Seven Summits

The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven.

In January 2023, Climbing said "Today, the Seven Summits are a relatively common—almost cliché—tour of each continent's highest peak", and while reaching the peak of the "Seven Summits" is no longer considered a significant achievement amongst mountaineers, it remains a popular challenge for "adventure mountaineers" using expedition climbing techniques.

The Seven Summits consist of the highest mountain peak on each of the continents. Different lists include slight variations, but generally, the same core is maintained. The seven summits depend on the definition used for a continent – in particular the location of the border of that continent. This results in two major points of variation. The first one is Mont Blanc versus Mount Elbrus for Europe, which depends on whether the crest of the Greater Caucasus Mountains is taken to define the Greater Caucasus watershed which marks the continental boundary between Asia and Europe for the region between the Black and Caspian seas; this classification would place Mount Elbrus in Europe. The second one is Puncak Jaya (also known as "Carstensz Pyramid") versus Mount Kosciuszko for the continent of Australia, which depends on whether one includes the Sahul Shelf or only mainland Australia as the continent. This also gives rise to another list called the "Eight Summits", which includes both Puncak Jaya and Mount Kosciuszko along with the six summits on the other continents.

This creates several possible versions of the seven summits:

The concept Richard Bass and his climbing partner Frank Wells were pursuing was to be the first to stand atop the highest mountain on each continent. They pursued this goal as they defined it, climbing Aconcagua for South America, Denali for North America, Kilimanjaro for Africa, Elbrus for Europe, Vinson for Antarctica, Kosciuszko for Australia, and finally Everest for Asia.

In terms of safety and preference for climbers, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has affected Western climbers' ability to travel to Russia, making Elbrus less attractive. Similarly, Puncak Jaya on New Guinea has been closed due to security concerns and the risks posed by ongoing tribal conflicts and mining operations. These challenges have prevented climbers from accessing the area, further complicated by a security lockdown since August 2019. The situation escalated in February 2023 when Papuan rebels of Free Papua Movement took New Zealand pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens hostage, an event known as Nduga hostage crisis, signaling a new level of risk for foreigners in the highlands of Western New Guinea. The rebels' declaration of "all foreigners are now target" marked an intensification of the conflict, making travel to Western New Guinea highly advised against. Consequently, many climbers postponed their expedition to climb Carstensz Pyramid until the regional conflict subsides.

In summary, the Mount Wilhelm version of the Seven Summits currently presents the safest option for climbers, avoiding travel to Russia and Western New Guinea. Papua New Guinea remains a relatively safer option for mountaineers, and Mount Wilhelm offers an excellent high mountain expedition experience as the highest peak in Oceania.

Using the largest tectonic plates, Asia and Europe could be grouped as Eurasia, and the very large Pacific Plate would have Mauna Kea as its highest mountain. Puncak Jaya is actually on the Maoke Plate, while Mount Wilhelm is, depending upon evolving plate tectonic understanding, on either the Trobriand Plate, Solomon Sea Plate, or Woodlark Plate, all of whom were historically grouped with the larger Australian Plate. If not, then Mount Kosciuszko would revert to being the highest of that plate (see also list of highest points of Oceanian countries).