Palisades79 wrote:Is there a list of the highest peaks on each continent with no known ascent ? Are there any in North & South America ?

A list? What kind of fun is that? Part of the satisfaction and joy of climbing such peaks is working it out yourself!

For South America, for a long time it was Chimbote, in Chile, near Tupungato, but that was climbed last year. No idea what it is now.

I kind of know what it is for North America, but an occasional poster on here knows the issue better, and I guess there is some technical issue with prominence etc.

For Asia it's Gangkar Puenzum, in Bhutan, followed by either Labuche Kang II or Karjiang, both in Tibet. Saser Kangri II East was 2nd, but Americans climbed it last year.

Pustelnik had a thing about doing the 3rd7 but he never got far into it, afaik, other than Asia (the hardest). The concept of the 2nd7 has been around at least since Dick Bass did the Seven Summits. His feat was considered proof how easy those peaks were, so straight away people noticed that the 2nd7 were actually harder.

Damien Gildea wrote:

Palisades79 wrote:Is there a list of the highest peaks on each continent with no known ascent ? Are there any in North & South America ?

A list? What kind of fun is that? Part of the satisfaction and joy of climbing such peaks is working it out yourself!

You're not wrong, Damien
I've got a vague idea about such a "list" in the old continent but I'd rather keep it for myself. Might have climbed its no.1 a while ago, who knows.

Good new piece here from uber-stats man Eberhard Jurgalski. Kammerlander still has some climbing to do:
http://www.8000ers.com/cms/en/news-mainmenu-176.html

Thank you Damien.
My friend Thomas was there when Hans was climbing King Trench route on Mt. Logan. I went to Logan year after that. I heard, Hans and his friend lost equipment (skis and some other gear and they couldn't finish summit bid. But now I am reading he finished it.

I am not really sure what is happening here, but to me Hans is one of the best climbers alive. I like him a lot! I am big fan of Hans and I don't really care who is the first or second person who completed 2nd7. I also don't care who is first women who completed 14x8K. I respect all of them since climbing in Great Ranges is very difficult.

My climbs in this kind of areas affected my family and my finances greatly. I am not rich and I am not sponsored by big companies. I have discounts on gear but still I have to pay for gear and fees. I found that going there and suffering a lot is a very selfish act. Many people worry about you while you are pursuing your dreams.

I always apologize for that after coming back alive and promise to stop. But after a few months I start planning my next trip again. It's one kind of addiction ...

That said, I will be very happy if I have an opportunity to meet Hans in person one day. He is a real deal!

Hans has now admitted he did not go to the main summit of Logan and is returning:

http://www.montagna.tv/cms/2012/04/11/k ... del-mondo/

For South America, for a long time it was Chimbote, in Chile, near Tupungato, but that was climbed last year. No idea what it is now.

The last of the 6000 meter peaks in the Atacama finally were climbed between 2000-2003. Undoubtedly, some (probably many) of the 5000 meter peaks are still left, not because of technical difficulty, but because of being isolated a very long way from any fresh water sources and being in the very desolate desert.

Outside the Atacama, it is possible that Cerro Campanario is still unclimbed (the northern one near Descabezado, not the one near Bariloche) , but it’s only 4000 meters.

Labuche Kang II

Do you mean Labuche Kang III? Labuche Kang II was (unless disputed?) climbed in 1995?

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I don't know what it would be in North America (certainly somewhere in Alaska-Canada), but in the Rocky Mountains the highest unclimbed peak might be Red Castle (~12,700 feet/3870 meters). At least many sources claim that it has been unclimed (the actual Red Castle, not the non-technical mountain [12825] to the south which is sometimes referred to as Red Castle). Here is one:

http://utahikerguy.tumblr.com/

I really don't know if it's true or not (in fact I'm somewhat skeptical), but in the last 20+ years I have heard from many people that it is still unclimed, or at least has no known ascents.

It actually doesn't look that bad, but the rock is very bad:



So far all known attempts failed because of loose rock. For example, I recently recieved this email from SP member Alpinglow84:

I was reading your High Uintas page and was wondering if anyone had sent
any information on climbing Red Castle. Two years ago my partner and I made
an attempt on a technical line on the West Face but were turned back after
two pitches because the rock is practically hardened mud and even good
looking holds (i.e. no fracture lines/well attached) would detach when
weighted. I got curious about what others may have said on the subject.
Thanks
Phil B.

Red Castle has been attempted several times in recent years, but it seems that the story is the always the same and similar to the above. If anyone does know of any ascent of Red Castle, many would be interested in hearing about it.

Scott,

Pretty sure John Biggar thinks there are still some unclimbed 6000m tops in the Atacama. Not sure how prominent they are.

Labuche Kang II is unclimbed. The earlier ascent thought they were going to the second highest mountain in the group but unknowingly went to the 3rd highest. This has been more an issue of geographical knowledge than climber error. It was the same type of combo of detective work and geographical (GIS) knowledge that established that Saser Kangri II was in fact higher than, and suitably separate to, what had been climbed before, making it a target for last year's climb. People are always working this stuff out, it's just nothing gets published until the target peak is climbed, then the rationale and history are explained. Availability of SRTM data has made a huge difference (eg. Mawenzi vs. Margherita), combined with some people actually going in to these areas with very accurate GPS (Shkahra vs. Dykh Tau etc).

The highest unclimbed in North America is just over 4000m. I think some guys might be going there very soon, not sure. People are very cagey about their plans and what has been attempted.

Looks like Phillipe Pk at least the second peak of the second summit.

Pretty sure John Biggar thinks there are still some unclimbed 6000m tops in the Atacama. Not sure how prominent they are.

I believe John and others rather recently completed the last of them, at least the last of them with 400 meters prominence. Here is John's most recent list (with first known ascents listed):

http://www.andes.org.uk/andes-informati ... -peaks.asp

The following are listed as unknown as to the first ascents:

The first ascent of Colanguil is listed as unknown, but John went there in 1996 (and apparently climbed it?-I can ask him). Vicuñas first ascent is listed as unknown, but is used as an acclimatization peak for Ojos, so has been climbed many times. Laguna Blanca actually has a road very near it (unlike most the other peaks in the vicinity). John also says that you can actually drive to basecamp a 4500 meters and mentions the information for climbing the peak.

All others 6000 meter peaks on the list (400+m prominence) now have the year of the first known ascents.

Labuche Kang II is unclimbed. The earlier ascent thought they were going to the second highest mountain in the group but unknowingly went to the 3rd highest.

Good to know. Thanks.

Scott wrote:I believe John and others rather recently completed the last of them, at least the last of them with 400 meters prominence. ...... All others 6000 meter peaks on the list now have the year of the first known ascents.

Yep, I know, but a while back I saw reference to his site saying: " We can do this sort of trip again, to other unclimbed 5500m+ peaks (and maybe even one or two more over 6000m)." at http://www.andes.org.uk/expeditions-and ... ptions.asp

Probably a question of prominence? We could ask him, but I would understand he might not give too many details!

On his website Hans Kammerlander now tells, that he has climbed Mount Logan - with a traverse of all summits, to go for sure, on May 23rd 2012. Congratulations to him!

Hans still has to climb Mandala.

Have you seen this? http://www.8000ers.com/cms/

The whole thing is a mess and it's mainly Hans' fault. There are others whose actions are not helping, but for someone with a such an admirable climbing record years ago, Hans has made some mistakes. The Jasamba issue was such a farce it was embarrassing to watch.

As for that PlanetMountain article, yes, there is now an argument for Mandala over Trikora

Do you know how much prominence Ngga Pulu has? I always thought it was the 2nd highest on New Guinea (at least before the icecap melted), but maybe it's considered a sub-peak of Carstenz/Puncak Jaya? Same with Sumantri?

I have been told that Ngga Pulu has 240m of prominence.ie. 5% of its altitude. I think there may be melting issues as well. I've never been there, never been interested, but I've heard quite contradictory thoughts on how worthy it is of being a separate peak.

Seems 5% is not enough to cut it. I've always thought at least 7% was necessary, but there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for that debate.

The Shkara / Dykh Tau / Koshtan Tau situation should be resolved fairly soon. The Mawenzi vs. Mt Kenya thing will cause more headaches.

Damien, I just read your name in Mikes new book!