Seven Second Summits

The Seven Second Summits are the second highest mountains of each of the seven continents. All of these mountain peaks are separate peaks rather than a sub-peak of the continents' high point.

"Seven Second Summits" definitions

The definition of "continent" is a matter of some dispute among mountaineers seeking to complete this challenge.

In Australia, using a more geographical definition (continuous landmass surrounded by oceans), the Australian continent only consists of mainland Australia, which makes Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m) its highest summit. A more geological (Plate tectonics) view defines the Australian continent as mainland Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea, resulting in New Guinea's Carstensz Pyramid (4,884 m) being its highest summit.

In Europe, the generally accepted highest summit is Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) in the Caucasus. This is the accepted summit when the Caucasus mountains are included within Europe's boundaries. The issue is disputed, with some people considering Mont Blanc (4,808 m) to be Europe's highest mountain.

The "Bass" and "Messner" list

The Second Seven Summits list follows the Seven Summits list created by Richard Bass [cite book | last = Bass | first = Dick | coauthors = Frank Wells, Rick Ridgeway | title = Seven Summits | publisher = Warner Books | date = 1986 | id = ISBN 0-446-51312-1 ] , who chose the highest mountain of mainland Australia, Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m), to represent the Australian continent's highest summit. Reinhold Messner postulated another list (the "Messner" or "Carstensz" list) replacing Mount Kosciuszko with Western New Guinea's Carstensz Pyramid, which is part of Indonesia (4,884 m).

Following the "Bass" list, Mount Townsend is the second highest summit (2,209 m) in Australia. According to the "Messner" list, Puncak Trikora, located in Indonesia, is the second tallest (4,730 m) on the Australian plate.

Both lists count Mount Elbrus as the highest peak in Europe. This makes Dykh-Tau (5,205 m), located in Russia, the second highest summit in Europe. Those who consider Mont Blanc to be the highest mountain in Europe would consider Monte Rosa (4,634 m), on the border between Italy and Switzerland, to be the second highest summit.

Difficulty versus Seven Summits

Alpinism author Jon Krakauer wrote in "Into Thin Air" [cite book | last = Krakauer | first = Jon | title = Into Thin Air | publisher = Villard | date = 1997 | id = ISBN 0-385-49208-1] that it would be a bigger challenge to climb the second-highest peak of each continent instead of the highest. Strangely this is true for almost every continent. In Asia K2 (8,611 m) demands greater technical climbing skills than Everest (8,848 m), while altitude-related factors such as the thinness of the atmosphere, high winds and low temperatures remain much the same. The summit of Mount Kenya (5,199 m) is a rock climb, while Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) can be ascended without any technical difficulty. In North America, Mount Logan is generally considered a more difficult climb than Mount McKinley. In South America Ojos del Salado involves a short scramble while Aconcagua is just a walk. [John Biggar: The Andes - A Guide for Climbers, ISBN 0-9536087-2-7] In Europe Dykh-Tau is a considerably harder climb than El'brus. [Bender: Classic Climbs of the Caucasus] In Australia Mount Townsend is a considerably more challenging climb than Mount Kosciuszko, even though both are relatively easy. [Geehi Bushwalking Club: Snowy Mountains Walks ISBN 0-9599651-4-9]

Acccording to Summitpost Mount Logan is not more difficult than Mount McKinley, because it is neither technical nor steep. [http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150624/logan-massif.html]

References

See also

* Seven Summits
* Volcanic Seven Summits
* Three Poles Challenge
* Explorers Grand Slam, also known as The Adventurers Grand Slam
* Eight-thousander

External links

* [http://www.peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=601 Peak Bagger]