What Are The Tallest Mountains on Earth: Mount Everest, Chimborazo or Mauna Kea
Tallest Mountain on Earth: Not Mount Everest!
Since Sir Edmund Hillary reached the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal in 1953, countless adventurers have attempted to ascend the perilous mountain.
In fact, so many people attempt it each year that the once-beautiful Himalayas are now deteriorating into a literal garbage heap. Everest's not actually the highest mountain in the world, at least not according to science, despite the impressive title.
Because of its "highest elevation above sea level," Mount Everest is referred to as the highest mountain in the world. Another way to describe it is as having the "highest altitude." Mount Everest rises 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) above sea level at its highest point. There isn't a mountain on the planet with a higher elevation.
Technically, Mount Everest is not the tallest mountain in the world.
 Who the First Person to reach Mount Everest |
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Mount Everest is the mountain on Earth with the highest altitude, rising 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) above sea level. The phrase "highest altitude" refers to the elevation above mean sea level. |
| Each year hundreds of people attempt to climb Everest. About 5000 people have been successful - some multiple times. However, about 300 people have died climbing Everest - that is a mortality rate of about 6%! |
Where is Chimborazo - Farthest from the Center of the Earth?
Chimborazo in Ecuador actually defeats the Himalayan mountain. Although Everest is thousands of meters higher than any of its closest competitors, it still triumphs on traditional metrics. However, it isn't actually the highest or closest to space. Due to the peculiar shape of the Earth, Ecuador's mountain tops the list on that metric.
Only when compared from sea level does Everest triumph. However, if you measure out from the center of the Earth, Chimborazo easily takes first place, and Everest wouldn't even make the top 20 mountains, according to Independent.
The summit of Chimborazo rises 20,500 feet (6,248 meters) above sea level, making it shorter than Everest by 8,529 feet (2,600 meters). However, when measured from the center of the Earth, everything is different.
In essence, Earth bulges outward at the equator and flattens out near the poles because it isn't flat (sorry, B.o.B.
It just so happens that Chimborazo is almost exactly on our planet's waistline while Everest is 28 degrees north, meaning that mountains close to the equator are technically higher than those in other areas.
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| Mount Chimborazo (Photo: The guardian) |
What is the height now? According to one estimate, Everest is located 3,965 miles (6,382 kilometers) from the center of the planet.
Chimborazo, meanwhile, stretches for 3,967 miles (6,384 kilometers). Even though there is only a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) difference, it is crucial when crowning height champions. In fact, those 2 miles are sufficient to knock Everest out of the top 20 and place Chimborazo at the top.
Though not exactly news, NPR covered Chimborazo in a story in 2007. Why then does Chimborazo receive so little attention while Everest continues to receive all the love? Well, it all depends on how challenging the climb is.
Mountain climbers seek the most difficult challenge, which Everest provides.
Just getting to Everest's base camp takes 10 days, followed by six weeks of acclimatization and the strenuous nine-day climb to the summit. On the other hand, according to Rosenberg, Chimborazo can be climbed after two weeks of acclimatization in about two days.
It's also important to reiterate that, when measured at sea level, Everest still wins.
In that case, Chimborazo wouldn't even be considered the highest peak in the Andes. Mount Aconcagua, which rises 22,828 feet (6,961 meters) above sea level, holds the distinction.
Therefore, if you already have plans to ascend Everest and secure your place alongside Sir Edmund Hillary, do not be alarmed; you are still doing so if you use the height of the ocean as your standard. The climb up Chimborazo will seem easy after that, so you might as well attempt it.
 How Many Mountains Are There on Earth Today: Top 10 Highest and Smallest |
Mauna Kea is "Taller
Mauna Kea is "taller" and Mount Everest is higher up. However, compared to the summits of Mount Everest and Mauna Kea, Chimborazo is further from the planet's center.
The shape of the Earth is not a perfect sphere. It is an oblate spheroid, which means that its equator is a few miles wider than points north and south of the equator. The Earth is also an oblate spheroid with a slightly pear-shaped shape, which means that it is slightly wider below the equator than above.
Because of this shape, the top of Chimborazo, which is shorter than Mount Everest and situated slightly south of the equator, can be found farther from the center of the Earth than the top of Mount Everest, which is located considerably north of the equator.
The tallest mountain, measured from base to summit, is Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii. Mount Everest is the highest mountain above sea level.
The breakdown is as follows:
29,035 feet above sea level, Everest. Even though Mauna Kea is only 13,796 feet above sea level, it descends about 19,700 feet to the Pacific Ocean. It's partially submerged.
Mauna Kea is now roughly 33,500 feet tall, more than a mile taller than Everest.
Native Hawaiians, who regard Mauna Kea as sacred ground, recently staged large-scale protests against the construction of a 14th telescope on the mountainside.
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| Approximately 6000 meters below sea level are the mountain's base and 4000 meters are its summit. The mountain's foot and summit are separated by about 10,000 meters. As a result, Mauna Kea is regarded as the world's "tallest" mountain. |
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