The Second Seven Summits

The Seven summits consists of the highest mountain in every continent e.g.

"Seven Summits"

"Bass"	"Messner"	Summit	Elevation m.	Continent
X	X	Kilimanjaro (KiboSummit)	5,895	Africa
X	X	Vinson Massif	4,892	Antarctica
X		Kosciuszko	2,228	Australia
	X	Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya)	4,884	Australia-New Guinea
X	X	Everest(Sagarmatha or Chomolungma)	8,848	Asia
X	X	Elbrus	5,642	Europe
X	X	Mount McKinley(Denali)	6,194	North America
X	X	Aconcagua	6,962	South America

It was originally climbed by American business man Dick Bass who chose to climb climb Australia's highest peak instead of the highest peak in Australasia. Meanwhile Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner was slowly ticking of the routes between climbs of 8,000m peaks. Messner however climbed the highest peak in Australasia leading to the two slightly different lists seen in the table. As a result most climber climb both peaks in order to avoid controversy. However it's fairly obvious that Messner's list is the correct one and people claiming Bass's list are just cheating themselves. Kosciuszko being nothing more than a day walk.

These peaks have now become extremely popular with hundreds of commercial providers guiding these peaks making them overcrowded and providing the infrastructure for even the most inexperienced to have a good chance of success (this doesn't mean they're easy just very accessible). This has resulted in another list being created the so called "Second seven Summits" or triple S. This list consists of the second highest mountain in every continent. Hopefully this time round people won't confuse Australasia with Australia even if it does save them a lot of skill and effort.

"Seven Second Summits"

Summit	Elevation m.	Continent	Country
Mount Kenya	5,199	Africa	Kenya
Mount Tyree	4,852	Antarctica	Chilean Antarctica
Puncak Trikora	4,730	Australia-New Guinea	Indonesia
K2	8,611	Asia	Pakistan, China
Dykh-Tau	5,205	Europe	Russia
Mount Logan	5,959	North America	Canada
Ojos del Salado	6,893	South America	Argentina, Chile

So why would anyone wish to climb the second seven summits? Basically for the challenge. They're considerably harder than there seven summits counterparts. Firstly the mountains themselves although oh so slightly smaller are more technical and generally unguided making it far more challenging and would require somebody with serious mountaineering skill to achieve. Some of these mountains have only been summited a few time and even then only by some of the best mountaineers in the world for example Mount Tyree.

As yet nobody has climbed all of the Second seven Summits but to find out how close people are check out this leader board.

Would I as an experienced Mountaineer and expedition leader be interested in climbing them? well yes but as with all things the difficulty comes with funding such a venture. So I will probably have to guide my way through the list. If your interested in climbing any of these peaks and would like a guide or just some advice feel free to contact me.

If your business is interested in sponsoring me you may be interested in my sponsorship pack

What about the Volcanic Seven Summits? Well it's essentially another list. It actually looks quite interesting but I don't expect anybody to try it for quite a while.

Philip de-Beger

Related article http://www.dailyclimbingtips.com/icesnow/the-second-seven-summits/