The Seven Summits
The quest to climb the highest mountain on each continent has captured
the imagination of climbers throughout the world
The Seven Summits offer a fantastic challenge, with each mountain giving a unique experience. Together they provide an excuse to travel and climb in every corner of the globe... [read more]
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Map by Vertebrate Graphics/S.Norris
| Anyone can share the Seven Summit experience. Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua involve no technical difficulty and can be climbed as long as you have fitness and determination. Then, once you have increased your experience, you can consider some of the other summits, each one making you better prepared to tackle the next.
Jagged Globe is the only British company to have led climbers to the top of all the Seven Summits.
The Seven Summits StoryThe idea of climbing the Seven Continental Summits was first publicised by American Dick Bass. His book, Seven Summits, described his ascents of the continental peaks, although he climbed Kosciusko, the Australian Summit, instead of the much higher and more difficult Carstensz Pyramid. Canadian Pat Morrow, was the first to complete all Seven Summits with Carstensz in 1986. Four months later Reinhold Messner followed suit.Over 20 'Seven Summiteers' have climbed at least one of the mountains with Jagged Globe. Rhys Jones became the youngest person in the world to complete the Seven Summits, when he summited Everest on his 20th birthday. We asked Rhys what it takes to become a successful Seven Summiteer: |
7 Summits SelectorListed by grade, for details of grading [click here]
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What advice would you give to someone who is considering trying to climb all Seven Summits?
"Once you're inspired and determined you obviously need to be pretty fit, and be prepared to give up your weekends to get into the hills. You need really good 'tent admin' to make life on the mountains comfortable. That's more useful then technical ability or fitness, because if your gear is dry and ice free, you'll climb a lot better. Finally, you need to find the cash. Either you have it, or more likely you'll be trying to persuade someone to pay for your trip. That's another skill entirely! Most of all, don't give up. If it was easy, everyone would do it..." [read the full interview with Rhys]
The Seven Summits Programme
We are frequently asked, "How do I go about climbing the Seven Summits?". Here is an example four-year programme, assuming you start the challenge with no previous mountaineering experience. This programme might also be applied to someone who aspires to climb Everest. As an absolute minimum, we need to see Denali or equivalent on a climbing CV before we would accept someone onto our Everest expedition, and we always recommend attempting another 8,000er first... [read more]