Highest unclimbed mountain

This article's tone or style may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (November 2009)

This article contains weasel words, vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed. (November 2009)

The highest unclimbed mountain in a particular region or in the world is often a matter of controversy. In some parts of the world surveying and mapping are still not reliable, and there are not comprehensive records of the routes of explorers, mountaineers and local inhabitants.

However, a major problem relates to the definition of a mountain. Any particular mountain, in addition to its highest point, will also have subsidiary "tops." Generally, a subjective view is taken of what is a mountain and what is a top. The horizontal distance between main peak and top, the difference in height, the topographic prominence of the top, as well as the general topography, all come into consideration. Although objective criteria have been proposed for distinguishing "peaks" from "tops" (a prominence of 610 m, 2,000 feet is one definition), there is no widely agreed standard.

The Peakware World Mountain Encyclopedia has a list of unclimbed 7000 m Himalayan peaks which includes tops.^[1] The list is somewhat out-of-date: for example Lhotse Middle, 8430 m, was first climbed in spring 2001. Another list is provided on the Explorersweb website using a prominence cutoff of 500 m.^[2]

Gangkhar Puensum from Ura La, Bhutan

The mountain most widely claimed to be the highest unclimbed mountain in the world in terms of elevation seems to be Gangkhar Puensum, 7570 m (24,836 feet). It is in Bhutan, on or near the border with China. In Bhutan, climbing of high mountains has been prohibited since 1994. The rationale is based on a combination of (1) the Bhutanese government's respect for local customs that consider this and similar peaks to be the sacred homes of protective spirits and (2) the lack of high-altitude rescue resources from any locale closer than India.

Since Gangkhar Puensum is off limits to climbing, a natural question is "What is the highest unclimbed non-prohibited mountain?" The answer to this is also doubtful and depends greatly on the prominence cutoff. Saser Kangri II East (7,513 m, Prom=1,450 m) is a strong candidate, but access to the peak is difficult, since it lies near the disputed India/Pakistan border in Kashmir. Labuche Kang III/East (7250 m?, Prom=570 m?), near Cho Oyu, is reportedly unclimbed, but its status is hard to verify. It also lacks significant prominence.

See also

• List of peaks by prominence
• List of highest mountains

References