Who was the first to conquer Everest? In what year was Everest conquered? Modern ascents: two base camps on opposite sides of Everest.

Later, Aconcagua, which means “white guard” in the Inca language, will be called the most international peak: people of various nationalities will visit it. Note that she greatest mountain all three Americas”, “the best landmark on the continent”, “heavenly beacon in splendid isolation” (the peak is visible from the Pacific coast of Chile, from Santiago and Valparaiso). On it, one of the zealous priests will bring in and install a statue of the Madonna. A shelter-hut will be built not far from the top. Among the conquerors will be a couple of dogs that the Italians will bring with them,

Aconcagua caused a lot of trouble for surveyors.

Judging by the reports of modern surveyors, sometimes it seemed that these South American mountains were dancing ... Well, how do you order to judge them, when some peaks in the Eastern Cordillera became lower by some hundred meters, and the Songhay volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes decreased even by 200 m. But in another region, on the Puna Plateau, individual arrays "jumped" up as much as half a kilometer. And here, not far away, three peaks "sat down" by almost the same amount (more precisely, they became lower by an average of 400 m).

Of course, there was no dancing here, even taking into account the fact that the earth was shaking pretty much in these areas and volcanoes were awakening. It's just that the conditions in the mountains were so difficult and the methods of geodetic surveys had not yet reached such perfection that the measurements of the relief would be the necessary accuracy. Therefore, new detachments of topographers brought new data. And the cartographers had no choice but to make amendments. She did not escape her fate in clarifying the "growth" and Aconcagua. It turned out that at first the height was overestimated by as much as 75 m. This, of course, is not a “jump” of half a kilometer, but still a noticeable loss. Updated to 6959 m.

On this optimistic note, it seemed that it was possible to end the story of the peak with the honorary prestigious title of "Her Highness" in America. In contrast to the competitive "Miss America" here is the title, as they say, for life. But, as is known, geographical discoveries with mountain pretenders, things are not so simple. Remember, the Aconcaguas were inflated from the start. Then they clarified that it had not grown to the seven-thousander. Later, already in the middle of the century, a message appeared (it was included in scientific publications) that the “roof of America” should not be looked for in the Aconcagua region. Like, there are truly "outcrops of dense granites that resist destruction and protrusions in the form of the highest peaks along the axes of the Central Cordillera." And among these “exits”, it turns out that the most conspicuous mountain is Ilyampu. It exceeds by 54 m even Aconcagua itself. Not much time passed, and the reputation of Aconcagua was nevertheless confirmed - it has firmly and reliably entered the school textbooks as the main peak of the continent.

And at the beginning of 1987, a new passage. News appeared in the press - "an unexpected discovery" ... of a newly-minted high-altitude contender after the ascent of Argentine climbers and scientists to famous volcano Ojos del Salado (it is located in the northwest of Argentina, near the border with Chile, relatively close to Aconcagua). There was a need for an amendment. The altimeter here showed an unexpected result - 141 m higher than previously known. The instrument’s readings were also confirmed by other measurement methods. So - 7021 m? 61 meters above Aconcagua? Does this mean that the volcano has “grown up”, or was it difficult to achieve accuracy due to the complexity of the relief conditions? Geographers will discuss more detailed data later. But if the discovery is confirmed, schoolchildren will have to learn a new unusual name on the go - Ohosdel-Salado.

Schoolchildren are still all right - it's easier to rebuild. But to amend atlases, reference books, encyclopedias - this requires costs and years. But will some other contender appear during this time, challenging the height in America? Volcanologists do not give guarantees in this regard.

And here is a relatively recent report from the newspapers: “Alpinists perform Argentine tango” ... It turns out that our journalists, for intrigue, “coded” the upcoming first ascent of Soviet climbers to Aconcagua Peak in this way. A pretty "tango" in the difficult winter conditions of 1991 during the assault on the highest peak of the continent. By the way, the expedition also visited another attraction of this region - the coldest, closest to Antarctica mountain peak Fitz Roy in Patagonia.

Do the peaks dance?

Later, Aconcagua, which means “white guard” in the Inca language, will be called the most international peak: people of various nationalities will visit it. It will be noted that it is “the greatest mountain of all three Americas”, “the best landmark on the continent”, “a heavenly beacon in splendid isolation” (the peak is visible from the Pacific coast of Chile, from Santiago and Valparaiso). One of the zealous priests will bring and install a statue of the Madonna on it. A shelter-hut will be built not far from the top. Among the conquerors will be a couple of dogs that the Italians will bring with them,

Aconcagua caused a lot of trouble for surveyors.

On this optimistic note, it seemed that it was possible to end the story of the peak with the honorary prestigious title of "Her Highness" in America. In contrast to the competitive "Miss America" here is the title, as they say, for life. But, as you know, in terms of geographical discoveries with mountain applicants, everything is not so simple. Remember, the Aconcaguas were inflated from the start. Then they clarified that it had not grown to the seven-thousander. Later, already in the middle of the century, a message appeared (it was included in scientific publications) that the “roof of America” should not be looked for in the Aconcagua region. Like, there are truly "outcrops of dense granites that resist destruction and protrusions in the form of the highest peaks along the axes of the Central Cordillera." And among these “exits”, it turns out that the most conspicuous mountain is Ilyampu. It exceeds by 54 m even Aconcagua itself. Not much time passed, and the reputation of Aconcagua was nevertheless confirmed - it has firmly and reliably entered the school textbooks as the main peak of the continent.

And at the beginning of 1987, a new passage. News appeared in the press - "an unexpected discovery" ... of a newly-minted high-altitude contender after the ascent of Argentine climbers and scientists to the famous Ojos del Salado volcano (it is located in the north-west of Argentina, near the border with Chile, relatively close to Aconcagua). There was a need for an amendment. The altimeter here showed an unexpected result - 141 m higher than previously known. The instrument’s readings were also confirmed by other measurement methods. So - 7021 m? 61 meters above Aconcagua? Does this mean that the volcano has “grown up”, or was it difficult to achieve accuracy due to the complexity of the relief conditions? Geographers will discuss more detailed data later. But if the discovery is confirmed, schoolchildren will have to learn a new unusual name on the go - Ohosdel-Salado.

Mountains beckon a person, challenge him. Some of the people accept the challenge. But not everyone comes back. Among the climbers there is also a rating of "killer mountains", which are extremely dangerous to conquer.

Annapurna

Location: Nepal. Himalayas.
Height: 8091 m.
Annapurna was the first of all 14 eight-thousanders to be conquered. It happened, however, by chance. The group of the French climber Maurice Herzog went to conquer another peak - Dhaulagiri, but after reconnaissance, they decided that it was possible to conquer another mountain. She turned out to be Annapurna, the most north summit Himalayas. The ascent took place on June 3, 1950. The conquered summit "took its own" from the French group. All members of the expedition received frostbite, Maurice Herzog had to amputate his fingers and toes throughout the descent.

The French group is still lucky. To date, one and a half hundred ascents have been made on Annapurna. In the entire history of conquering the peak, the death rate of climbers was 41%, which is extremely high. For comparison, this coefficient for Everest is only 7.4%. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that only experienced climbers go to Annapurna, while everyone who has enough money in their wallet is trying to conquer Everest.
The American extra-class climber Ed Vitus, who has conquered all 14 eight-thousanders, left Annapurna "for dessert". His impressions of this mountain are interesting: "Annapurna is one big danger, it is all covered with ice. One large piece of ice with ice growths on it. And the whole question is in which direction the next growth will deviate, forward or backward."

Location: Pakistan and China, Karakorum.
Height: 8614 m.
K2, Chogori, or Dopsang is considered the second most difficult climb on Earth, it is second only to the already mentioned Annapurna. Moreover, Chogori is also the second peak in height (after Everest), but in terms of the difficulty of conquering, it far surpasses Chomolungma.

K2 was discovered back in 1856, but almost a century later, in 1954, an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio managed to conquer it. Interestingly, in 1902, the famous occultist and climber Aleister Crowley made an attempt to conquer the mountain, but the summit was not given to him.
As of mid-2008, 284 people have climbed to the top of this mountain, 66 have died while trying to climb. A large number of climbers died already on the way back. The death rate of this terrible peak is 25%, that is, one in four of those who tried to conquer K2 died.
In the history of climbing Chogori, the Russians left a noticeable mark. The route that our climbers managed to overcome on August 21, 2007 is considered the most difficult. The Russian group climbed the western wall of the summit, which was considered impassable until that time. In winter, no one managed to conquer K2.

Nangaparbat

Location: Pakistan, Himalayas.
Height: 8125 m.
Nanga Parbat is called the "mountain killer" and "swallowing people". It is the westernmost peak of the Himalayas. Nanga Parbat began to collect its mournful statistics from the first attempt to conquer it - in 1895, she "absorbed" the best climber of her time, Briton Albert Mummery. Since that time, according to statistics for 2011, Nanga Parbat has claimed the lives of 64 climbers. In total, 263 people were able to conquer Nanga Parbat. The death rate of this peak is almost 23%. Every fifth climber who dared to challenge the mountain died.

Pragmatic people explain the reason for such a high mortality rate as an extremely unfavorable sum of climatic factors in the region of the mountain - the arid climate at the foot causes a huge temperature difference. The weather from this is very unpredictable, and deadly avalanches are also frequent.
Recently, the "human factor" has also strengthened the unpleasant glory. In June last year, the camp of climbers, located at the foot of the mountain, was attacked by Taliban militants. As a result, 10 people died.

Nanga Parbat, however, is magnetically attractive - this mountain has the highest absolute height. Coming close to the mountain, you can see a wall 4.5 kilometers high above you.

Kanchenjunga

Location: India, Himalayas.
Height: 8586 m.
The third highest eight-thousander in the world, the easternmost of them. In 1905, the already mentioned Aleister Crowley was the first to try to conquer the mountain. Did not work out. Kangchenjunga was conquered only after 50 years. In the entire history of ascents, only 187 people have safely reached the summit. Of these, only 5 were women.

It is believed that Kanchenjunga is a female mountain, which is why she kills climbers who dare to conquer it.
The mortality rate of this peak is 22%. Contrary to the statistics, which in the case of all other killer mountains tend to decrease, with Kanchenjunga it is the other way around. Year after year, the mountain takes new lives. By the way, this mountain was wonderfully depicted by Nicholas Roerich in the painting of the same name. Google it.

Location: Switzerland, Alps.
Altitude: 3970 m.
The only western summit in our ranking. Despite its seemingly insignificant height, Eigar is considered one of the deadliest peaks in the world. Aigar first submitted to man on August 11, 1858. Several routes lead to the top of the mountain. The most difficult is the route on the north face of Eigar. It was passed for the first time only on July 24, 1938. The complexity of the route is in an incredibly large difference in altitude and in very unstable weather on the northern slope. During the years of ascents, the summit claimed the lives of 64 people.

Warning: the article is full of beauty and aesthetics, from which the next eight unconquered peaks becomes even more desirable. Especially if you are extreme, love heights, and have been looking for thrills for a long time.

Gangkhar Puensum

Height: 7,570 meters
Location: border between China and Bhutan
Why not subdued: stupid laws

Gangkhar Puensum is located on disputed border between China and Bhutan. It is definitely not disputed that Gangkhar Puensum is the highest of the still unconquered peaks. In the 1980s, four attempts were made to climb, after which a law was passed in Bhutan prohibiting climbing at an altitude above 6 km.

Source: wikipedia.org

North Face Masherbrum 4

Height: 7.821 m
Location: Pakistan
Why Not Conquered: Extreme Difficulty

Masherbrum was conquered back in 1960 along a fairly simple route. But there is a wall that no one has climbed yet. The reason is the same - the route as "unrealistically extreme".

Source: supercoolpics.com

Siple Mountain

Height: 3.110 m
Location: Siple Island, Antarctica
Why not conquered: harsh climate

This peak is located in Antarctica, and the main difficulty in conquering it is not the route, but low temperature and distance from the civilized world. There are suspicions that Siple Mountain is actually an extinct volcano covered with a glacier.

Source: wikipedia.org

Machapuchare

Height: 6.998 m
Location: north central Nepal;
Why Not Subdued: Religion and Law

The most beautiful mountain peak, which, thanks to its steep slopes, stands out against the background of the rest of the massif called Annapurna, once almost surrendered to the courage of climbers. The 1957 expedition organized by Jimmy Roberts stopped only fifty meters from the summit. Conquer one of the most beautiful mountains The Himalayas were thwarted by a promise made to the government of Nepal.

The bottom line is that in Hindu beliefs, it is on the top of Machapuchare that one of the supreme deities of religion, Shiva, lives. Despite the fact that the Roberts team kept their promise, the first persons of Nepal immediately closed Machapuchare for any visits.

Source: green-travel.biz

Kailash

Height: 6.638 m
Location: south of the Tibetan Plateau in the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China
Why not conquered: “sacred” status

The Tibetan six-thousander is considered sacred mountain representatives of four major religions at once - Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and adherents of a faith called Bon. Despite the fact that Kailash is under the jurisdiction of the government of China, which has occupied Tibet, it is the sacred status of the peak that has not allowed it to be conquered so far.

All known attempts to climb the mountain have failed for one reason or another. For example, the famous climber Reinhold Messner, who did receive permission from the PRC authorities to conquer Kailas, subsequently refused to climb, and the Spanish expedition in 2000, which bought a pass for an impressive amount, was stopped by thousands of pilgrims who blocked the route, and protests from the UN.

Source: wikipedia.org

Tongshanjiabu

Height: 7.207 m
Location: central part of the Himalayas, 12 km northwest of Kangphu Kang
Why not subdued: laws

The peak, rushing into the sky at 7207 meters, is also located on the constantly contested Tibetan-Bhutanese border. Not a single attempt was made to climb Tongshanjiaba, even before the law "everything above six thousand is impossible." After him, of course, and even more so. At the same time, the neighboring Shimokangri was taken by the Korean expedition, which was lucky to find itself completely on the Chinese side.

At one time, revered climbers said that they had closed the book of discoveries in mountaineering - there was nothing more to do, they said. But the first car was very far from the fast cars we drive today. Mountaineering legends have paved the way, now a new generation faces the challenge of climbing more difficult routes or finding other peaks.

Mianzimu (6054 m), Tibet, sacred mountain, there were no ascents. Photo by Janne Corax.

One of those who are interested in this is Simone Moreau, by the way, he is. A few years ago, Simone, after a series of explorations, attempted to climb Batura II, a peak that was said to be the highest peak yet to be conquered. Moro could not reach the top - so this mountain still challenges climbers, as well as a number of other peaks that have not yet been set foot by a person.

But what are these mountains, according to what criteria to choose them? Climber, explorer and ExplorersWeb contributor Janne Corax has compiled a list of the six highest untouched peaks, and added other points of interest to the list.

happy to be first

Janne Corax for ExplorersWeb

Unconquered peaks are always very attractive. To reach the highest point, where no one has ever been, is a special pleasure for a climber. In 1950, Herzog and Lachenal climbed Annapurna - the first eight-thousander that people climbed - thereby opening the "hunt" for 13 other giants. Shisha Pangma was the last to fall under the feet of the Chinese team, 14 years later.

Now high-altitude climbers have turned their minds to slightly lower targets.

Namche Barwa, 7782 m, a difficult mountain to climb with extreme terrain and always bad weather conditions, repelled climbing attempts until a Japanese team managed to reach the summit in 1992. The climbers were also interested in the second peaks of the eight-thousanders, and they surrendered one after another - the last was Lhotse Middle, 8414 m, which was climbed in 2001 by a strong Russian team.

Meili Ridge, view from the Tibetan temple. Mianzimu is on the left, Meili Feng is the highest peak on the right. Photo by Janne Corax.

What's next?

Now the question is, which of the peaks that have not yet been climbed are the most promising?

To answer it, we must first determine the selection criteria. Two of them are obvious: the mountain must be very high and unconquered. The third criterion is precisely the problem and causes a lot of debate:

Real mountains / gendarmes on the ridge

Sometimes it's really a problem to distinguish between the big gendarme on the ridge and the real peak.

For example, many people think that the biggest difference in height between the peak of Lhotse Middle and lowest point jumper that connects it with more high peak- is actually a very small amount.

Unfortunately, there is no absolute standard, and some use a relative difference of 7% as a measure, while others use 400m. If we take into account the 500m limit as a compromise, then the list we need will look like this.

Six highest virgin peaks

Gangkar Punsum, 7570 m - peak, located in Bhutan, in the list of the highest mountain peaks listed at number 40, and without a doubt, it is "number 1" in our list. An educated person will guess that the mountain will remain under this number for the time being. In the mid-80s, they tried to climb it, but all the expeditions returned without salty slurping. In 1994, Bhutan partially closed the peaks for climbing. And in 2003, the government decided to ban all types of climbing altogether. The reason for such actions lies in the field of understanding local beliefs and traditions.

"Number 2" on our list - Saser Kangri II East, 7518 m. The mountain is located in Indian Kashmir and has never been of interest to climbers (at least there were no expeditions to it). The third highest peak of the massif was climbed twice. It is difficult to obtain a climbing permit in this area, but it is possible. A human foot stepped on the main peak, 7672 m high, in 1973.

Kabru North, 7394 m - the highest point of the Kabru massif, which is essentially a subgroup of the Kanchenjunga massif - has not yet been conquered. Surprisingly, her lower south peak fell in 1935. A notable ascent was made by Conrad Cook, who climbed to the summit solo at the age of 18. It was a record for his age.
A Serb team tried to climb Kabru North in 2004, but avalanches forced them to retreat.

Labuche Kang is a little known group of peaks in Tibet. Main summit conquered in 1987 by a Japanese team. Eastern - Labuche Kang III- approximately 7250 m high and still waiting for its first climbers.

Impressive SE wall Karjiang - whose avalanche-prone slopes and complex faces reflect all the attempts of climbers. Photo courtesy of the Dutch Karjiang 2001 expedition.

Karjiang, 7221 m - also located in Tibet. A couple of times they tried to climb it, but no one has yet managed to set foot on its hard-to-reach peak. Extreme avalanche danger and high technical complexity have so far made climbing attempts fruitless.

"Number 6" on our list - Tongshanjiabu, 7207 m. It rises on the Tibetan / Bhutanese border. Koreans who climbed nearby Shimokangri (7204m) mentioned this peak in their expedition report and published a photo in the Japanese Alpine News - so far this is the only information available about this mountain.

Statements and rumors

I must say that the six peaks listed above will give odds to the others in the debate, if it comes to steepness and the first criterion - untouched by climbers. However, rumors and statements are always present on the climbing scene. Wherever you go, locals or climbers will point you up the mountain and say, “Look here! No one has climbed it yet!

On another level, famous mountaineers sometimes claim the goal of their expedition is "the highest peak yet unclimbed." The last time I heard about this was when in 2004 Moro & Ogwyn, an Italian-American duo, went to Batura II. The 7,762-meter-high giant in Pakistan's Karakoram was, according to them (and "scientific sources"), the highest peak not climbed by man. If you count the gendarme on the ridge with a difference of 100 m in height between its "top" and the main mountain, then this statement, of course, contains some truth, however: there are others high points on ridges, some of which are higher than Batura II...*

Untouched celebrities

Pilgrims tend to Mt. Kailash every year. They go around the mountain with prayers, but never set foot on its slopes. Climbing is strictly prohibited. Photo by Project Himalaya.

The most famous of the unclimbed peaks are below those we have named. Kailash in Western Tibet, the mountain is sacred to Hindus, Buddhists and followers of the Bön religion. No one has ever climbed to its top, and permits are not issued, since this place is a shrine.

Whole Meili Ridge, known as Kawa Korpo, in the far northeast of China's Yunnan province is also considered sacred to local residents. Some of the peaks of the ridge were attempted to be climbed at a time when climbing permits were issued. On this moment these mountains are closed to climbers.

Mianzimu in the Meili range is considered one of the most beautiful peaks in the world, as is Kailash.

* In one of the interviews, when Simone was asked why he called Batura II the highest of the peaks that no man had climbed, he referred to the data of the expert Wolfgang Hichel and invited those interested in this issue to contact him personally by e-mail [email protected]

Translation by Elena Dmitrenko