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An unclimbed mountain is a
mountain peak A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a ...
that has yet to be climbed to the top. Determining which unclimbed peak is highest is often a matter of controversy. In some parts of the world, surveying and mapping are still unreliable. There are no comprehensive records of the routes of explorers, mountaineers, and local inhabitants. In some cases, even modern ascents by larger parties have been poorly documented and, with no universally recognized listing, the best that can be achieved in determining the world's highest unclimbed peaks is somewhat speculative. Most sources indicate that
Gangkhar Puensum Gangkhar Puensum ( dz, གངས་དཀར་སྤུན་གསུམ་, translit=Kangkar Punsum, alternatively, Gangkar Punsum or Gankar Punzum) is the highest mountain in Bhutan and the highest unclimbed mountain in the world, with an ele ...
() on the
Bhutan–China border The Bhutan–China border is the international boundary between Bhutan and Tibet, China, running for through the Himalayas between the two tripoints with India. Description The border starts in the west at the western tripoint with India just no ...
is the tallest
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
in the world that has yet to be fully summited. Gangkhar Puensum has been off limits to climbers since 1994 when Bhutan prohibited all mountaineering above due to spiritual/religious beliefs. Unclimbed mountains are sometimes referred to as "virgin peaks." Many virgin peaks exist because the mountain is unreachable, due to either geographic isolation or political instability. Some mountains remain off limits due to religious beliefs of a country or region that hold such mountains as sacred and should remain inviolate. Additionally, since the endeavor to scale taller mountains of the world is usually a major undertaking, lesser peaks, while still very formidable, simply get less attention than the taller ones, and instead these taller peaks are summited by parties following a new route or perhaps during the winter when conditions are generally more treacherous.


Challenges in definition


Definition of a mountain

Many mountains, in addition to their highest point or peak, will also have subsidiary subpeaks. Generally, the
topographic prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...
of a peak or subpeak, as well as the general topography, all come into consideration when determining whether such apexes are considered to be independent peaks or subpeaks. Although objective criteria have been proposed for distinguishing peaks from subpeaks, there is no widely agreed standard. In 1994, the
International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA, lit. ''International Union of Alpine Clubs''), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France ...
classified 82 mountain peaks in the
Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
whose summits were at least above sea level and with at least of topographic prominence over any adjacent
mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...
or col, as a distinct peak.


Verification of unclimbed status

It can be difficult sometimes to determine whether or not a mountain peak has been fully summited. Long before modern mountaineering commenced in the middle of the 19th century, evidence indicates that people did indeed travel up to the summits or near to the summits of major mountain peaks. Archaeological excavations in the
Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
have shown that humans travelled up to in pre-historic times. Permanent settlements as high as were established as far back as 12,000 years ago in the Andes. In the Greater Himalaya region,
Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level city, prefecture-level Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regio ...
, in Tibet, sitting at has been permanently occupied since the 7th century and many smaller settlements across the Greater Himalaya thrive at elevations exceeding . With humans living at high elevations for many millennia, nearby peaks to such settlements may or may not have been summited at some point in the past. However, many regions away from settlements may never have been explored, especially since some high peaks in the
Greater Ranges The Roof of the World or Top of the World is a metaphoric epithet or phrase used to describe the high region in the world, also known as High Asia. The term usually refers to the mountainous interior of Asia, including the Pamirs, the Himalayas, ...
are so remote that they were unknown to local inhabitants until they were sighted by explorers. The world's third-tallest peak,
Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga, also spelled Kanchenjunga, Kanchanjanghā (), and Khangchendzonga, is the third highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the T ...
, has been summited a number of times, but on the 1955 expedition the first climbers of the peak agreed to honor the wishes of locals and not set foot on the topmost part of the mountain. Succeeding mountaineering parties may (or may not) have followed this tradition. Similarly,
Nanda Devi Nanda Devi is the second-highest mountain in India, after Kangchenjunga, and the highest located entirely within the country (Kangchenjunga is on the border of India and Nepal). It is the 23rd-highest peak in the world. Nanda Devi was consid ...
has also been climbed but the topmost summit was not ascended and the primary summit is now off limits to climbers.
Machapuchare Machapuchare, Machhapuchchhre or Machhapuchhre (, Tamu: कतासुँ क्लिको), is a mountain situated in the Annapurna massif of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. Its highest peak has never been officially climbed due to th ...
had only one summit attempt back in 1957 when climbers came within of the summit; Nepal then banned future attempts.


Gangkhar Puensum

The mountain most widely claimed to be the highest unclimbed mountain in the world in terms of
elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
is
Gangkhar Puensum Gangkhar Puensum ( dz, གངས་དཀར་སྤུན་གསུམ་, translit=Kangkar Punsum, alternatively, Gangkar Punsum or Gankar Punzum) is the highest mountain in Bhutan and the highest unclimbed mountain in the world, with an ele ...
(). It is in
Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
, on or near the border with
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. In Bhutan, the climbing of mountains higher than has been prohibited since 1994. The rationale for this prohibition is based on local customs that consider this and similar peaks to be the sacred homes of protective deities and spirits, and the lack of high-altitude rescue resources from any locale closer than
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The prohibition was further expanded in 2003 when mountaineering of any kind was disallowed entirely within Bhutan. Gangkhar Puensum will likely remain unclimbed so long as the government of Bhutan prohibits it.


Highest unclimbed non-prohibited peak

It is unclear which is the highest unclimbed non-prohibited mountain. While some recognize only peaks with of topographical prominence as individual summits, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation uses a cutoff for determining individual summits. Based on the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation's criteria,
Muchu Chhish Muchu Chhish () is a mountain in the Batura Muztagh sub-range of the Karakoram in Hunza Valley, a disputed region administrated by Pakistan. The valley is also claimed by India, which considers it to be within the union territory of Ladakh. Loc ...
( with a prominence of ) in Pakistan is currently the world's tallest that has not been climbed even though it is legal to do so. Other unclimbed summits include one on the massif known as
Kabru Kabru is a mountain in the Himalayas on the border of eastern Nepal and India. It is part of a ridge that extends south from Kangchenjunga and is the southernmost peak in the world. The main features of this ridge are as follows (north to sou ...
( prominence ),
Labuche Kang III/East Labuche Kang III, also known as Labuche Kang East (), is a mountain located on the Labuche Kang massif in Tibet Autonomous Region and is one of the highest unclimbed mountains in the world after Gangkhar Puensum. The former second highest unclimb ...
() with prominence of and
Karjiang Karjiang is a mountain in Tibet Autonomous Region, located near the Bhutan–Tibet border. The highest peak of the Karjiang group is Karjiang I or Karjiang South, with an elevation of ; it remains unclimbed. Other peaks include Karjiang North (719 ...
( with a prominence of ).


Most prominent unclimbed peak

Unclimbed candidates with high topographic prominence are by definition independent mountains, but some have relatively modest elevations. With such peaks, there is a greater possibility of undocumented ascents, perhaps occurring long ago. As of mid-2014
Sauyr Zhotasy Sauyr Zhotasy ( kk, Сауыр жотасы, ''Sauyr jotasy''), also known as Muz Tau (), at 3,840 m is the highest point in the Saur Range and of the entire Saur- Tarbagatai mountain system, part of the Tien Shan, on the border between Kazakhsta ...
(, prominence of ), the highpoint in the Saur Range on the border between Kazakhstan and China, and
Mount Siple Mount Siple is a Potentially active volcano, potentially active Antarctica, Antarctic shield volcano, rising to and dominating the northwest part of Siple Island, which is separated from the Bakutis Coast, Marie Byrd Land, by the Getz Ice Shelf. ...
(, prominence of ) on
Siple Island Siple Island is a long snow-covered island lying east of Wrigley Gulf along the Getz Ice Shelf off Bakutis Coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Its centre is located at . Its area is and it is dominated by the dormant shield volcano Mount Si ...
off the coast of
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
, have no record of successful ascents. The unclimbed status of each of these peaks is difficult to confirm, although Mount Siple in particular is remote, uninhabited (and without any nearby habitation), and seldom visited. The most recent remaining most prominent mountain summited (with a prominence of ) was in June 2014 in the
Finisterre Range The Finisterre Range is a mountain range in north-eastern Papua New Guinea. The highest point is ranked 41st in the world by prominence with an elevation of 4,150 m. Although the range's high point is not named on official maps, the name "Mount ...
of
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
.


List of highest unclimbed peaks

The following peaks, with a minimum prominence of , were thought to be unclimbed . Mountains with prominence over 300 m in bold.


See also

*
List of peaks by prominence This is a list of mountain peaks ordered by their topographic prominence. Terminology The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or from sea level if there is no higher peak. The lowest ...
*
List of highest mountains Currently, There are at least 108 mountains on Earth with elevations of or greater above sea level. The vast majority of these mountains are located on the edge of the Indian plate, Indian and Eurasian plate, Eurasian plates in China, India, ...


Notes


References

{{Reflist History of mountaineering Highest things