7 Summits
Seven Summits or Nine Summits: which one really counts?
The Bass vs Messner lists explained – and why nine peaks settle both debates for good.
Tested by Paulius Pikelis · 140 countries
Climb the highest mountain on each continent and you have done the Seven Summits. Simple, until you ask which peaks count, because two continents are disputed.
Australia or Oceania. The classic Bass list uses Mount Kosciuszko, 2,228 m, which you can nearly walk up. The harder Messner list swaps in Puncak Jaya, also called Carstensz Pyramid, 4,884 m, a technical climb in Indonesia, on the logic that the continent is really Oceania.
Europe. The accepted summit is Elbrus, 5,642 m, in the Caucasus. The old challenger is Mont Blanc, 4,810 m, in the Alps, for anyone who files the Caucasus under Asia.
Climb every contender and you reach what I call the Nine Summits: the seven, plus Carstensz and Mont Blanc. Most completionists stop at eight, doing both the Australia peaks. Nine settles both arguments for good.
Where I am: five of the seven done, with Everest and Vinson left. Mont Blanc is already ticked, the mountain that started all of this. On the Nine, Carstensz is the only extra.
My take: Seven Summits completes the challenge. Nine Summits completes the story. I am still deciding which one I am chasing.
Which would you count?
