbagger.com. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 "Monte Pissis, Argentina". peakbagger.com. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 "Pico de Orizaba, Mexico". peakbagger.com. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 "Shkhara, Georgia/Russia". peakbagger.com. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 "Mawensi, Tanzania". peakbagger.com. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  11. ↑ Andalkar, Amar (26 November 2010). "The Volcanic Seven Summits". skimountaineer.com. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 "Mount Shinn, Antarctica". peakbagger.com. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  13. 1 2 3 "Puncak Trikora, Indonesia". peakbagger.com. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 "Mount Twynam, Australia". peakbagger.com. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
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