Top Himalayan peaks and their elevation in metres
1. Everest - (Sagarmatha/Qomolangma) - 8850 - Nepal-Tibet
2. K2 - (Godwin Austen) - 8611 - (Pak./China occupied Kashmir)
3. Kanchenjunga - 8598 - Nepal-India
4. Lhotse - 8501 - Nepal/Tibet
5. Makalu - 8463 - Nepal/Tibet
6. Cho Oyu - 8201 - Nepal/Tibet
7. Dhaulagiri - 8167 - Nepal
8. Manaslu - 8163 - Nepal
9. Nanga Parbat - 8125 - Pak. occupied Kashmir
10. Annapurna - 8091 - Nepal
11. Gasherbrum I - 8068 - Pak./China occupied Kashmir
12. Broad Peak - 8047 - Pak./China occupied Kashmir
13. Shisha Pangma - (Xixabangma Feng/Gosainthan) - 8046 - Nepal/Tibet
14. Gasherbrum II - 8035 - Pak./China occupied Kashmir
**** Multiply by 3.25 to get values in feet.
The names of the peaks have an interesting history. Everest was named after
the British Surveyor-General to India. Initially it had the uninspiring
name of Peak XXV. First climbed in 1953 by Tenzing and Hillary, it lies
in the Khumbu Himal range.
K2 is called so because it was the second peak in the Karakoram Range of
the Himalayas to be measured. K1 goes to another peak called Masherbrum
(~7900m) which appeared to be higher since it was much closer to the surveyor
(Montgomerie). K2 is also named after the English topographer Henry Godwin-Austen
who first explored the region (Called Mt. Qogori by the Chinese since it's
drained by the Qogori glacier which becomes the Shaksgam river). It was
first climbed in 1954. It is often rated as the hardest 8000m mountain
to climb with 164 successful summitteers and 48 fatalities. Just like Everest
has the very popular South-East ridge route, so does K2, also called the
Abruzzi spur after the Italian duke who first stepped on the spur in the
late 19th century (but did not get very high). For a very brief time in
1986, K2 held the title of the tallest mountain in the world because a
brief, uncertain measurement using GPS gave it a higher elevation than
Everest. This was quickly dispelled by a follow-up expedition led by the
same Italian team which first climbed the mountain in 1954. Amazingly,
the measurements of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India in the early
and mid-19th century has been verified by current technologically advanced
measurements as being accurate to within a few metres !
Kanchenjunga - 1955 (Nobody is permitted to climb to the summit of Kanchenjunga
since it is a holy mountain. The closest one can get is about 100m from
the summit). Lhotse - 1956 Makalu - 1958 Cho Oyu - 1954. Annapurna was
the first of the 8000m peaks summited in 1950 by a French team led by Maurice
Herzog. Clearly the 1950's were the golden age of climbing.
While many of these peaks are not outrageously difficult to climb,
the effects of altitude play a prominent role in enhancing the risks. Most
climbers these days climb with supplementary bottled oxygen because the
air on the summit of Everest is a third as dense than at sea level, which
implies that the amount of oxygen available in each breath is also about
a third. However, when climbing with bottled oxygen one is subject to the
vicissitudes of their equipment - so if your oxygen regulator fails at
high altitude your body suddenly has to deal with reduced oxygen intake.
This in my opinion poses a far greater risk than climbing without supplementary
oxygen. Also if one were trying to be in harmony with nature or challenge
her in any way, it is aesthetically appealing to do it with as little aid
as possible. Altitude sickness also affects each person differently and
at different altitudes. I have become weak in the legs or woozy twice at
10,000 feet when I went straight up from sea level. On the other hand,
with proper acclimatization, I wasn't feeling any ill effects at 18,000'
feet. Common symptoms are headache, wheezing/gasping for air, weakness
and dizziness, inability to see clearly. Severe effects of altitude are
cerebral and pulmonary edema where the brain and lungs get filled with
water. The only solution
in these cases is to get down to a lower altitude rapidly although
incarcertation in a hyperbaric chamber (Gamow Bag) has also been shown
to be useful.
The Seven Summits of the World
Everest (8850 m, Asia)
Aconcagua (6960 m, South America)
Denali/McKinley (6194 m, North America)
Kosciuscko (2228 m, Australia)
Kilimanjaro (5895 m, Africa)
Mont Blanc (4807 m, Europe)
Vinson Massif (5140 m, Antarctica)
There is also some debate about which seven are really
the seven summits since Mt. Elbrus (5633 m) which is in Russia is higher
than Mont Blanc but Russia has always been considered part of Asia. Similarly
Mt. Carstenz in Indonesia (5030 m) is taller than Kosciusko and it has
been argued that Australasia which includes the Indonesian island of New
Guinea should be considered a continent not just Australia. Even Mount
Cook (3764 m) in NZ occasionally makes it into the seven summits depending
on who you talk to.