REPLAY | Seven Summits, a lifetime challenge

Conceived by Dick Bass and Franck Wells in 1985, the Seven Summits challenge involves climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents: Everest (8848m) in Nepal/Tibet, Aconcagua (6962m) in Argentina for South America, Mount Denali (6190m) in Alaska for North America, Kilimanjaro (5895m) in Tanzania for Africa, Elbrus (5646m) in Russia for Europe, Mount Vinson (4892m) in Antarctica and the Carstensz Pyramid (4884m) in Indonesian Papua for Oceania. Add the North and South Poles and the challenge is called the Explorer's Grand Slam.

We've climbed them all... thanks to you! We have chosen to use Messner's list, which favours the Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia for Oceania, over the Kosciusko in Australia. Elbrus in Europe is sometimes disputed from an orographic point of view, and Mont Blanc is sometimes given as the highest summit... There are 500 or 600 climbers in the world who have taken on this challenge, some of them several times! Thanks to Jérôme Brisebourg, we accompanied part of the Explorer's Grand Slam when the Frenchman completed his South Pole in January 2020... Second Frenchman in history and top 30 in the world.

In our interview with Eric Bonnem, founder of Secret Planet, we look back at this legendary challenge, the characteristics of each of the expeditions that made it up, and those that are no longer accessible. A rare conference in a world where Expeditions Unlimited is the only French-speaking organisation present.

See all the climbs of the Seven Summits challenge.