Eight-thousander facts for kids

Locations of the world's 14 eight-thousanders

The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation or UIAA recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent from neighbouring peaks. However, there is no precise definition of the criteria used to assess independence, and, since 2012, the UIAA has been involved in a process to consider whether the list should be expanded to 20 mountains. All eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia, and their summits are in the death zone.

The first person to summit all 14 eight-thousanders was Italian Reinhold Messner in 1986, who completed the feat without the aid of supplementary oxygen. In 2010, Spaniard Edurne Pasaban, became the first woman to summit all 14 eight-thousanders, but with the aid of supplementary oxygen; in 2011, Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner became the first woman to summit all 14 eight-thousanders without the aid of supplementary oxygen.

From 1950 to 1964, all 14 of the eight-thousanders were summited, however, it was not until January 2021, with the Nepalese winter ascent of K2, that all eight-thousanders had been summited during the winter season.

On 29 October 2019, Nepalese climber Nirmal Purja, set a speed record by climbing all eight-thousanders in 6 months and 6 days.

Climbing history

Flight over Khumbu-region; six eight-thousanders and some seven-thousanders are visible

The first recorded attempt on an eight-thousander was when Albert F. Mummery, Geoffrey Hastings and J. Norman Collie tried to climb Pakistan's Nanga Parbat in 1895. The attempt failed when Mummery and two Gurkhas, Ragobir Thapa and Goman Singh, were killed by an avalanche.

The first recorded successful ascent of an eight-thousander was by the French Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, who reached the summit of Annapurna on 3 June 1950 during the 1950 French Annapurna expedition . The first winter ascent of an eight-thousander was done by a Polish team led by Andrzej Zawada on Mount Everest. Two climbers Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki reached the summit on 17 February 1980.

The first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders was Italian Reinhold Messner, on 16 October 1986. In 1987, Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka became the second person to accomplish this feat. Kukuczka is also the man who established the most new routes (9) on the main eight-thousanders. Messner summited each of the 14 peaks without the aid of bottled oxygen. This feat was not repeated until nine years later by the Swiss Erhard Loretan in 1995. Phurba Tashi of Nepal has completed the most climbs of the eight-thousanders, with 30 ascents between 1998 and 2011. Spaniard Juanito Oiarzabal has completed the second most, with a total of 25 ascents between 1985 and 2011.

The Italian Simone Moro made the most first winter ascents of eight-thousanders (4); Jerzy Kukuczka made four winter ascents as well, but one was a repetition. The final eight-thousander to be climbed in the winter season was K2, which was summitted by a 10-person Nepalese team led by Nirmal Purja on 16 January 2021.

30–highest peaks above 500 m (1,640 ft) in prominence.

In 2010, Spanish climber Edurne Pasaban, became the first woman to summit all 14 eight-thousanders with no disputed climbing. In August 2011, Austrian climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner became the first woman to climb the 14 eight-thousanders without the use of supplementary oxygen.

The first couple and team who summited all 14 eight-thousanders together were the Italians Nives Meroi (second woman without supplementary oxygen), and her husband Romano Benet [it] in 2017. The couple climbed alpine style, without the use of supplementary oxygen and other aids.

As of November 2018^[update], the country with the most climbers to have climbed all 14 eight-thousanders is Italy with seven climbers, followed by Spain with six climbers, and South Korea with five climbers. Kazakhstan and Poland each have three climbers who have completed the "Crown of the Himalaya" (all 14 eight-thousanders).

On 29 October 2019, former Nepalese Gurka, and Special Boat Service (SBS) elite soldier Nirmal Purja, set a new speed record by climbing the 14 eight-thousanders in 6 months and 6 days, beating the previous record of just under 8 years.

List of 14

Selected data for the 14 eight-thousanders

Mountain					First ascent		First winter ascent		From 1950 to March 2012			Climber Death Rate
Peak	Height	Prom.	Isol.	Location	Date	Summiter(s)	Date	Summiter(s)	Total Ascents	Total Deaths	Deaths / Ascents
Everest	8,848 metres (29,029 ft)	8,848 metres (29,029 ft)	undefined or infinite	Nepal China	29 May 1953	Edmund Hillary Tenzing Norgay on British expedition	17 February 1980	Krzysztof Wielicki Leszek Cichy	5656	223	3.9%	1.52%
K2	8,611 metres (28,251 ft)	4,020 metres (13,190 ft)	1,315.6 kilometres (817.5 mi)	Pakistan China	31 July 1954	Achille Compagnoni Lino Lacedelli on Italian expedition	16 January 2021	Nirmal Purja Gelje Sherpa Mingma David Sherpa Mingma G Sona Sherpa Mingma Tenzi Sherpa Pem Chhiri Sherpa Dawa Temba Sherpa Kili Pemba Sherpa Dawa Tenjing Sherpa	306	81	26.5%	–
Kangchenjunga	8,586 metres (28,169 ft)	3,922 metres (12,867 ft)	124.2 kilometres (77.2 mi)	Nepal India	25 May 1955	George Band Joe Brown on British expedition	11 January 1986	Krzysztof Wielicki Jerzy Kukuczka	283	40	14.1%	3.00%
Lhotse	8,516 metres (27,940 ft)	610 metres (2,000 ft)	2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi)	Nepal China	18 May 1956	Fritz Luchsinger Ernst Reiss	31 December 1988	Krzysztof Wielicki	461	13	2.8%	1.03%
Makalu	8,485 metres (27,838 ft)	2,378 metres (7,802 ft)	17.2 kilometres (10.7 mi)	Nepal China	15 May 1955	Jean Couzy Lionel Terray on French expedition	9 February 2009	Simone Moro Denis Urubko	361	31	8.6%	1.63%
Cho Oyu	8,188 metres (26,864 ft)	2,344 metres (7,690 ft)	27.7 kilometres (17.2 mi)	Nepal China	19 October 1954	Joseph Joechler Pasang Dawa Lama Herbert Tichy	12 February 1985	Maciej Berbeka Maciej Pawlikowski	3138	44	1.4%	0.64%
Dhaulagiri I	8,167 metres (26,795 ft)	3,357 metres (11,014 ft)	317.4 kilometres (197.2 mi)	Nepal	13 May 1960	Kurt Diemberger Peter Diener Nawang Dorje Nima Dorje Ernst Forrer Albin Schelbert	21 January 1985	Andrzej Czok Jerzy Kukuczka	448	69	15.4%	2.94%
Manaslu	8,163 metres (26,781 ft)	3,092 metres (10,144 ft)	105.5 kilometres (65.6 mi)	Nepal	9 May 1956	Toshio Imanishi Gyalzen Norbu	12 January 1984	Maciej Berbeka Ryszard Gajewski	661	65	9.8%	2.77%
Nanga Parbat	8,125 metres (26,657 ft)	4,608 metres (15,118 ft)	187.9 kilometres (116.8 mi)	Pakistan	3 July 1953	Hermann Buhl on German–Austrian expedition	26 February 2016	Muhammad Ali Sadpara Simone Moro Alex Txikon	335	68	20.3%	–
Annapurna I	8,091 metres (26,545 ft)	2,984 metres (9,790 ft)	33.7 kilometres (20.9 mi)	Nepal	3 June 1950	Maurice Herzog Louis Lachenal on French expedition	3 February 1987	Jerzy Kukuczka Artur Hajzer	191	61	31.9%	4.05%
Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak)	8,080 metres (26,510 ft)	2,155 metres (7,070 ft)	23.4 kilometres (14.5 mi)	Pakistan China	5 July 1958	Andrew Kauffman Pete Schoening	9 March 2012	Adam Bielecki Janusz Gołąb	334	29	8.7%	–
Broad Peak	8,051 metres (26,414 ft)	1,701 metres (5,581 ft)	8.6 kilometres (5.3 mi)	Pakistan China	9 June 1957	Fritz Wintersteller Marcus Schmuck Kurt Diemberger Hermann Buhl	5 March 2013	Maciej Berbeka Adam Bielecki Tomasz Kowalski Artur Małek	404	21	5.2%	–
Gasherbrum II	8,034 metres (26,358 ft)	1,524 metres (5,000 ft)	5.3 kilometres (3.3 mi)	Pakistan China	7 July 1956	Fritz Moravec Josef Larch Hans Willenpart	2 February 2011	Simone Moro Denis Urubko Cory Richards	930	21	2.3%	–
Shishapangma	8,027 metres (26,335 ft)	2,897 metres (9,505 ft)	90.8 kilometres (56.4 mi)	China	2 May 1964	Xu Jing Chang Chun-yen Wang Fuzhou Chen San Cheng Tien-liang Wu Tsung-yue Sodnam Doji Migmar Trashi Doji Yonten	14 January 2005	Piotr Morawski Simone Moro	302	25	8.3%

Proposed expansion

In 2012, to relieve capacity pressure, overcrowding on the world’s highest mountain was tackled by placing greater restrictions on expeditions to the summit of Mount Everest. The move is a response to growing problems with litter, pollution and recent clashes between Sherpas and Western climbers. But, in an attempt to appease those hoping to conquer the 29,029 ft (8,848 m) tall peak, the Nepalese government is to open access to five other summits that sit over 26,247 ft (8,000 m) and develop climbing tourism. Nepal lobbied the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (or UIAA) to reclassify five summits (two on Lhotse and three on Kanchenjunga), as standalone eight-thousanders, while Pakistan lobbied for a sixth summit (on Broad Peak). The UIAA initiated in 2012 what it calls the ARUGA project with an aim to see if new 8,000 m (26,247 ft)-plus could feasibly achieve international recognition. Under that project, Nepal had tabled five new peaks and Pakistan had tabled one. In 2012, the UIAA set up a project group to consider the proposals called the AGURA Project. The six proposed summits for reclassification are subsidiary-summits of existing eight-thousanders, but which are also themselves above 8,000 m (26,247 ft) and have a prominence above 60 m (197 ft).

     Proposed to the UIAA in 2012 for reclassification as standalone eight-thousanders.

The proposed six new eight-thousander peaks would not meet the wider UIAA criteria of 600 m (1,969 ft) of elevation from nearest larger mountain's saddle, called topographic prominence, as used by the UIAA elsewhere for major mountains (the lowest prominence of the existing 14 eight-thousanders is Lhotse, at 610 metres (2,001 ft)). For example, only Broad Peak Central, with a topographic prominence of 181 metres (594 ft), would even meet the 150 metres (492 ft) prominence threshold to be a British Isles Marilyn. However, the appeal noted the UIAA's 1994 reclassification of Alpine four-thousander peaks, where a prominence threshold of 30 m (98 ft) was used, amongst other criteria; the logic being that if 30 m (98 ft) worked for 4,000 m (13,123 ft) summits, then 60 m (197 ft) is proportional for 8,000 m (26,247 ft) summits.

As of November 2018^[update], there has been no conclusion by the UIAA and the proposals appear to have been set aside.

Climbers of all 14

There is no single undisputed source for verified Himalayan ascents; however, Elizabeth Hawley's The Himalayan Database, is considered as an important source for the Nepalese Himalayas. Online ascent databases pay close regard to The Himalayan Database, including the website AdventureStats.com, and the List. Various mountaineering journals, including the Alpine Journal and the American Alpine Journal, maintain extensive records and archives but do not always opine on ascents.

Verified ascents

Reinhold Messner, first to climb all 14 eight-thousanders, and first to do so without supplementary oxygen.

Edurne Pasaban, first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders after Oh Eun-sun’s claim was disputed.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders without supplementary oxygen.

     First male to have summited all 14 eight-thousanders, and first to do so without supplementary oxygen      First female to have summited all 14 eight-thousanders; with supplementary oxygen      First female to have summited all 14 eight-thousanders; no supplementary oxygen      Fastest ascent of all 14 eight-thousanders      Youngest person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders      First disabled person to have summited all 14 eight-thousanders

The "No O₂" column lists people who have climbed all 14 eight-thousanders without supplementary oxygen.

List of climbers who have summited all 14 eight-thousanders.

Order	Order (No O2)	Name	Period	Born	Age	Nationality
1	1	Reinhold Messner	1972–1986	1944	42	Italian
2		Jerzy Kukuczka	1979–1987	1948	39	Polish
3	2	Erhard Loretan	1982–1995	1959	36	Swiss
4		Carlos Carsolio	1985–1996	1962	33	Mexican
5		Krzysztof Wielicki	1980–1996	1950	46	Polish
6	3	Juanito Oiarzabal	1985–1999	1956	43	Spanish
7		Sergio Martini	1983–2000	1949	51	Italian
8		Park Young-seok	1993–2001	1963	38	Korean
9		Um Hong-gil	1988–2001	1960	40	Korean
10	4	Alberto Iñurrategi	1991–2002	1968	33	Spanish
11		Han Wang-yong	1994–2003	1966	37	Korean
12	5	Ed Viesturs	1989–2005	1959	46	American
13	6	Silvio Mondinelli	1993–2007	1958	49	Italian
14	7	Ivan Vallejo	1997–2008	1959	49	Ecuadorian
15	8	Denis Urubko	2000–2009	1973	35	Kazakhstani
16		Ralf Dujmovits	1990–2009	1961	47	German
17	9	Veikka Gustafsson	1993–2009	1968	41	Finnish
18		Andrew Lock	1993–2009	1961	48	Australian
19	10	João Garcia	1993–2010	1967	43	Portuguese
20		Piotr Pustelnik	1990–2010	1951	58	Polish
21		Edurne Pasaban	2001–2010	1973	36	Spanish
22		Abele Blanc	1992–2011	1954	56	Italian
23		Mingma Sherpa	2000–2011	1978	33	Nepali
24	11	Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner	1998–2011	1970	40	Austrian
25		Vassily Pivtsov	2001–2011	1975	36	Kazakhstani
26	12	Maxut Zhumayev	2001–2011	1977	34	Kazakhstani
27		Kim Jae-soo	2000–2011	1961	50	Korean
28	13	Mario Panzeri	1988–2012	1964	48	Italian
29		Hirotaka Takeuchi	1995–2012	1971	41	Japanese
30		Chhang Dawa Sherpa	2001–2013	1982	30	Nepali
31	14	Kim Chang-ho	2005–2013	1970	43	Korean
32		Jorge Egocheaga	2002–2014	1968	45	Spanish
33	15	Radek Jaroš	1998–2014	1964	50	Czech
34/35	16/17	Nives Meroi	1998–2017	1961	55	Italian
34/35	16/17	Romano Benet [it]	1998–2017	1962	55	Italian Slovenian
36	18	Peter Hámor	1998–2017	1964	52	Slovak
37	19	Azim Gheychisaz	2008–2017	1981	37	Iranian
38		Ferran Latorre	1999–2017	1970	46	Spanish
39	20	Òscar Cadiach	1984–2017	1952	64	Spanish
40		Kim Mi-gon	2000–2018	1973	45	Korean
41		Sanu Sherpa	2006–2019	1975	44	Nepali
42		Nirmal Purja	2014–2019	1983	36	Nepali
43		Mingma Gyabu Sherpa	2010–2019	1989	30	Nepali
44		Kim Hong-bin	2006–2021	1964	57	Korean

Disputed ascents

Claims have been made for all 14 peaks in which not enough evidence was provided to verify the ascent. The disputed ascent in each claim is shown in parentheses. In most cases, the Himalayan chronicler Elizabeth Hawley is considered the definitive source regarding the facts of the dispute. Her The Himalayan Database is the source for other online Himalayan ascent databases (e.g. AdventureStats.com).

Cho Oyu is a recurrent problem peak as it is a small hump about 30 mins into the summit plateau, and the main proxy of a view of Everest, which is possible from the true summit, requires clear weather. Shishapangma is another problem peak because of its dual summits, which despite being close in height, are up to two hours climbing time apart. Hawley judged that Ed Viesturs had not reached the true summit, and he re-climbed the mountain to definitively establish his ascent.

Name	Period	Born	Age	Nationality
(Lhotse 1997) (His partner Sergio Martini reclimbed Lhotse in 2000 to verify his 14, see above)	1983–1998	1952	46	Italian
Alan Hinkes (Cho Oyu 1990) (Hinkes rejects Hawley's decision to "unrecognise" his Cho Oyu ascent, see "Cho Oyu dispute")	1987–2005	1954	53	British
Vladislav Terzyul (Shishapangma (West) Summit 2000, Broad Peak 1995) (As he did not claim the main summit of Shishapangma, this status is unlikely to change)	1993–2004 (deceased)	1953	49	Ukrainian
Oh Eun-sun (Kangchenjunga 2009) (As the potential first female climber of all 14, this dispute was followed internationally)	1997–2010	1966	44	Korean
(Shishapangma 2012) (Pauner acknowledged his uncertainty as it was dark, but says he might reclimb to remove the doubt)	2001–2013	1963	50	Spanish
Zhang Liang (Shishapangma 2018) (According Chinese state media and The Himalayan Times, Zhang completed all 14 with other three climbers in the 2018 Chinese Shishapangma expedition, which is suspected that they only reached the central summit)	2000–2018	1964	54	Chinese

Gallery

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  No. 1 – Everest

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  No. 2 – K2

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  No. 3 – Kangchenjunga

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  No. 4 – Lhotse

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  No. 5 – Makalu

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  No. 6 – Cho Oyu

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  No. 7 – Dhaulagiri

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  No. 8 – Manaslu

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  No. 9 – Nanga Parbat

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  No. 10 – Annapurna

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  No. 11 – Gasherbrum I

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  No. 12 – Broad Peak

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  No. 13 – Gasherbrum II

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  No. 14 – Shishapangma

Comparison of the heights of the Eight-thousanders (red triangles) with the Seven Summits and Seven Second Summits.

Kangchenjunga

The south face of Lhotse, as seen from Chukhung Ri.

This sports-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

See also

In Spanish: Ochomil para niños

Date	Name	Nationality
17 May 2019	Ivan Tomov	Bulgaria	Cerebral edema
17 May 2018	Rustem Amirov	Russia	Altitude sickness
19 May 2016	Ang Furba Sherpa	Nepal	Fall
27 April 2015	Hiroshi Yamagata	Japan	Avalanche (2015 Mount Everest avalanches)
25 April 2015	Zhen-Fang Ge	China	Avalanche (2015 Mount Everest avalanches)
18 April 2014	Asman Tamang	Nepal	Avalanche (2014 Mount Everest ice avalanche)
20 May 2013	Hsiao-Shih Lee	China	Altitude sickness
16 October 2012	Temba Sherpa	Nepal	Fall
21 May 2012	Milan Sedláček	Czech Republic	Exhaustion
7 May 2010	Sergey Duganov	Russia	Altitude sickness
25 May 2009	Sergey Samoilov	Kazakhstan	Fall
21 May 2007	Pemba Doma	Nepal	Fall
9 May 2006	Pavel Kalný	Czech Republic	Fall
5 October 2003	Sun-dug Hwang	South Korea	Avalanche (on Lhotse Shar)
5 October 2003	Joo-hoon Park	South Korea	Avalanche (on Lhotse Shar)
17 September 2000	Vladimir Bondarev	Russia	Avalanche
27 May 1997	Vladimir Bashkirov	Russia	Illness
24 October 1989	Jerzy Kukuczka	Belgium	Fall
27 September 1987	Antoni (Toni) Sors	Spain	Avalanche (on Lhotse Shar)
27 September 1987	Sergio Escalera	Spain	Avalanche (on Lhotse Shar)
27 September 1987	Francesc Porras	Spain	Avalanche (on Lhotse Shar)
27 September 1987	Antonio Quiñones	Spain	Avalanche (on Lhotse Shar)
14 September 1987	Czesław Jakiel	Poland	Avalanche
30 October 1986	Pedro Alonso	Spain	Fall (on Lhotse Shar)
25 October 1985	Rafał Chołda	Poland	Fall
16 October 1981	Philippe Petten	Switzerland	Disappearance (on Lhotse Shar)
16 October 1981	Pierre Favez	Switzerland	Disappearance (on Lhotse Shar)