The highest mountains of different continents

The word "high" in different people causes different associations. For some, the nine-story house already seems tall. Others are quietly living in a skyscraper, which has more than a hundred floors. But these are all small things compared to 8 thousand meters with a "tail" above sea level. And such heights are found on our planet. These are the highest mountains in the world. Total of 14. Their height exceeds the eight thousandth mark. And all these peaks are located in the Himalayas and in the Karakorum, on the territory of countries such as Nepal, China, and the disputed Kashmir region.

And the dream of many professional alpinists is to reach each of these peaks. People began to "fight" with them for a long time, but only in the last century they managed to conquer all these peaks. Mount Annapurna is the first "eight-thousand-square", which succumbed to two Frenchmen L. Lachenal and M. Erzogu. And it happened in 1950. And to date, 22 people have conquered all the highest mountains in the world. And the last 20 climbers "climbed" on these peaks after the mid-90's. And before that there were only two record holders. This mountaineer from Italy, Reinhold Messner, who spent 16 years (1970-1986) to achieve his record. The second conqueror was the Polish climber Jerzy Kukuchka. But the Pole spent only 8 years (from 1979 to 1987) on all 14 peaks and his record so far no one can "beat". And the first climber from the CIS, conquering all the highest mountains, was Kazakh Denis Urubko. He did it in 2000-2009 and during his ascents he never used oxygen.

And the highest mountain, and the mountain most desired for climbers, is undoubtedly Everest. The indigenous inhabitants of Tibet call this mountain in their own way - Jomolungma, and Nepalese call it Sagarmatha. But people still have not been able to determine the exact height of this peak. And now this height is between 8844 and 8852 meters. The first attempts to conquer Everest were made back in 1921, but all of them ended in failure. The highest mountains in the world did not really want to submit to man. And for 50 years more than two hundred people died on the slopes of this mountain. The cause of their death was cold, exhaustion and accidents. And only in 1953 New Zealand mountain climber Edmund Hilary reached the summit of Everest peak.

Chogori, Daspang, K2, Godwin-Osten are all names of one peak, which in the category of the highest mountains of the world goes under the second number. The height of this peak is 8611 meters, and it is located in Kashmir. This peak is part of the Karakoram mountain range, which is located west of the Himalayas. And for the first time Chogori was conquered by the Italians Aquila Compagnoni and Lino Lacedaelli in 1954.

There is also a mountain massif in the Himalayas, located between India and Nepal. It consists of five peaks and the highest of them (8586 meters) is the peak of Kanchenjunga. And this mountain takes the third place in the world ranking of peaks. And besides it, three more peaks from this array have a height exceeding the eight thousandth mark. And the fifth, "the smallest" mountain does not reach only 8 meters to the "treasured" eight thousand. And until the middle of the 19th century, Kanchenjungu was considered the highest on the planet. But then after more accurate calculations she took third place. And for the first time this mountain was conquered by the British Joe Brown and George Bandon in 1955.

There are also mountains in other parts of the world. This, of course, is not the highest mountains in the world, but in their regions they occupy the first places in height. So in the South American Andes the highest peak is Mount Aconcagua (6962 meters). And in North America, McKinley Mountain (6194 meters) is such a peak. In Africa, the championship belongs, of course, Kilimanjaro, the height of 5895 meters. Well, in Russia the highest peak is Elbrus. It rises to 6642 meters above sea level and is also considered the highest peak in Europe. And every mountaineer who climbs Elbrus, sees before him the vast expanses of ice and snow. They say that this is an unforgettable sight.