There are many places that human beings have never been: the vast majority of the ocean
floor, Mars, Jupiter, the expansive void of space, Wyoming, and finally here––the
peak of the highest mountain that’s never been climbed.
Seeing as we made yogurt portable over twenty years ago, it seems like every mountain should’ve
been climbed by now.
But in reality, there are well over a million mountains on Earth, and our history of climbing
them for fun only dates back to the French Age of Enlightenment.
Specifically, our turn towards rationality and empirical thinking inspired Swiss geologist
Horace-Bénédict de Saussure to ask the ingenious scientific question, “Hey, can anyone climb
up that big mountain over there without dying?”
It turned out, yes—in 1786, these two strapping gentlemen successfully scaled Mont Blanc,
kicking off France’s new sport of mountaineering and reinforcing France’s old sport of sending
guys to places that those guys aren’t supposed to be.
Mountaineering has since spread around the globe, and, in recent decades, has become
much more accessible to amateur hobbyists.
But, while Mount Everest might be on the cusp of installing escalators and a Rainforest
Cafe, many other summits remain, well, unsummited.
The highest of these—at 24,840 feet or 7,570 meters—is “Gangkhar Puensum,” known
locally as the “White Peak of the Three Spiritual Brothers,” as it’s where the
Rice Krispies elves achieved a state of enlightenment in accordance with the Vajrayāna scriptures.
Or maybe it’s named after a local Bhutanese legend, I don’t know.
But what’s important about this mountain is its location—part of the Himalayas, Gangkhar
Puensum sits right on the border of Bhutan and this area right here, which I’ve never
heard of.
Is this a country?
Please let me know in the comments if this place is a country.
But whatever you do, don’t get into an argument—that might accidentally boost the engagement metrics
of this video!
Anyway, for many years, Gangkhar Puensum’s location warded off potential climbers with
its sheer obscurity—the mountain wasn’t even officially mapped until 1922, and even
then, its exact location and height were under dispute until it could be photographed with
satellites.
But sure enough, there have been a few attempts throughout history––up to four recorded
climbs in the 1980s, none of which were successful.
But, much like frosted tips, no one has dared attempt it since the 90s—and that’s because,
unfortunately unlike frosting one’s tips, it’s no longer legal.
In 1994, Bhutan passed a law prohibiting the climbing of any mountain over 6,000 meters
or 20,000 feet, and has since expanded that restriction to any mountain-climbing whatsoever.
This law was put in place for two main reasons: the first is that Bhutan’s mountain range
is a historically sacred place—it’s long been considered to be the home of holy spirits,
so, naturally, the Bhutanese government didn’t want it to be littered with Nature Valley
wrappers.
The second reason is that unlike Nepal, Bhutan doesn’t really have the infrastructure to
rescue stupid tourists who thought they could scale a 7,000-meter mountain with a backpack
full of Nature Valley bars.
So, basically, until the holy spirits retire to a condo in Daytona Beach, Gangkhar Puensum’s
record isn’t going anywhere.
But… it’s not much of a record if you can’t legally break it.
That’s like bragging about holding the record for shot putting a baby the furthest—like,
really, three yards?
Plenty of people could break that record, but no one will let me.
I mean, them.
So let’s talk about the highest highest unclimbed peak that you could legally climb.
While there’s some debate about this, it’s generally considered to be Muchu Chhish, a
24,449 foot, 7,452 meter mountain in Northern Pakistan.
The last major attempt was in August of 2020, by a group of Czech mountaineers––much
of the ascent follows narrow ridges, which meant that the group had to go days without
setting up camp or even sitting down.
Above 18,700 feet or 5,700 meters, they began to face persistent ice storms combined with
issues with their altitude acclimatization process, and at about 20,700 feet or 6,300
meters, they all remembered that they could be doing literally anything else, so their
expedition ended there.
But, before you grab your climbing shoes, your climbing hat, and your big jar of climbing
cream, you should be warned: Muchu Chhish’s title is a little shaky.
You see, mountains aren’t all about altitude—their prominence from the surrounding area is a
major factor, too.
While The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation considers anything with a 30 meter
drop to be its own mountain, Muchu Chhish only has 263 meters of prominence from the
surrounding Batura chain.
That means that it’s only technically its own mountain, sort of like how Tibet is only
technically part of China, even though everyone knows that it’s…
I mean, uh, Tibet?
What’s Tibet?
I don’t know anything about Tibet.
Keep discussing in the comments!
Anyway, the point is, the title of highest unclimbed mountain is actually pretty subjective.
If you’re going by altitude, it’s either Gangkhar Puensum or Muchu Chhish.
If you’re going by prominence, it’s a Chinese mountain called Sauyr Zhotasy.
If you’re going by my completely uneducated and arbitrary opinion, it’s a Tibetan mountain
called Karjiang, which I found on Wikipedia and I think has a nice mix of the two.
But eventually, these peaks will all be climbed, and their records will be handed to smaller
peaks, and this video will be swarmed with people telling me that I’m wrong now, so
maybe the truest unclimbed peak is the friends we made along the way.
Does that make sense?
No.
But a lot of things in this crazy world don’t make sense.
Like, for example, why do we store our most valuable passwords and login information in
the forgetful, fallible meat-prison on top of our bodies?
It’s ridiculous.
We’re forced to use the same, predictable passwords over and over again, and simple
log-ins are still a chore; you’ve gotta remember which passwords you used for which
websites, and then you’ve gotta actually type them out, like it’s 1989 or something!
But let me let you in on a little secret: you don’t have to do any of that, because
it’s the future, and in the future we have something called Dashlane.
Dashlane is a mobile and desktop app that lets you sync your information across all
of your devices—passwords, addresses, payment information, everything.
Then, you can fill out internet forms in a single, easy click; no need to remember passwords
or dig through your wallet for a credit card.
And better yet, Dashlane keeps all of your information incredibly secure, and even sends
you personalized security alerts in the event of a data breach.
To start using the internet more efficiently and securely, I would recommend joining the
11 million other Dashlane users for a super low monthly fee, and get 10% off by signing
up at dashlane.com/hai.